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Have you been missing the 2017-18 Villanova Wildcats lately?
Well, I’ve got some good news for you! They made an appearance on Friday morning in Villanova’s 77-58 victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
The Wildcats barraged the Cowboys with threes, pulled away early, and left little doubt about the result, leading from 13 seconds into the game to the end of the day.
Eric Paschall led the way with 22 points and six threes. Of those 22 points, 20 came in the first half, as the senior set the tone for the Wildcats. Coming into Friday’s game, Paschall was just 4-23 from beyond the arc on the season, including a 2-11 performance in the loss to Furman. You may remember last season when Paschall’s three point shooting struggled through nonconference play before he became one of Nova’s deadliest long range weapons in Big East play. Is the regression starting earlier than usual for Paschall this season?
Phil Booth also looked like his old self in the victory, scoring 20 points. Where Paschall did most of his work in the first half, Booth took the reins in the second, scoring 11 of his 20 points and making sure the Cowboys couldn’t put together a comeback. Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree’s rebounding prowess continued, as he finished with a game-high 13 to go along with nine points. Saddiq Bey had the inverse of Cosby-Roundtree, 13 points and nine rebounds.
Jahvon Quinerly only playing three minutes looks odd on the surface but it’s pretty clear Jay Wright is gonna play him against lower-tier teams and ease him in against higher-tier teams. By the time Big East play rolls around, he should be a factor.
Villanova did what it had to do to cruise to the victory. It’s hard to find too many things to gripe about in such a dominating performance, and it’s especially impressive when you consider it was their second game in as many days.
Mike Cunningham led the Cowboys with 15 points.
The Wildcats move on to Sunday’s final where they’ll meet either the LSU Tigers or Florida State Seminoles.