LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Villanova took a step forward after dropping out of the Top 25 for the first time since December 2013.
Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree had 15 points and 13 rebounds, and the defending national champion Wildcats stopped a two-game skid by beating Canisius 83-56 on Thursday in the opening round of the AdvoCare Invitational at Disney World.
"We pride ourselves on attention to detail, and as you can see right now we just don't have it," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "We've got a lot of new guys, but it was a good step for us today. I thought a lot of good details defensively, good details on the glass."
The Wildcats outrebounded Canisius 51-24.
Oklahoma State, No. 14 Florida State and No. 19 LSU joined Villanova in Friday's semifinals.
Phil Booth also scored 15 points for the Wildcats (3-2). They will play Oklahoma State, which beat Memphis 84-64.
Villanova went from No. 8 to unranked after losing to Michigan 73-46 in a rematch of last season's national championship game and getting beaten 76-68 in overtime by Furman last week.
Wildcats stars Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Omari Spellman were all selected in the NBA draft after last season's championship run.
"When we were in the AP poll we never talked about it, so when we're not we don't talk about it," Wright said. "We were looking forward to playing better and that's what I'm really pleased with."
Canisius (1-3) got 19 points from Isaiah Reese. Takal Molson, who entered averaging 21.3 per game, had 10.
The Golden Griffins got to 63-52 with 4 1/2 minutes left before Villanova pulled away.
Canisius and Memphis will meet Friday in the consolation round.
