Dec 28, 2003

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Randy Foye had 23 points and nine rebounds and Curtis Sumpter added 23 points, leading Villanova past North Carolina-Greensboro 84-63 on Sunday.

Sumpter also had eight rebounds and equaled a career-high with three blocks, while Allan Ray had 15 points and Mike Nardi added 11 for the Wildcats (8-2), who marked their fifth straight win and eclipsed 80 points for only the second time all season.

Ronnie Burrell shot 10-for-14 from the field for 21 points to lead the Spartans (4-7), who lost their fifth straight game. Leading scorer Jay Joseph was held to just 10 points. Ronnie Taylor led Greensboro with eight rebounds.

Sumpter had 19 first-half points, including 11 during a 22-4 run that opened the game. The Wildcats got consecutive 3s from Ray, Foye, Sumpter and Nardi during the run.

Villanova led 47-28 at the half and led by as many as 28 down the stretch.

Just more than six minutes into the game, team captain Derrick Snowden entered after missing the first nine games of the season with a torn ACL.

Snowden - who led the Wildcats in assists and minutes played last season - fed Sumpter a no-look pass that Sumpter dunked, then hit a 3-pointer from the elbow for his first and only basket of the season.

Marcus Austin also returned to the Villanova lineup Sunday, having completed his eight-game suspension after a March incident involving improper use of a university telephone access code. He had one point in seven minutes.

Despite the return of Snowden and Austin, Villanova still is not at full-strength this season. The Wildcats were without center Jason Fraser, who was inactive with an irritated left patella tendon.