PHILADELPHIA _ Saddiq Bey lives in the D.C. area and was recruited by Georgetown but passed on the school, eventually choosing Villanova as his final college destination. He insisted before Saturday's game between the Wildcats and the Hoyas that there was "no rivalry" but it was "just our next game."
Bey, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward, still came out as if he had something to prove. He shot 10 of 15 overall from the field, including 8 of 10 from 3-point range, and scored a career-high 33 points to lift the 16th-ranked Cats to an 80-66 win over Georgetown before a crowd of 15,041 at Wells Fargo Center.
Bey got off to a hot start with 19 points in the opening half to lift 'Nova (12-3, 3-1 Big East) to a 39-36 lead at the break. He scored 10 of his team's first 17 points of the second half as the Cats grew their lead over the Hoyas (11-6, 1-3) to as many as 17 points.
Collin Gillespie's 3-point basket with just over 9 minutes remaining gave Villanova a 63-50 lead but the Hoyas scored the next six points to make it a seven-point game at 63-56 with 6:12 remaining on a basket by Qudus Wahab. The Cats responded with a 10-0 run _ six by Jeremiah Robinson-Earl _ and increased their margin to 73-56 with 2:32 to play.
