Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Villanova rains 3-pointers in rout of Seton Hall
PHILADELPHIA >> Phil Booth hit seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points, helping No. 18 Villanova beat Seton Hall 80-52 on Sunday for its eighth consecutive victory.
The Wildcats (16-4, 7-0 Big East) made 17 3s and are rolling toward another conference crown under coach Jay Wright. The national champions still have some kinks to work out to become a deep threat in March — namely, finding a third scorer — but again should be a low single-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Pirates (12-8, 3-5) remain 0-for-Nova on the road since 1994. The Wildcats have won 17 straight games on their home court against Seton Hall (15-0 Pavilion; 2-0 Wells Fargo Center) and were never threatened in this one.
The Wildcats held Seton Hall to just nine baskets through the first 26 minutes and Collin Gillespie hit Villanova’s ninth 3-pointer to push the lead to 45-26.
Eric Paschall and Booth are a twoperson show for the Wildcats and shot the team out of their early season funk (that included four losses by Dec. 16). Against the Pirates, Paschall and Booth combined for six 3s and 26 points in the first half. The duo outscored Seton Hall 26-20 and the Wildcats led by 10 at the break. Booth missed a 3, the offensive rebound got kicked out to him and he nailed a 3 from the top of the arc to make it 30-20.
Paschall finished with 17 points, going over 1,000 for his career.
Seton Hall had 14 turnovers in the first half and missed 8 of 10 3-pointers, the latest inept performance against a Villanova program the Pirates have not defeated since 2016.
Myles Cale led Seton Hall with 14 points. BIG PICTURE >> The Wildcats also need to tighten up their free-throw shooting. They made just 7 of 13 attempts. UP NEXT >> Villanova plays Wednesday night at DePaul.
*** CINCINNATI 72, TEMPLE 68 >> Jarron Cumberland scored 25 points with eight rebounds and Cincinnati rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to beat Temple 72-68 on Sunday for the Bearcats’ sixth straight win.
The Bearcats (18-3, 7-1 American) trailed 41-27 with 18 minutes left before Cumberland scored 12 points and Keith Williams all of his nine in outscoring the Owls 30-14 over the next 12½ minutes to take a two-point lead. Shizz Alston Jr. tied the game with a layup but Cumberland scored the next four points to keep the lead.
Temple trailed 70-65 with 19 seconds left but an Owls pass was intercepted and Cincinnati added another free throw with seven seconds remaining.
Tre Scott added 13 points for the Bearcats, who made only 3 of 18 3-point tries but outrebounded Temple 46-22 including 16-3 on the offensive glass for a 17-3 advantage on second-chance points.