National Basketball Association
Villanova 82, Syracuse 77
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 20, 2014
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Officials:
# Jeffrey Anderson, # Brian O'Connell, # Mike Roberts
Attendance:
18369
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 7 Villanova 82, Syracuse 77 (OT): JayVaughn Pinkston collected season highs of 25 points and 10 rebounds and made several big plays late in regulation and in overtime as the host Wildcats stayed unbeaten with a thrilling comeback against the Orange.
Syracuse dominated the first half before blowing a five-point lead late in regulation, as Villanova's Josh Hart made a 3-pointer with 10.8 seconds left before the Orange could not handle the inbounds pass, leading to Pinkston's reverse layup with about four seconds to go. The Wildcats made 5-of-6 foul shots in overtime before Pinkston's tough reverse layup with 1:23 left put them ahead 76-73, and the senior recorded a key block with Villanova nursing a three-point lead in the final seconds.
Darrun Hilliard II contributed 23 points and Josh Hart had a career-high 21 for the Wildcats (11-0), who were 26-of-32 from the foul line. Michael Gbinije had 18 points and eight rebounds while freshman Kaleb Joseph notched 10 points and a career-high 10 assists for the Orange (6-4), who committed a season-high 20 turnovers in losing for the third time in four games.
Syracuse held a 51-43 lead with 11 1/2 minutes to go before Pinkston scored five points during an 11-6 push to draw Villanova within 57-54, and Hilliard's steal and dunk made it 61-59 with 3 1/2 minutes left. The Orange seemed to be in control with 1:06 remaining when they took a 66-62 advantage on a three-point play by Rakeem Christmas, who finished with 18 points.
Christmas and Gbinije each had 11 first-half points as the Orange shot 4-of-6 from 3-point range as part of a 63 percent performance from the field en route to a 43-31 lead at the break. Hilliard made a tough jumper late in the first half and that seemed to spark the Wildcats, who scored 12 of the first 16 points of the second half, including eight straight from Hilliard at one point, to get within 47-43.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Hart (11 points), Hilliard (nine) and Pinkston (nine) accounted for 29 of Villanova's 31 first-half points. ... Joseph, whose previous career high was eight assists, recorded seven assists in the first half. ... Hilliard left with an undisclosed injury with 3:03 left in overtime, which is when Syracuse F Chris McCullough fouled out. Christmas, the other member of the Orange starting frontcourt, fouled out 51 seconds later and Gbinije fouled out shortly thereafter.
Top Game Performances
| Syracuse |
|
Villanova |
|
Rakeem Christmas 18 |
Scoring |
JayVaughn Pinkston 25 |
|
Kaleb Joseph 10 |
Assists |
Ryan Arcidiacono 9 |
|
Michael Gbinije 8 |
Rebounds |
JayVaughn Pinkston 10 |
|
Trevor Cooney 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Josh Hart 9 |
|
Michael Gbinije 3 |
Steals |
Darrun Hilliard 4 |
|
Rakeem Christmas 2 |
Blocks |
Daniel Ochefu 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Syracuse
|
77 |
49.2 |
4-12 |
13-18 |
19 |
27 |
3 |
11 |
20 |
| Villanova
|
82 |
41.9 |
4-16 |
26-32 |
17 |
33 |
4 |
12 |
18 |
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