No. 1 Villanova, No. 6 Xavier win league openers on road

CHICAGO — In his 17 seasons at Villanova, Jay Wright can’t recall coaching a more efficient offense. The way the Wildcats are clicking, it’s not hard to see why he feels that way.

Mikal Bridges scored 20 points, Phil Booth added 17 points and six assists, and No. 1 Villanova made it look easy, beating DePaul 103-85 on Wednesday night in the Big East opener for both teams.

The Wildcats (13-0) closed in on last year’s program-record 14-0 start and gave Wright his 399th victory since becoming Villanova’s coach in 2001.

Bridges and Booth each made four 3-pointers, and the Wildcats nailed 15 of 31 from long range.

Chicago-area product Jalen Brunson had 16 points and five assists. Eric Paschall scored 16, and Villanova hit the 100-point mark for the third time this season.

“I think it’s really high basketball talent,” Wright said. “We’ve got some really talented guys but they have really high basketball IQ. Always look to make the right play, not just scoring points.”

Max Strus had 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists for DePaul (7-6, 0-1), which fell to 3-21 against No. 1 teams.

XAVIER 91, MARQUETTE 87

Trevon Blueitt had 23 points, J.P. Macura scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half and the No. 6 Muskeeters survived a road test in its Big East opener.

Tyrique Jones added 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting before fouling out for Xavier (13-1), which won its eighth straight game.

SMU 56, UCF 51

Jarrey Foster and Shake Milton scored 14 points apiece to help the host Mustangs win the Ameri- can Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

Foster was 7-of-13 shooting, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots, while Milton had six boards and five assists.

Ceasar DeJesus made a layup and then hit a 3-pointer with nearly 16 minutes left to cap an 8-0 run that gave UCF (9-4) its first lead, 29-28, since the opening minutes, but SMU (11-3) answered with a 13-2 run .