National Basketball Association
Villanova 77, Rutgers 71
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 1, 2012
Where: Louis Brown Athletic Center, Piscataway, New Jersey
Officials:
# Ed Corbett, # Karl Hess, # Earl Walton
Attendance:
5496
By SportsDirect Inc.
VILLANOVA 77, RUTGERS 71: Maalik Wayns collected 18 points and eight assists as visiting Villanova jumped out early and held off Rutgers to snap a four-game slide.
JayVaughn Pinkston added 18 points and Dominic Cheek scored 15 for the Wildcats (12-17, 5-12 Big East), who moved into a tie for 12th place in the conference with the Scarlet Knights (13-17, 5-12) and Pittsburgh.
The Wildcats hit their first nine field goal attempts and led 28-9 nine minutes into the game. Cheek hit three 3-pointers in the burst and four in the first half as Villanova stayed sharp.
The Wildcats ended up shooting 69 percent in the first half and going 8 for 10 from beyond the arc to take a 48-32 lead into the break.
The second half was a completely different story, as Rutgers came out with a 19-4 run to cut the deficit to 52-51 with 12:21 left.
Villanova, which has blown double-digit leads in four losses, managed to recover and never surrendered the advantage.
The Scarlet Knights had a pair of chances in the final minute to keep the game alive but freshman guard Myles Mack turned the ball over on consecutive possessions.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Dane Miller led Rutgers with 16 points and nine rebounds … Villanova shot 27 percent in the second half and committed 21 turnovers in the contest … The Scarlet Knights went 22 for 26 (85 percent) from the free throw line.
Top Game Performances
| Villanova |
|
Rutgers |
|
JayVaughn Pinkston 18 |
Scoring |
Dane Miller 16 |
|
Maalik Wayns 8 |
Assists |
Jerome Seagears 7 |
|
Mouphtaou Yarou 11 |
Rebounds |
Dane Miller 9 |
|
JayVaughn Pinkston 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Dane Miller 6 |
|
Dominic Cheek 1 |
Steals |
Eli Carter 2 |
|
James Bell 1 |
Blocks |
Gilvydas Biruta 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Villanova
|
77 |
50.0 |
10-18 |
19-30 |
16 |
36 |
5 |
2 |
20 |
| Rutgers
|
71 |
35.5 |
5-21 |
22-26 |
12 |
27 |
3 |
9 |
10 |
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