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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. ââ'¬" The Villanova Wildcats (7-0 overall, 1-0 Big Five) opened the Philadelphia Big Five portion of their schedule on Tuesday night with an 86-72 victory over Saint Joseph's (4-2 overall, 0-1 Big Five) before a sold out crowd of 4,200 at Hagan Arena.

Juniors Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart set the scoring pact for the Wildcats with 18 points each. Senior Ryan Arcidiacono added 17 points, including perhaps the most important basket of the evening, a 3-pointer to halt a 12-2 Hawks run that had narrowed Villanova's lead to 54-49 with 14:05 left to play.

Junior DeAndre Bembry scored 17 points to lead Saint Joseph's.

"That's a good win for our team," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "That's a really good St. Joe team. They only had seven turnovers and we really try to turn people over. They handled it extremely well. It was a tough environment and a good team.

"When you come out of that with a win, you feel good about your team."

The Wildcats fell behind 3-0 but used a 23-8 burst over the next eight minutes to grab control of the contest in the first half. Jenkins and Hart ââ'¬" who together would also combine for 15 rebounds, six for Jenkins and nine for Hart ââ'¬" helped pick up the slack for Daniel Ochefu, who was limited to four minutes in the first half by foul trouble.

A Jenkins' layup with 2:02 to go in the first half gave Villanova a 42-27 lead. But the Hawks closed the half on a 5-0 run and the margin was 10 at halftime.

The night's early offensive struggles were a distant memory by the time the second half was underway. The Hawks responded to a 5-0 burst from the gate by VU to beginning chipping away at the deficit. When Isaiah Miles sank a 3-pointer with 14:08 remaining, the home crowd erupted as the gap shrank to 54-49.

But as he has done so often in his four seasons as a Wildcat, Arcidiacono stepped forward at a critical moment. He drained a 3-pointer off a pass from teammate Jalen Brunson and suddenly the lead was eight. Saint Joseph's would get as close as six but Villanova methodically kept working and pulled away down the stretch for what became an 86-72 win.

"They went on a little run and the place was going crazy," stated Arcidiacono. "At that point in time we just try to settle down and get back to drive and space."

Arcidiacono added that he was not in the proper position on that particular sequence.

"I actually did the wrong thing," he said. "I should have been in the corner for him. But Jalen just made an amazing pass and caught to shoot it and made the shot. That was a big play but we just had to get back to getting stops defensively."

Hart recalled that during that stretch he was off the floor.

"I was on the bench when they cut it to five," stated Hart. "When that happens, I look at our leader and that's Ryan. He made the play. When teams are going on those runs and we're fighting some adversity, he's our leader. He's the person that no matter what, he has that ready to go attitude.

"It was a good run for them. But Ryan was the one who jump started us in that situation."

A fourth Wildcat, redshirt freshman Mikal Bridges, scored 11 points for Villanova, his first double-digit scoring effort as a collegian. The win was Villanova's 11th straight in Philadelphia Big Five play.

The Wildcats don't see action again until Monday but they will be logging of a fair amount of travel in the interim. Villanova will travel to Los Angeles on its way to Honolulu for the first Pearl Harbor Invitational, which takes place on the 74th anniversary of the attack on the United States. VU meets Oklahoma at 7 p.m. eastern in Bloch Arena in a contest that will air on FS1 and 610 Sports Radio.

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