Nov. 14, 2004

Box Score

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Junior forward Curtis Sumpter (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored 22 points and had 14 rebounds, and the Wildcats shot 54 percent from the field in a 71-60 victory over Philadelphia University in a Sunday night exhibition game from The Pavilion. Villanova was playing its only official tuneup before starting the regular season on November 23 against UMBC.

Sumpter hit on 8-of-15 from the floor and added 6-of-6 free throws in 35 minutes to complete his line. Junior guard Allan Ray (Bronx, N.Y.) scored 13 points and sophomore forward Will Sheridan (Bear, Del.) added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats.

"It was a good step in our preparation for the regular season," head coach Jay Wright said. "We played an extremely well-coached Philadelphia University team that is very efficient. We couldn't have gotten better preparation at this point of the year."

The Wildcats pulled away from a nine-point lead early in the second half with a 12-2 run over six minutes to take its biggest lead of the game, 50-31, with 13:25 remaining. Junior forward Chris Charles (Milwaukee, Wisc.) scored six of his 11 points during the run, and was 4-of-4 from the field for the game.

"Chris Charles did a great job of battling inside for us," Wright said. "Curtis also did a good job finding shots within our offense."

Villanova's size and strength inside was too much for the Rams to handle. The Wildcats had a 38-18 rebounding edge for the evening, including 14 caroms on the offensive end.

Brent Welton scored 20 points to lead three Philadelphia players in double figures. Brian Tomko added 14 points, while Darnell Goudy had 12 points and a team-high five rebounds.

Villanova took control of the game midway through the first half, building a nine-point lead with a 14-2 run over 5:30. The Wildcats went on to lead by as many as 17 points in the opening period before going into halftime with a 38-26 lead.