Nov. 17, 2010
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VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) -Antonio Pena scored 17 points and Corey Fisher had 16 to lead No. 6 Villanova to an 82-66 victory over Boston University in the second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Wednesday night.
The Wildcats (3-0) won their 40th straight game at The Pavilion, and advanced to the semifinals of the tournament next Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
John Holland scored 14 points and Jake O'Brien had 13 for the Terriers (1-2).
Coming off a 37-point win over Marist on Tuesday, Villanova cruised again. The Wildcats led by 16 at halftime and were never seriously challenged.
Pena stole a pass and strolled in for an uncontested slam to cap an 18-5 run and give Villanova a 24-12 lead with 8:35 left in the first half.
The Wildcats shot 55.2 percent (32 of 58) mainly because they got most of their points on layups. Known to be a solid 3-point shooting team, Villanova took just 12 shots from beyond the arc and only made one.
The Terriers tried to make a run in the second half. Matt Griffin's 3-pointer cut the deficit to 57-45 midway through. But Mouphtaou Yarou scored on a layup and Pena sank two free throws and hit a jumper to extend Villanova's lead to 63-45.
Griffin nailed an 18-footer to get BU within 72-59 with 4:36 remaining. The Wildcats answered with a layup by Dominic Cheek and two free throws by Maalik Wayns, who finished with 12 points and 12 assists
BU didn't get closer than 14 the rest of the way.
It was a homecoming for BU coach Patrick Chambers, most of his staff and team. Chambers spent four years on Jay Wright's staff, the last one as associate head coach in 2009 when the Wildcats reached the Final Four.
Chambers played at Philadelphia University, and BU's assistant coaches all went to Big Five schools. Eight Terriers attended high schools in the extended Philadelphia area.
While Villanova has become an NCAA tournament regular under Wright, BU clearly isn't close to that level. This was BU's first game against a top-10 opponent since losing to No. 1 Duke five years ago.
The schools met only once before, a Villanova win during the 1937-38 season.
The normally animated Wright again spent most of the game sitting on the bench. He got up a couple times, but didn't do much yelling at his players or referees.
