No. 5 Villanova squares off with winless Lafayette (Nov 17, 2017)
Villanova has played two teams with contrasting styles and won by a combined total of 51 points against Columbia and Nicholls State.
For the fifth-ranked Wildcats (2-0), the next step is another nonconference game against Lafayette (0-2) Friday night at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pa. They will continue to play home games at the Wells Fargo Center and elsewhere since The Pavilion is undergoing a $60 million renovation this season.
"A good next step for us," Villanova coach Jay Wright said after his team throttled Nicholls State 113-77 Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center. "Two really contrasting (styles) in our first two games in which we play a Princeton style team in Columbia which was hard to guard and then we face a team that scored 111 points in their first game. They have a lot of former Division I players that can play really well and I thought we handled it well.
"It's a hard style to play against but I thought we had great leadership and good energy by Mikal (Bridges) and Donte (DiVincenzo) and we almost did it for 40 minutes which is hard to do this early in the season," Wright added.
Bridges scored a career-high 23 points, DiVincenzo added 20 and Big East Preseason Player of the Year Jalen Brunson had 17 against the Colonels.
The Wildcats will once again be facing a slow tempo offense in Lafayette.
They definitely seem to be primed for any style.
Villanova set a school record with 13 blocked shots against Nicholls State with the most recent mark of 12 coming against Delaware in 2000.
Preparation is always a key and Villanova's leaders of Bridges, DiVincenzo and Brunson continue to set a good example.
"A lot of it was just confidence from the older guys that we had," DiVincenzo said. "Josh (Hart), Kris (Jenkins), and Darryl (Reynolds). They did an amazing job building me up especially when I was down and feeling upset about some performances.
"They brought me back up and with those three leaders being gone and jumping from Year One to Year Two, my leadership role has been expanding. We have a lot of weapons on this team and a lot of athletic guys so the biggest change would be taking that leadership role."
Lafayette dropped its first two games -- 67-65 at George Mason and 96-80 at NJIT on Tuesday night.
In the opening loss to George Mason, senior co-captain Matt Klinewski became the school's 44th player to reach 1,000 points with an 18-point effort.
The Leopards shot a sizzling 18 of 24 in the second half against NJIT but still lost handily, 96-80. Alex Petrie led the way with 19 points, Klinewski added 15 and E.J. Stephens had 13.
Lafayette coach Fran O'Hanlon is beginning his 23rd season and this game will hold extra special significance since he was a team co-captain on the 1969-70 Villanova team.
"To be able to bring a team of Villanova's caliber to the Lehigh Valley is pretty cool," O'Hanlon told the program's athletic website.
