VILLANOVA, Pa. _ Villanova spent opening night at the renovated Finneran Pavilion unveiling its four new freshmen and including them in a number of combinations that had the scorekeeper on his toes trying to keep track of all the substitutions.
Even as Morgan State tried to turn the game into a sloppy one Tuesday night with its full-court press and up-tempo approach on offense, the Wildcats still had seniors Eric Paschall and Phil Booth on the court to keep some semblance of order.
With Paschall scoring a game-high 26 points and Booth adding 17, the defending national champion opened the Finn in style with a 100-77 victory over the Bears.
Saddiq Bey, one of the highly regarded freshmen making his collegiate debut, led the 'Nova rookies with 16, draining three of his team's 12 3-point baskets.
Villanova shot 50 percent from the field and 30.6 percent from 3-point range for the game, and committed 14 turnovers. Morgan State, also making its season debut, shot 46.5 percent from the floor but was outscored 20-6 from the free-throw line.
Isaiah Burke led the Bears with 17 points.
The Wildcats held a 54-43 lead at the half, shooting 62.1 percent from the floor and knocking down nine 3-point baskets in 19 attempts. Paschall hit 6 of 6 from the field and scored 19 points to lead all scorers, while Booth added 11.
However, coach Jay Wright couldn't have been happy with 10 turnovers that led to 15 points by Morgan State. He also likely told his team about the Bears' 51.4 percent shooting and number of points in the opening 20 minutes.
The Wildcats broke the game open with a 12-0 run midway through the second half. Booth hit a leaner in the lane to close the spurt and give his team a 76-57 lead with 10 minutes left to play. The Bears never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.
Wright used 11 players in the first half, and tried a number of different combinations on the court, including his four freshman anchored by Booth.
Bey was the first freshman to take the court for the Cats, and he hit a pair of 3-pointers on his first two touches as a collegian. He led the freshmen with seven points in the first half. He also played 12 minutes, and only Booth and Paschall played more.
The Wildcats had 26 points less than 7{ minutes into the game, shooting 9 of 14 from the field with six 3s. But after Paschall's conventional three-point play made the score 26-15, the Bears scored seven straight points and prompted Wright to call a timeout.
Villanova responded with a run of 10 straight points to take its largest lead at 14, 36-22, with 8:51 left, and later got the margin to 15, 46-31, on two free throws by Paschall with 4:29 left.
The Bears responded with a 12-3 run to close to within 49-43 on a basket by Jordan Little with 57 seconds remaining but Booth knocked down a 3-ball and Paschall a dunk for the 11-point halftime margin.
