No. 11 Villanova uses defense to beat ETSU 86-51

Starting point guard Ge’Lawn Guyn picked up three early fouls and was on the bench for much of the carnage.

Wright pointed to Ochefu’s effort as a key to what transpired.

Now, the junior from Upper Marlboro, Md., is one of coach Jay Wright’s starters and a go-to scorer, and he’s taking full advantage of his increased opportunities. “We gave up offensive rebounds”. We lost guys. We did the same thing against Nebraska.

“We just weren’t making shots”. But then, after they hurt us a couple of times, we got it going.

Villanova was the Big East’s top scoring defense in 2014-15 and hasn’t given any indication that is about to change through two games this season.

After going down, 9-4, Villanova used a 31-2 run paced by a 4-for-4 start from Hart to take a 35-11 lead. By then, the extension of the “Cats” Pavilion winning streak to 29 already was a formality.

Villanova hosts Akron on Sunday. The Wildcats will play either Arkansas or Georgia Tech Saturday in a final or a consolation game.

East Tennessee State forward Lester Wilson (15) and guard Desonta Bradford (11) reach for a rebound with Villanova guard Josh Hart in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, November 20, 2015, in Villanova, Pa. Villanova won 86-51.

When the Buccaneers’ T.J. Cromer finally sank a free throw to snap the skid, Villanova had built itself a 35-11 lead. First-year coach Steve Forbes has worked 10 newcomers into his system rather quickly for the Buccaneers, who have topped the century mark twice in wins over Division III foe Averett and Green Bay.

The Wildcats held the Cornhuskers to 37.7 percent shooting and 7 for 23 from 3-point range with 22 turnovers, which came four days after limiting Fairleigh Dickinson to 27.0 percent in a 91-54 win. Few of those shots seemed out of place. I really like their team. And if these guys are open from “3” we want them to shoot it. We never put a goal or a limit on how many we want to get. They helped us because the atmosphere was great.

“Give them all the credit”, Forbes said. After being outrebounded, 40-33, by Nebraska, the ‘Cats were looking for that improvement Friday.

“Once we got it going, I thought we were pretty good defensively”, Wright said. “Focus on defense and rebounding and everything else will follow”. ETSU kept it close with Villanova very early in the game, beating the Wildcats on the offensive board to take a 9-4 lead to start. ETSU ranks eighth in the country in blocked shots (nine per game).3.

Booth, a sophomore, set a career-high with 16 points on 5 of 11 shooting.

But the difference Friday, as it has been through the “Cats” 3-0 start, was the defense, which pestered East Tennessee into 19-for-59 shooting, 4-for-22 from three-point range and 17 turnovers. The ‘Cats collected 29 defensive rebounds.

That said, defense, as Jenkins said, “is always our No. 1 priority”.