Defending champs top Morgan St.
Villanova opens refurbished Pavilion with 100-77 win; Virginia rolls over Towson
Eric Paschall scored 26 points, Phil Booth had 17 and No. 9 Villanova opened its national championship defense with a 100-77 win over visiting Morgan State on Tuesday night.
The Wildcats have won12 straight games dating to last season and won their 16th consecutive season opener.
The new kid on the block that shone the most was the refurbished Pavilion, which closed for a season and forced the Wildcats to play a year in Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. Villanova’s on-campus court underwent a $65 million facelift that would have made the Property Brothers jealous.
The Wildcats couldn’t put a price tag on their sweetest accessory — the 2018 national championship banner raised high above midcourt. Under coach Jay Wright, Villanova has won two of the last three national championships, and seating for this season is at a premium. StubHub had lower level tickets selling for $375 shortly before tip, and a gym that for three decades had a skeleton crew of concession stands suddenly had deep-pocketed donors noshing on fried shrimp, $10 Wildcat burgers and taking a nip of top-shelf booze.
The Pavilion’s courtside press row seating was stripped to make room for 88 courtside seats, there was club seating for the first time and the concourse also wrapped 360 degrees. The lights were dimmed for an NBA-worthy lineup introduction — kind of a big deal considering in the old joint derisively known as the “ski lodge,” it took 20 minutes for the entire building to light up once the switches were flipped.
NO. 5 VIRGINIA 73, TOWSON 42: Ty Jerome scored 20 points and De’Andre Hunter had 13 and 10 rebounds for the host Cavaliers (1-0).
Jerome made six 3-pointers for Virginia, which was playing for the first time since it made history by becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16-seed in the NCAA Tournament. That 74-54 loss to UMBC last Villanova’s Eric Paschall goes up for a shot against Morgan State’s, from left, Sheryn Devonish-Prince Jr., Victor Curry, LaPri McCray-Pace and Isaiah Burke on Tuesday night. March, they insisted leading into the opener, was the furthest thing from their mind.
Tobias Howard made three 3-pointers and led Towson (0-1) with 10 points and Brian Fobbs had nine. The Tigers had long spells without a field goal in each half and finished shooting 31.7 percent (13-41). They also missed 15 of 27 free throws (46.7 percent) and turned the ball over 14 times while forcing just five by the Cavaliers.
Jerome was hot from the start for Virginia. He scored 11 in the first half and took a seat early having made 6 of 9 3-point shots and adding four assists. He was joined with an early night off by Hunter, who played just 26 minutes and watched as Tony Bennett emptied his bench by the midpoint of the second half.
ST. JOHN’S 76, LOYOLA MARYLAND55: Shamorie Ponds scored 20 points, Mustapha Heron added 15 and the host Red Storm (1-0) cruised.
Ponds, the first Red Storm player since Malik Sealy in 1991 to be named the Big East Preseason Player of the Year, had all his points and Heron had 13 of his 15 in the first half when the game was decided.
Loyola, under first-year coach Tavaras Hardy, got 17 points from Andrew Kostecka. St. John’s has won all 11 games in the series.
OLD DOMINION 67, NAVY 44: The Monarchs (1-0) closed the game on a 27-7 run to pull away from the visiting Mids (1-0).
Old Dominion, which posted a 25-7 record a year ago, turned a slim 15-14 lead into a 33-17 advantage late in the first half. The margin was15 points –– 38-23 –– a little more than one minute into the second half when the Mids started to chip away at the deficit.
Navy closed to within three points at 40-37 on a three-point field goal by Isaiah Burnett (Glenelg Country) with 9:47 left on the clock.
N.C. STATE105, MOUNTST. MARY’S 55: Torin Dorn had a career-high 28 points while North Carolina State shot 65 percent after halftime to beat Mount St. Mary’s 105-55 in the season opener for both teams. Markell Johnson added 17 points for the Wolfpack, who hit an open-court groove with a 21-2 run that blew the game open. The Wolfpack made 8 of 10 3-pointers to close the game. Jalen Gibbs scored a career-high 24 points for Mount St. Mary’s.
WISCONSIN 85, COPPIN STATE 63: The host Badgers (1-0) took a 49-27 lead in the first half and cruised past the Eagles (0-1).
GEORGETOWN 68, UMES 53: AJ Cheeseman had a game-high 19 points, but the Hawks (0-1) fell to the Hoyas (1-0). Georgetown led 31-21 in the first half.
Women
NO. 25 WEST VIRGINIA 78, COPPIN STATE 37: Chance Graham had 17 points and 11 rebounds but the visiting Eagles (0-1) fell to the Mountaineers (1-0).
UMBC 65, GETTYSBURG 51: Janee’a Summers scored a game-high 22 points to lead the host Retrievers (1-0) past the Division III Bullets (0-1).
GEORGE MASON 70, LOYOLA MARYLAND38: Isabella Therien had11 points and Stephanie Karcz had 17 rebounds, but the visiting Greyhounds (0-1) fell to the Patriots (1-0). Loyola shot 20 percent from the field. George Mason led 21-5 in the first quarter.
MOUNT ST. MARY’S 74, WASHINGTON COLLEGE50: The host Mount (1-0) went on a 21-7 run in the second quarter to pull away from the Shorewomen (0-1). Daly Sullivan had a game-high 14 points for the Mount.
EAST CAROLINA 84, UMES 69: The host Pirates (1-0) went on a 35-16 run in the third quarter and pulled away from the Hawks (1-0). Keyera Eaton had a game-high 20 points and Ciani Byrom had 19 points for UMES.
LINCOLN (PA.) 51, MORGAN STATE 46: The Division II Lions (1-0) went on a 26-11 run in the fourth quarter to upset the host Bears (0-1). Naomi Bolasingh had a gamehigh 14 points for Morgan State. The Bears opened with a 22-8 run in the first quarter.
WAKE FOREST 60, TOWSON 53: The visiting Tigers (0-1) outscored the Demon Deacons (1-0), 29-22, in the second half.