Dec. 29, 2008
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Nova Notebook Postgame: Fisher Rode to Villanova's Rescue
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) - Corey Fisher scored eight straight points in the decisive run and finished with 23 to rally No. 15 Villanova to its 23rd straight home win, 62-45 over Temple on Monday night.
The Wildcats (12-1) continued to roll over their city rivals, winning 18 of their last 19 Big 5 games. Up ahead for Villanova, a stiffer test in the Big East opener on Jan. 1 at Marquette.
The Owls (5-6) led at halftime and stretched it to 32-24 until completely falling apart from the floor. They went 11 1/2 minutes without a field goal and have lost three straight since beating then-No. 8 Tennessee.
Fisher and Scottie Reynolds put an end to Temple's lead, combining for four 3-pointers during a 14-0 run that helped Villanova match its longest winning streak at the Pavilion.
With the Big East season set to tip off, the Wildcats are hoping to avoid a repeat of last season's early conference slump. Much like this season, Villanova rolled to a 10-1 record and were No. 17 in The Associated Press' Top 25 thanks to a soft nonconference schedule before it lost six of its first nine Big East games.
They rebounded nicely to make the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight year and reached the round of 16.
Villanova went 9-for-22 from the floor and the Owls were 9-for-28. If not for Dante Cunningham's 10 points in the first half for the Wildcats, the Owls might have been able to build a bigger lead.
Once the Wildcats got going from 3-point range, this one was over in a hurry.
Reynolds hit a 3 - only the third in 12 attempts for Villanova - and Fisher hit one on each of the next possessions for a 33-32 lead. A pair of free throws gave Fisher eight straight points and Reynolds capped the shutout spurt with another 3-pointer that made it 38-32.
Two-time Atlantic 10 scoring champion Dionte Christmas was limited to 13 points, well off his season average of 20.8. Christmas sank his first two shots, then missed 15 of his next 16 from the floor.
Lavoy Allen's layup with 14:34 gave the Owls a 32-24 lead, but they did not score another basket until Luis Guzman made a layup at the 3:15 mark with Temple trailing by nine.
