Villanova blasts out Ohio 78-54

Redeeming their loss against Ohio State, Villanova found its groove and soundly defeated Ohio University 78-54 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia today.

The onset of the game did not reflect the large-margin final score. In fact, the first half was riddled in an offensive stalement for both teams—double digit points did not hit the scoreboard for either team until the 13 minute mark. However, soon after Villanova broke free from the game’s sluggish pace and nearly closed the half on a 16-0 run.

Freshman Justin Moore had a breakout game, giving critical impact to ‘Nova’s offense by dropping 18 points. Sophomore Saddiq Bey splashed a game-high of 19 points, and even more impressively, shot 70% of his field goals. From the three-point line, Bey shot a whopping 80%. Three-pointers could have been the key to ‘Nova’s mid-game resurgence—the Wildcats shot 45.2% of 3FGs.

For the Ohio Bobcats, Ben Vander Plas topped scoring with 19 points, followed by Jason Preston with 16. Notably, whereas ‘Nova thrived from three, Ohio could not find their rhythm beyond the arc. The Bobcats ended the game with a mere 15% of their 3FGs.

Villanova moves on to meet Middle Tennessee next Thursday in Conway, South Carolina for the Myrtle Beach Invitational.