December 15, 1998

Box

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Malik Allen's 14 points led a balanced Villanova offense as the Wildcats' reserves sparked a first-half rally that helped down Massachusetts 66-55 on Tuesday.

John Celestand and Howard Brown each added 11 for the Wildcats (8-2), whose bench outscored the Minutemen reserves 20-4. Monty Mack had 14 points to pace UMass (2-5).

After falling behind by 14 points in the second half, UMass cut the lead to 59-51 with 2:04 left on Mike Babul's 3-pointer. Villanova, however, then converted seven straight free throws while Massachusetts went scoreless.

Lari Ketner had 12 points for UMass, which made only three of 15 3-pointers in the game, while Villanova finished 7-of-18 from behind the arc.

Villanova missed its first 10 shots of the game and trailed 10-0 before Jermaine Medley hit a 3-pointer with 15:20 left in the first half. The Wildcats tied the score at 16-16 on a Brown 3-pointer and held a 31-24 edge at halftime, hitting on six of 12 3-pointers.

A 9-2 run at the start of the second half - six of the points by Allen - gave Villanova a 40-26 lead. UMass closed to within 42-34 on a 3-point shot by Mack with 10:08 left to play.

It was the 13th meeting between the two schools who last played in 1980. Villanova holds a 12-1 edge in the series.