Nova Completes Series Sweep Against Seton Hall
Consecutive triples from Moore, Samuels, and Caleb Daniels gave the WIldcats a 60-44 advantage with 8:16 left in the half. (Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer).
Similar to the first matchup between both teams on January 19th, both teams would explode offensively in the second half.
Article by Dave Nguyen, AKSM Sports
NEWARK, NJ - For the Second time in the span of 11 days, the third ranked Villanova Wildcats defeated the Seton Hall Pirates 80-72 on Saturday at the Prudential Center. Despite getting into foul trouble in the second half, sophomore forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl led all scorers with 24 points, senior forward Jermaine Samuels logged in 17, and Collin Gillespie tacked on a double-double with 11 points and a career high 11 assists to propel Villanova to its ninth consecutive victory. With the win, the Wildcats improve to 11-1 and 6-0 in Big East play.
"That's a really good road win against an outstanding team," said head coach Jay Wright. "They always play us well. We've played each other so much it makes everything difficult. I thought they did a really good job on Collin Gillespie and because they did it was really important that Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Jermaine Samuels stepped up."
Both teams went back and forth in the opening six minutes of the first half with the score tied at nine. The Wildcats jumped out to an 8-0 run thanks to a jumper and a triple from Justin Moore, followed by a three from Cole Swider to give Villanova a 17-9 edge with 12:15 remaining in the half. For the next nine minutes, Villanova continued to push its lead to 35-19 as Robinson-Earl scored eight of his 24 points in that span, and Moore added two shots from beyond the arc.
"I thought that when we had our starters in there in that stretch we were really clicking defensively," stated Wright.
Yet, the Pirates were able to go on an 8-2 run of its own in the last three minutes to close the deficit to 10 to make the score 37-27 at the end of the first stanza. The Wildcats played stout defense in the first half, holding the Pirates to 11-27 from the field, 2-of-8 from three, and forced eight turnovers that turned into 13 points.
Similar to the first matchup between both teams on January 19th, both teams would explode offensively in the second half.
Samuels and Robinson Earl combined for nine points within the first four minutes to give the Wildcats a 46-32 lead. At the same time, Robinson-Earl picked up his third and fourth fouls in that span, forcing Wright to put his star forward on the bench. In the span of two minutes, the Pirates reeled off five quick points to make the score 46-37. With 10:17 left in the half, the Pirates were able to cut Villanova's lead to 10 at 51-41, but consecutive triples from Moore, Samuels, and Caleb Daniels gave the WIldcats a 60-44 advantage with 8:16 left in the half.
"I thought about bringing Jeremiah back every time they scored," thought Wright. "But we were able to keep scoring ourselves so we were able to hold him out. We got contributions out of Cole (Swider), Brandon Slater and Eric (Dixon). Collin was outstanding in getting the ball to our guys in great scoring position.”
The Pirates would respond late, going on a 16-7 run to make the score 67-60 with roughly two minutes left in the half, but free-throws from Robinson-Earl, Gillespie, and Daniels would secure the victory.
Villanova travels on the road again to take on Saint John's on Wednesday February 3rd. Coverage begins at 9pm on CBS Sports Network at 9pm from Carnasecca Arena.