Villanova Routs The Mount, 91-51

The Villanova Wildcats took care of business at home, handily defeating Mount Saint Mary’s, 91-51.

The Wildcats started the game strong and never looked back. Villanova’s Justin Moore led all scorers with 27 points (6-8 3PM), while Brandon Slater set career high marks in points (17) and assists (5) while shooting 5-7 from beyond the arc.

The Mountaineers were led by Malik Jefferson’s 13 points while also getting major contributions from senior forwards Nana Opoku and Mezie Offurum tallying 11 and 9 points, respectively.

As expected, this game was never particularly close as Villanova jumped out to a 20-7 advantage just ten minutes into the first half. From there, they would get contributions from ten different players en route to a comfortable opening night afternoon victory.

Mount Saint Mary’s should have nothing to hang their heads on in this performance. Playing a top five team in the country in an away opener is tough as it is, but when Villanova shoots as well as they did today, it is going to be hard for any team to defeat them. The Mountaineers will only get better from this experience and I fully expect them to be playing basketball in March.

As for the Wildcats, they will now turn their attention to Los Angeles and a top five matchup with the UCLA Bruins. Villanova experimented with a multitude of different packages tonight against Mount Saint Mary’s, which will certainly help with chemistry going into this bout with the Bruins. If they can shoot the ball and defend as well as they did tonight against UCLA, then get your popcorn ready, because this matchup will certainly not disappoint.