Villanova vs. Georgia Tech

The Cardinal did show marked improvement in their rebounding from their opening games, taking advantage of foul trouble for Villanova forward Daniel Ochefu to generate 20 offensive boards and build a 55-35 edge in the category.

Villanova (5-0), which will play Georgia Tech for the championship on Friday, never had a game this bad in two key areas last season. The basket gave Georgia Tech a 7-6 lead. Hart, Ryan Arcidiacono and Kris Jenkins combined to go 2-of-21 from 3-point land as the Wildcats shot just 30.6 percent from the field, but forced 23 Stanford turnovers. Take those cold streaks away and the Cardinal shot 48 percent.

Reynolds said, “It felt good to step in and do what my teammates needed me to do, setting ball screens on offense and keeping guys in front of me on defense, making sure I was playing smart at the defensive end”. Dorian Pickens added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Stanford Cardinal lost their 2nd consecutive game and dropped to 2-2 (0-0 Pac-12) on the season after being defeated by the Saint Mary’s Gaels, 78-61, this past Sunday afternoon.

Tonny Trocha-Morelos finished with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, for Texas A&M, which will face Syracuse in the title game.

ABOUT VILLANOVA (5-0): Jalen Brunson hit all five of his free throws en route to a career-high 18 points in the win over Stanford.

A hot start for the Yellow Jackets tied the game at 30 before Brunson stepped up with a bucket and put ‘Nova up by two going into the first TV timeout of the second half.

Georgia Tech grabbed its only lead at 7-6 on Marcus Georges-Hunt’s layup 3:36 into the game.

Villanova’s defense smothered Stanford into a miserable night from the floor and the Wildcats advanced to the final of the NIT Season Tip-Off with a 59-45 win on Thanksgiving at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Leading scorer Marcus Allen scored 12 points but was 3 for 12 for Stanford (2-3).

Stanford: Thursday was Stanford’s 13th game in NY since 2011-12. Last year, the Cardinal appeared in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, beating UNLV and losing to eventual national champion Duke.

The loss drops Stanford to 2-3, the first time the team has fallen below.

Brunson and Hart were named to the all-tournament team, along with Mitchell, Arkansas’ Anthlon Bell and Stanford’s Rosco Allen.