PHILADELPHIA _ Villanova relied on its defense Sunday before it got its 3-point stroke worked out against Seton Hall. Once they did, the Wildcats had their best game of the season from beyond the arc.
Phil Booth knocked down seven of his team's season-high 17 three-point baskets and scored 25 points and the 18th-ranked Wildcats shot 54.8 percent in the second half to roll over the Pirates, 80-52, for their eighth consecutive victory.
The Wildcats (16-4, 7-0 Big East) shot just 40.7 percent in the first half and turned the ball over 10 times but forced 14 turnovers by the Pirates (12-8, 3-5) and took a 30-20 lead. The margin was nine early in the second half before they took off on the rout.
Villanova sank 12 of its first 17 shots in the second half, including nine of 13 from beyond the arc, in taking a 64-33 lead on Collin Gillespie's 3-point basket with 9 minutes, 18 seconds to play, ending a 31-9 stretch over 9:34. The margin reached 35 points later in the game.
Eric Paschall added 17 points, including the 1,000th point of his Villanova career, and freshman Saddiq Bey added 10. The Wildcats hit 11 3-point baskets in the second half.
The Wildcats set the defensive tone early against Myles Powell, who entered the game as the Big East's No. 2 scorer with a 22.2-point average. Powell was limited to three points on 1-of-5 shooting and committed seven of the Pirates' 18 turnovers. He played just three minutes in the second half.
Myles Cale led Seton Hall with 14 points. The Pirates shot just 34.6 percent from the field.
The flow of the first half was stymied by some poor offense. The two teams combined for 24 turnovers _ 14 for the Pirates, 10 for the Wildcats _ and 19 field goals. Villanova shot 40.7 percent and Seton Hall came in at 38.1 percent after finishing 1 of 11 from the floor.
Booth and Paschall controlled the scoring in the first half. Booth drained four 3-pointers and tallied 14 points while Paschall added 12 as the Wildcats went out to a 30-20 lead. The rest of the team shot 2 of 11 from the field and scored four points.
Seton Hall turned the ball over six times in the opening 6 { minutes but made five of its first six shots from the floor for a 12-12 tie. But the Wildcats held the Pirates to one field goal over the next 4:43 and took a 20-14 lead on Booth's three-point basket with 8:26 to play.
After Quincy McKnight scored for the visitors, the Hall went another 5:04 without a field goal and Villanova went on a 7-1 run to increase its margin to 10, 27-17, on Paschall's layup with 3:09 remaining.
