Jenkins to start as No. 2 Villanova hosts Georgetown (Feb 07, 2017)
VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Villanova's starting lineup looked a little odd Saturday night in what wound up as a 13-point victory over St. John's.
Eric Paschall started in place of Kris Jenkins, the hero of last year's national championship game with a game-winning 3-pointer to defeat North Carolina. Jenkins entered the lineup slightly more than three minutes into the game.
Coach Jay Wright said that it wasn't a teaching point, rather just a change of pace to shake Jenkins out of a shooting drought.
Jenkins responded with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. After the win, Wright said the senior leader would start as usual when Georgetown visits the Wildcats at The Pavilion on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ET.
"That's just how we want Kris to play," Wright said. "It says he had four assists but I thought there were more. He was awesome."
This will only be the Hoyas' third appearance at Villanova's on-campus arena and the first since 2006.
The second-ranked Wildcats (22-2, 9-2 Big East) have a program-best 47 straight wins at The Pavilion, their cozy 6,500-seat arena. Villanova, which moved up two spots in the latest Top 25 poll, also has home games remaining here this season against Butler and Creighton.
In its last game, Villanova rolled to a 32-9 start and defeated the Red Storm to sweep all four home games at the Wells Fargo Center. Preseason National Player of the Year candidate Josh Hart led the way with 26 points. Hart is only one of three players in program history to register at least 1,600 points, 700 rebounds and 225 assists. The other two are Kerry Kittles and Harold Pressley.
"I was really proud of the start we had tonight (Saturday)," Wright said. "We had good practices, the guys were really focused and dialed into the scouting report. It was a good start."
Georgetown will enter this Big East battle with a 13-11 overall record and 4-7 in the Big East. The Hoyas had a three-game winning streak snapped with a heartbreaking 68-66 overtime loss to Seton Hall Saturday at Verizon Center.
Junior guard L.J. Peak had 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds while guard Rodney Pryor added 13 points and five rebounds to lead the Hoyas. Forward Akoy Agau compiled seven points, 11 rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots.
It wasn't quite enough to pull out a victory.
"I thought it was definitely physical, but I think we held our own," Agau told reporters after the loss. "We made some mistakes that we will have to go back and look at -- watch film and fix and move on. I think we were right there but there are just a couple of things that we did wrong at the end that cost us the game. So just going back and looking at those things and fixing it."
Georgetown must improve on its 1-for-19 shooting from beyond the arc if harbors any hope of upsetting the Wildcats.
"I don't know what the biggest factor is," Hoyas coach John Thompson III said of the loss to the Pirates. "Clearly, 1-for-19 is not good. We've got some guys, when you're not shooting the ball well, you have to do other things, not just dwell on that 3-point shooting. But clearly, 1-for-19 plays a part in it."
