NO. 1 VILLANOVA 93, NO. 16 LAFAYETTE 52
PITTSBURGH -- Without a hint of doubt, Villanova flexed its top-seeded muscle, thumping Lafayette 93-52 on Thursday night.
Thirty years after stunning the basketball world with an improbable national championship, the Wildcats (33-2) are going to try it this time around as a prohibitive favorite to reach the Final Four.
Dylan Ennis scored 16 points and helped the Wildcats win their 16th consecutive game.
The Wildcats shot close to 70 percent for most of the game as they cruised to a lead of more than 30 points.
Dan Trist led the Patriot League champion Leopards (20-13) with 18 points.
Ennis opened the game with a three-pointer and the Wildcats simply romped from there. Kris Jenkins hit consecutive three-pointers for a 14-point lead, part of a 6-of-12 effort from three-point range in the first half.
While the Wildcats drained them from long range, they shut down Lafayette's potent three-point game. The Leopards were second nationally in three-point shooting (41 percent), and the thought was, if the Leopards got hot from 3, they could give the Wildcats a game.
Not a chance.
The Leopards missed six of their first seven three-point attempts and were just 2 of 9 in the first half. Joey Ptasinski led the Leopards with 72 three-pointers at 46 percent shooting. He missed all three attempts.
The Leopards seemingly would have had to make all their shots to keep pace with the Big East champion Wildcats.
Villanova used a 13-0 run to lead 34-13. When Big East co-player of the year Ryan Arcidiacono hit a three-pointer early in the second half for a 58-30 lead, Villanova was shooting 67 percent (24 of 34) and 54 percent on 3s (7 of 13).
All five starters scored at least 10 points and Jenkins had 10 off the bench.
The Wildcats finished No. 2 in the AP Top 25 and were a trendy pick to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2009. They won the Big East regular-season and tournament titles in the same season for the first time in program history. They hold a No. 1 seed for the second time in history. And, they have gone two months without a loss, putting them in the mix as the best of all the Wildcats -- with both Kentucky and Arizona.
Villanova won its first Big East Tournament championship in 20 years and would like to mark another milestone with a championship -- 30 years since it upset Georgetown to win the 1985 national championship.
N.C. STATE 66, LSU 65
PITTSBURGH — BeeJay Anya’s hook shot rolled around and in with a second to play, lifting North Carolina State to a victory over LSU.
The eighth-seeded Wolfpack (21-13) trailed by as many as 16 points but rallied to earn a date with top-seeded Villanova in the round of 32 on Saturday. Cat Barber led N.C. State with 17 points and Abdul-Malik Abu added 13, but Anya came up with the biggest play of the game. Senior Trevor Lacey tried to work for a shot with the clock winding down before giving up and feeding Anya in the block. The sophomore got off a left-handed hook in the lane and it caromed in.
Tim Quarterman scored 17 points, but the Tigers (22-11) collapsed late. Jarell Martin had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Jordan Mickey had 12 points and 14 boards.
LSU missed its last 12 field goals and six crucial free throws in the final 4 minutes in another late-game collapse. A week after falling to Auburn in the SEC Tournament, the Tigers’ breakout season under third-year Coach Johnny Jones ended with a thud.
Sports on 03/20/2015