02-22-2018, 08:21 AM
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. â With its lineup back intact thanks to the return to action of redshirt junior guard Phil Booth, No. 3 Villanova (25-3 overall, 12-3 BIG EAST) rolled to a 93-62 victory over DePaul (10-17 overall, 3-12 BIG EAST) in a conference game played at the Wells Fargo Center Wednesday night.
In his first appearance in a game in just more than four weeks, Booth supplied 14 points in 16 minutes of action as a reserve. Classmate Mikal Bridges led all scorers on the night with 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field.
âIt was great to have everybody back and healthy,â stated Wildcats head coach Jay Wright, who picked up his 411th victory at the helm of VU. âIt was great to have Phil back. I thought we got great leadership from Jalen (Brunson), Mikal and Phil. Thatâs whatâs important in games like this.â
Booth had the cast removed from his right (shooting) hand on Friday and only returned to full participation at practice yesterday. He missed seven games since suffering the injury in an 89-69 win over Providence on Jan. 23 here.
âAs a 56 year old person I am just amazed that you can have a cast on your hand and come out and practice like (Phil) did yesterday,â noted Wright. âItâs a tribute to him and our assistant coaches who were working with him, our strength coach and our trainer. He looked like he never had anything wrong with his hand in practice. And he looked pretty good tonight.â
âPhil is one of our leaders,â state Bridges. âHe knows how we play â how to read defenses, when to make the right pass. Weâre just happy to have him back.â
The Baltimore native was delighted to be back on the court.
âIt felt good to be back there playing with these guys,â Booth stated. âThere was just a little bit of rust after not being out there for a month. I just wanted to get back out there to help the team in any way I can.â
Brunson scored the first six points of the night but DePaul picked up five from Max Strus to go with a Brandon Cyrus deuce to grab an early 7-6 advantage. The game remained tight, deadlocked at 16 midway through the period, before a 9-4 spurt helped the Wildcats craft a 25-20 lead with 7:25 to play in the first period.
The biggest boost in that stretch came from Booth, who scored five points, in the early minutes of his return from a seven game absence.
With its bolstered depth, Villanova was again able to apply more pressure and it paid off in 10 first half Blue Demon turnovers. That and the combination of Bridges (15 points) and Booth (eight points) helped the Wildcats build a 46-30 halftime advantage.
Besides the presence of a full nine man rotation for the first time since a Dec. 5 win over Gonzaga at Madison Square Garden, the most encouraging signs for the Wildcats was their ability to limit DePaul to 2-of-12 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc and commit just three fouls in the period.
A quick burst by Villanova in the opening 1:21 of the second half started with an Omari Spellman post-up move for a bucket. Eric Paschall dropped in a 3-pointer and that was followed by a steal and score by Bridges to make it 53-30.
The Wildcats were never threatened again.
The final points of the evening came from two of the senior Villanova walk-ons. Denny Grace dropped in his first career 3-pointer and Tom Leibig sank a short jumper on the final offensive possession of the night. Matt Kennedy grabbed the final defensive rebound in the 93-62 final. The trio was honored as part of âSenior Nightâ ceremonies prior to the game.
That sequence produce a joyous response from the Villanova bench.
âThere are so many little things that they do for us that people donât see,â stated Booth. âThey are cheering for us so we are happy to cheer for them.â
http://www.villanova.com/sports/m-baskbl...18aac.html
In his first appearance in a game in just more than four weeks, Booth supplied 14 points in 16 minutes of action as a reserve. Classmate Mikal Bridges led all scorers on the night with 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field.
âIt was great to have everybody back and healthy,â stated Wildcats head coach Jay Wright, who picked up his 411th victory at the helm of VU. âIt was great to have Phil back. I thought we got great leadership from Jalen (Brunson), Mikal and Phil. Thatâs whatâs important in games like this.â
Booth had the cast removed from his right (shooting) hand on Friday and only returned to full participation at practice yesterday. He missed seven games since suffering the injury in an 89-69 win over Providence on Jan. 23 here.
âAs a 56 year old person I am just amazed that you can have a cast on your hand and come out and practice like (Phil) did yesterday,â noted Wright. âItâs a tribute to him and our assistant coaches who were working with him, our strength coach and our trainer. He looked like he never had anything wrong with his hand in practice. And he looked pretty good tonight.â
âPhil is one of our leaders,â state Bridges. âHe knows how we play â how to read defenses, when to make the right pass. Weâre just happy to have him back.â
The Baltimore native was delighted to be back on the court.
âIt felt good to be back there playing with these guys,â Booth stated. âThere was just a little bit of rust after not being out there for a month. I just wanted to get back out there to help the team in any way I can.â
Brunson scored the first six points of the night but DePaul picked up five from Max Strus to go with a Brandon Cyrus deuce to grab an early 7-6 advantage. The game remained tight, deadlocked at 16 midway through the period, before a 9-4 spurt helped the Wildcats craft a 25-20 lead with 7:25 to play in the first period.
The biggest boost in that stretch came from Booth, who scored five points, in the early minutes of his return from a seven game absence.
With its bolstered depth, Villanova was again able to apply more pressure and it paid off in 10 first half Blue Demon turnovers. That and the combination of Bridges (15 points) and Booth (eight points) helped the Wildcats build a 46-30 halftime advantage.
Besides the presence of a full nine man rotation for the first time since a Dec. 5 win over Gonzaga at Madison Square Garden, the most encouraging signs for the Wildcats was their ability to limit DePaul to 2-of-12 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc and commit just three fouls in the period.
A quick burst by Villanova in the opening 1:21 of the second half started with an Omari Spellman post-up move for a bucket. Eric Paschall dropped in a 3-pointer and that was followed by a steal and score by Bridges to make it 53-30.
The Wildcats were never threatened again.
The final points of the evening came from two of the senior Villanova walk-ons. Denny Grace dropped in his first career 3-pointer and Tom Leibig sank a short jumper on the final offensive possession of the night. Matt Kennedy grabbed the final defensive rebound in the 93-62 final. The trio was honored as part of âSenior Nightâ ceremonies prior to the game.
That sequence produce a joyous response from the Villanova bench.
âThere are so many little things that they do for us that people donât see,â stated Booth. âThey are cheering for us so we are happy to cheer for them.â
http://www.villanova.com/sports/m-baskbl...18aac.html