Game Recap: Villanova 84, Delaware 80

With junior JayVaughn Pinkston’s team-high 26 points leading the way, Villanova survived a resilient effort from Delaware on Friday night at the Pavillion.

Four Wildcats broke double digits in the scoring column, although the team did have trouble containing UDEL’s senior guard Davon Usher, who exploded for 27 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.

Nonetheless, it was a rewarding win for ‘Nova. Pinkston (18.3 points per game) continued to dominate on the offensive end, senior guard James Bell notched 16 points and seven boards, and the ‘Cats held off a late surge from the Blue Hens in the second half.

After Usher sank a three-ball to tie the score with under five minutes to go, Villanova responded with an 8-4 run to close out the win. The four-point margin of victory was the Wildcats’ closest of the young season after laying double digit beatdowns on all three of their previous opponents.

UDEL was outrebounded 45-32, and couldn’t capitalize on a poor shooting night from Jay Wright’s Wildcats. Villanova missed 20 three-pointers (5-of-25) and shot below 45 percent from the field. Senior Carl Baptiste chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds, while juniors Jarvis Threatt and Kyle Anderson combined for 33 points on 12-of-36 shooting.

‘Nova now improves to 4-0 on the season, and will look to continue rolling with USC and the Penn Quakers scheduled in the coming weeks.