VILLANOVA, Pa. _ Villanova followed its weekend in Charleston with a game against Charleston � the college of, not the city � and came up with the same formula for a victory.
The second-ranked Wildcats used timely shooting and lockdown defense along with balanced scoring Wednesday night and rolled to a 63-47 victory over the Cougars at the Pavilion.
The Cats (6-0) played for the third consecutive game without starting guard Phil Booth because of inflammation in his left knee. Coach Jay Wright also benched senior forward Kris Jenkins for the first 3 minutes, 7 seconds because of a missed class.
Villanova still managed to breeze, even though it made just 43.8 percent of its shots from the field, and only 5 of 17 from 3-point range. But the Wildcats did limit the Cougars (3-3) to 35.2 shooting from the floor, and to only four 3-point baskets in 22 attempts.
Josh Hart led the Cats with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Jenkins added 11 points. Jarrell Brantley led the Cougars with 18 points.
Thanks to 50 percent shooting, the Wildcats led by as many as 16 points in the first half and held a 35-21 advantage at the break. They went more than three minutes at the start of the second half without scoring, while watching their margin dip to 10, then broke out of their drought with a vengeance.
Jalen Brunson converted a conventional three-point play to touch off a 10-0 run that also featured a three-pointer by Jenkins. Eric Paschall's dunk with 15:04 remaining ended the spurt and gave the Wildcats their largest lead, 45-25.
A 3-point basket by Donte DiVincenzo restored the Cats' 20-point margin at the 11:25 mark, and Brunson later hit a driving layup in the lane and two free throws to get the gap up to 22, 54-32, with 9:36 remaining.
The layup by Brunson, with 10:32 to play, was the last for Villanova for more than nine minutes, or until Dylan Painter hit a shot in the lane with 1:25 to play. The Wildcats hit nine free throws in 12 attempts over this time and their lead never dropped below 14.
After falling in an early 5-2 hole, Hart drilled a 3-point basket to launch a 10-0 run for a 12-5 lead. A run of seven straight points later in the half extended Villanova's lead to 22-9 on a conventional three-point play by Darryl Reynolds, who dunked off a nice pass from Bridges.
The Cougars scored the next five points to close to within eight, but the Wildcats answered with an 8-0 run that was bookended by 3-point baskets from Hart and Jenkins. The Jenkins hoop gave 'Nova its largest lead of the half, 30-14, with 5:05 remaining, and the Wildcats held a 14-point lead at the break.
