No. 9 Villanova rallies from 18 points down to top Georgetown.
Villanova is set to unpack the bags and head home.
The No. 9 Wildcats wrapped their longest road stretch to open a season in 17 years with a dominant second half that showcased why they’re a favorite to win the Big East — and maybe hang one more national championship banner in the Pavilion.
Collin Gillespie and Caleb Daniels each hit five 3-pointers and scored 18 points to lead the Wildcats past Georgetown 76-63 on Friday night in the Big East opener for both teams.
The game matched the preseason favorite Wildcats against a Hoyas team picked to finish at the bottom — but without fans and on unusual turf — it had the competitive feel for about 30 minutes of a conference tourney game in March.
The Wildcats (5-1) trailed by 18 early in the first half at Georgetown’s empty oncampus gym — a surprising deficit considering Villanova entered as 111⁄ 2- point road favorites — until they got 3point happy and showed again why they are the team to beat in the Big East.
“It was really weird playing Georgetown in this gym with no fans,” coach Jay Wright said. “This is one game you just know is always going to be a huge a crowd. It was really strange. But once the ball went up, it was a typical Big East battle.”
The 6-foot-3 hard-nosed Gillespie shook off a slow start and keyed a 15-0 run that put the Wildcats in control of their sixth straight game on the road. Gillespie hit consecutive 3s early in the second that pulled Villanova within seven and another 3 that tied the game at 50. Daniels, a transfer out of Tulane, hit one more 3 that capped the 15-0 spurt and gave the Wildcats the lead.
“I thought in the first half we were getting great shots for each other, they just weren’t falling,” Gillespie said.
The Wildcats made 7 of 22 3s in the first half; 8 of 17 in the second.
No. 9 Villanova 76, Georgetown 63
The Villanova offense came to life after an off-kilter first, but it was the defensive improvement that pleased Wright. The Hoyas (2-3) shot 56 percent in the first half and beat Nova on the boards by five to put them in position for a big-time upset.
“We’re still building, we’re still learning each other,” Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing said. “We can’t panic. This is our first game in the Big East against a quality team.”
Jamorko Pickett led the Hoyas with 16 points.
No. 3 Iowa 105, Iowa State 77: Despite sitting much of the first half with foul trouble, Luka Garza finished with 34 points in just 17 minutes as host Iowa improved to 5-0 with the easy victory over the Cyclones 1-2. Joe Nunge came off the bench for Garza and added 17 points.
No. 5 Kansas 95, Omaha 50: Ochai Agbaji scored 18 points and fifth-ranked Kansas beat Omaha (2-5) in the Jayhawks’ final tune-up before beginning Big 12 play. Mitch Lightfoot had a career-best 14 points, David McCormack had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Tyon Grant-Foster added 13 points to help the Jayhawks (6-1) cruised to their 12th consecutive win at Allen Fieldhouse.
No. 8 Creighton 98, Nebraska 74: Marcus Ze
garowski scored 22 points, Denzel Mahoney had 20 and host Creighton used a big run in the second half to pull away and beat Nebraska (3-3). The Bluejays (4-1) weren’t sharp early but went on a powerful dunk- and 3-pointer-filled 30-7 surge to bounce back from their one-point loss at No. 5 Kansas on Tuesday.
No. 11 West Virginia 62, North Texas 50: Sean McNeil scored 15 points and host West Virginia rallied in the second half to beat North Texas (1-3). The Mountaineers (5-1) trailed by eight points at halftime, then scored the first 18 points of the second half.
West UCLA 69, Marquette 60:
Jaime Jaquez Jr. tied his career high with 18 points despite four fouls and host UCLA held off Marquette (4-2) for the Bruins’ fifth straight win. Jules Bernard added 15 points off the bench for the Bruins (5-1) in the teams’ first meeting since 1964, when Gail Goodrich scored 21 points in their ninepoint victory.
Saint Mary’s 96, San Jose State 61: Dan Fotu had 15 points and 10 rebounds as the host Gaels (6-1) had an easy time with the Spartans (1-1).
Grand Canyon 87, Nevada 77: Jovan Blackshear scored 22 points as host Grand Canyon improved to 4-0 with the victory over Nevada (4-2).