Local Teams

Justin Moore and Collin Gillespie scored 15 points each to lift No. 3 Villanova past Providence 71-56 on Saturday in Philadelphia.

Caleb Daniels added 12 and Jermaine Samuels had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats, who improved to 10-1 overall and 5-0 in the Big East. Villanova is the lone remaining unbeaten team in conference play, and extended its winning streak to eight in a row.

Alyn Breed led Providence with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while David Duke added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Nate Watson also had 12 points.

The Friars fell to 8-7 overall and 4-5 in the conference.

Both teams started slow offensively with Villanova holding an 11-9 lead midway through the first half.

Providence went ahead 13-11 with 8:19 left after Jimmy Nichols drove to the basket and threw down a left-handed dunk. Duke and Nichols added consecutive 3-pointers and the lead was extended to 19-11.

Villanova began the day ranked first in the country in averaging the fewest turnovers per game with just eight. It committed seven turnovers through the first 17 minutes and trailed 24-17.

Gillespie and Moore each hit a layup in the final minute and the Wildcats closed within three, 24-21.

Breed was fouled on a 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds remaining in the half and made all three. But Gillespie dropped in a trey at the buzzer as the Wildcats got within 27-24 by halftime.

There was an estimated 15-minute added delay following halftime due to an arena lighting issue.

Trailing 29-24, the Wildcats ripped off a 7-0 run to move back ahead 31-29 less than four minutes into the second half.

Samuels converted a three-point play and Cole Swider knocked down a deep 3-pointer as the Wildcats moved out to a 39-33 lead with 13:57 left.

A.J. Reeves responded with a trey and Nichols made a jumper for the Friars to slice the deficit back to one.

But Villanova soon followed with an 11-0 run to move to a 50-38 lead with 10:11 to go. The spurt broke the Friars, who never drew closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

--Field Level Media