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VILLANOVA, Pa. - The No. 12 Villanova Wildcats scored the final nine points on Thursday night to outlast Bucknell 72-65 in a regional round game of the Progressive Legends Classic at the Pavilion. The `Cats improve to 3-0 overall while the Bison drop to 1-2 in the early stages of the 2014-15 campaign.

"I have to say I'm very proud of our guys and I'm very proud of my alma mater," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright, a 1983 Bucknell graduate. "That is a very well-coached team - better coached than the `Cats tonight. They just had all the answers."

Chris Hass led all scorers with 32 points - just six points shy of the Pavilion record for an opponent. He finished the night 9-of-12 from the field, 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and 11-of-12 at the free throw line.

"We knew they were going to Hass," noted Wright. "They just found different ways to get the ball to him. They did a great job - we couldn't stop them. They did a great job defensively of keeping us in front of them, giving the right guys shots.

"I am proud of our guys that we just gutted it (out)."

Junior Dylan Ennis scored 16 points and grabbed six boards for Villanova. Ryan Arcidiacono added 15 points while classmate Daniel Ochefu contributed 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots, including two critical ones in the final minutes of a tight game.

The Wildcats scored the game's first seven points as their defense caused Bucknell significant headaches. Villanova would go on to force the Bison into 13 turnovers over the first 20 minutes and that was the major reason the Wildcats took a 33-26 lead into the locker room despite connecting on 1-of-12 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc in the period. (.367 overall).

Yet the final minute of the half gave the Bison some life and set the stage for what would unfold after intermission. A 33-20 VU lead was cut to seven on back-to-back 3-pointers by Hass and J.C. Show.

"It goes from 13 to seven at halftime," Wright stated. "Now, they're feeling good. You don't want to open the floor up to give them threes. It's a credit to them. They handled it, they didn't get flustered when they turned it over and executed down the stretch."

The return of JayVaughn Pinkston to the floor - he had played only seven first half minutes after picking up his second foul - help VU rebuild its advantage to 39-30 but the Bison offense heated up after that. A 9-0 run, keyed by triples by Hass and John Azzinaro drew Bucknell even at 39 with 14:34 left.

It would remain tight the rest of the way.

A Hass triple with just under two minutes to play gave Bucknell the 65-63 lead. But Villanova drew even after Arcidiacono sank two free throws after being fouled with 1:40 left. An Ochefu free throw gave the `Cats a 66-65 edge he swatted two blocked shots in the previous Bison possession. That set up the game's biggest defensive possession in the final minute.

"I thought Daniel was outstanding defensively," explained Wright. "He had a good offensive game but I thought he was all over the floor defensively. Those plays protecting the basket at the end were huge."

Darrun Hilliard forced a Hass turnover near mid-court and the Wildcats gained possession. They inbounded the ball to Ennis, who was fouled and calmly sank both free throws. Hilliard picked off a pass near mid-court and went in for a slam dunk with nine seconds left to effectively settle matters.

"Now that it's over, I would much rather be in a game like this (than a blowout)," stated Wright. "Going into the game I wanted it to be a 30 point game. This is good for us. They are a good, smart team. They saw how Lehigh played us and did exactly what Lehigh did to us - spread us out, backed off us, and kind of suckered us into taking bad shots. We fell into the same trap.

"We're going to see that again. We've got to get better at it. I think we'll get better. Down the stretch we got the ball inside to Daniel, we made some extra passes, reversed the ball. I think we'll get it."

The Wildcats now set their sights on Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., where they will face No. 15 VCU on Monday evening. That contest will air on ESPN2 and gets underway at 7 p.m. with Bob Wischusen, Dan Dakich and Jeff Goodman on the call.