Lafayette Leopards vs Villanova Wildcats Match Player Stats On Nov 17, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Nov 17, 2017

ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- Mikal Bridges scored a career-high 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting and fifth-ranked Villanova led from start to finish in a 104-57 victory over Lafayette Friday night at PPL Center.

Jalen Brunson added 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting, Omari Spellman contributed 15 and Eric Paschall had 14 for the Wildcats (3-0), who traveled about an hour from their campus to play this home game. Villanova's home arena on campus is undergoing a $60 million renovation this season, so the bulk of its home games are being played at the Wells Fargo Center.

Phil Booth also scored 11 points for the Wildcats.

Lafayette, which fell to 0-3, was led by Matt Klinewski with 16 points. The Leopards have now dropped their first three games to George Mason, NJIT and Villanova.

Paschall threw down a vicious dunk, Brunson hit a jumper and a 3-pointer and the lead was suddenly 63-23 with 17:53 remaining, forcing Lafayette to call timeout.

Villanova maintained its terrific shooting and pushed its advantage to 86-40 midway through the second half.

Villanova came out red hot en route to a 22-10 lead after hitting eight of its first 10 shots.

By the second media timeout, the Wildcats extended their advantage to 28-12.

When Brunson drained a 3-pointer, the lead was 31-12 in favor of Villanova. Collin Gillespie's deep 3-point shot with 8:20 remaining pushed the lead to 39-16.

Bridges had scored a career-high 23 points in Tuesday's 113-77 victory over Nicholls State and he was virtually unstoppable in the first half on his way to a 16-point performance on 6-of-6 shooting. Bridges was active on both ends and his teammates seemed to feed off his energy.

Villanova rolled to a 56-23 halftime advantage thanks to 63 percent shooting overall and 63 percent from beyond the arc -- 12 of 19.

Lafayette struggled (10 of 29) against the Wildcats' stifling defense.

NOTES: Villanova coach Jay Wright improved to 6-0 all-time against Lafayette. ... Villanova is now 10-1 against the Leopards in the series which dates to 1922. ... Villanova has been ranked in the Top 25 every week since the opening week of December of 2013. ... Lafayette coach Fran O'Hanlon, in his 23rd season, was a co-captain on Villanova's 1969-70 team. ... Lafayette F Matt Klinewski recently went over the 1,000-point plateau to become the 44th player in school history to achieve the milestone. ... Villanova will compete in the Battle for Atlantis beginning Wednesday against Western Kentucky in the tournament held in the Bahamas.