Gillespie lead No. 12 Villanova past DePaul
CHICAGO » Collin Gillespie made the first one and Saddiq Bey got the last one.
In between, Villanova put on quite a show.
Gillespie and Bey each made five of Villanova’s 18 3-pointers, and the 12thranked Wildcats used their long-range shooting to beat DePaul 91-71 on Wednesday.
“We shot the ball great,” coach Jay Wright said. “We’ve run into some teams that have done that to us and when someone is shooting the ball like that it’s kind of hard for the opponent to do anything. We just did a really good job sharing the ball and knocking down 3s.”
Villanova went 18 for 26 from deep in its 20th straight victory against DePaul. The Wildcats (206, 9-4 Big East) have made at least nine 3s in their last five games, including 17 during Sunday’s 76-56 victory at Temple.
Bey finished with 20 points and seven assists. Gillespie and Justin Moore had 17 points apiece.
“Just be more solid every day and keep getting better with every practice and every game. That’s our mentality,” Bey said.
DePaul (13-13, 1-12) dropped its eighth straight game. The Blue Demons took the Wildcats to overtime in a 79-75 loss on Jan. 14, but the rematch was a blowout.
Coach Dave Leitao said the losing has taken a toll on his team.
“Obviously we’re all involved in this game of basketball, but what’s going on in front of us is a little bit more life than it is basketball,” he said, “in that all of us have to figure out when you face adversity, how best to deal with it.”
While Villanova was taking aim from deep, DePaul went 4 for 12 from 3-point range. Jalen ColemanLands scored 17 points, and Paul Reed finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
During one telling sequence in the second half, Coleman-Lands made a nice steal before missing a jam for DePaul. Dhamir CosbyRoundtree then slammed it home at the other end, giving Villanova a 77-46 lead with 8:21 left.
Cosby-Roundtree had a season-high 11 points and seven rebounds.
“It was just me coming in and and trying to do whatever the team needed,” he said. “Just tried to be on the glass and rebounding and focus on defense and rebounding.”
The Wildcats grabbed control when they closed the first half with a 15-2 run for a 46-26 lead at the break. They had 10 3s at halftime; the Blue Demons had 10 made field goals.
Villanova improved to 15-1 this season when it wins the rebounding battle. Cosby-Roundtree led the Wildcats to a 35-28 advantage on the glass.
Villanova visits Xavier Saturday. The Wildcats beat the Musketeers 68-62 in their Big East opener on Dec. 30.
N.C. STATE 88, DUKE 66 » Markell Johnson scored a career-high 28 points, including his third halfcourt shot this season, to help North Carolina State beat No. 6 Duke 88-66 on Wednesday night.
Devon Daniels added a career-high 25 points for the Wolfpack (17-9, 8-7 Atlantic Coast Conference). They led by 15 at halftime and 27 late in a surprisingly lopsided victory over the ACC-leading Blue Devils (22-4, 12-3).
It was a desperately needed marquee win to boost the NCAA Tournament resume for the Wolfpack, who never trailed on the way to extending Duke’s recent frustrations in Raleigh. Duke has lost six of eight in PNC Arena dating to 2010, with five of those coming against the Wolfpack and one to Mercer in the NCAA Tournament.
Vernon Carey Jr. scored 27 points for Duke. The Blue Devils made just 4 of 17 3-pointers and 10 of 22 free throws.
GEORGIA 65, NO. 13 AUBURN 55 » Anthony Edwards scored 18 points for Georgia, including a late 3-pointer to slow Auburn’s comeback attempt, and the Bulldogs beat the Tigers.
Auburn (22-4, 9-4 Southeastern Conference) suffered its second straight loss to a team with a losing record following seven straight wins. The winning streak ended Saturday with an 85-73 loss at Missouri.
Edwards’ 3-pointer with 2:15 remaining stretched the advantage to eight points.
J’Von McCormick led Auburn
with 22 points. Samir Doughty, who had 15 points, cut Georgia’s lead to 5853 with a three-point play with 1:02 remaining. Toumani Camara sank seven of eight free throws in the final 1:01 to help protect the Bulldogs’ lead.
It was a much-needed win for Georgia (13-13, 3-10), which had lost eight of nine, including four straight under second-year coach Tom Crean.
NO. 11 LOUISVILLE 90, SYRACUSE 66 » Jordan Nwora scored 17 points, Dwayne Sutton added 16 and Louisville routed Syracuse 9066 to end a two-game losing streak.
The Cardinals (22-5, 13-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) never trailed against the Orange after losses at Georgia Tech and Clemson dropped them six spots in the rankings and out of the conference lead. Buddy Boeheim had 15 points for Syracuse (14-12, 7-8).