Final Stats | Photo Gallery

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - At the start of the 2013-14 regular season, Villanova found itself pushed hard in what became a 75-59 Wildcats win over Lafayette at the Pavilion. The lesson of that night resonated according to head coach Jay Wright and it played a role in the Wildcats' 93-52 victory over those same Leopards in an NCAA Tournament second round game played at the Consol Energy Center.

"From that game," stated head coach Jay Wright, "our guys knew how good this team was. We didn't have to try to convince them of that. I'm just proud of how well they responded."

"I didn't realize we had won by that much," stated junior guard Ryan Arcidiacono, "but we really respected Lafayette coming in. We had played them last year and they gave us a tough game, so we definitely respected them and we knew we would have to play a tough game against them."

Indeed, the Wildcats led from wire to wire and pushed a 23 point lead past the 30 point plateau early in the second half. The margin of victory was the largest by Villanova since it ousted Penn from the 1971 NCAA Tournament in the Elite Eight by a 90-47 margin. Ironically, Lafayette coach Fran O'Hanlon was a teammate of many of the men who posted that victory in 1971 before graduating from VU in 1970.

But the points weren't what was on the minds of the Wildcats.

"I think (this) sets a tone for us as a team defensively," explained Arcidiacono, who finished with 13 points and added six assists. "We know we can play offense, score and share the ball, but the way we played defense tonight and took them off the three-point line set the tone for the whole game."

Villanova limited Lafayette to 21-of-55 shooting on the night and kept the Leopards in check from beyond the arc, where they had prospered last week in claiming the Patriot League title. Lafayette was just 4-of-18 from distance on the evening (.222).

Arcidiacono was joined in double figures by junior Dylan Ennis (16 points); junior Daniel Ochefu (14 points, nine rebounds); senior JayVaughn Pinkston (12 points, six rebounds); senior Darrun Hilliard (12 points, three assists, three steals); and sophomore Kris Jenkins (10 points, two rebounds, one assist).

Stated Ennis: "We don't have that one go-to guy. Everyone's there to work hard and we're really gritty. But it comes from the defensive end. Shots are going to fall if we play good defense." The Wildcats were in control from start to finish and connected on a season high .632 of their field goal attempts, including 11-of-22 (.500) from beyond the 3-point arc. They also owned a 33-25 rebounding advantage thanks to the contributions of Ochefu, Pinkston and Josh Hart (eight rebounds to go with seven points).

Junior guard Dylan Ennis got the ball rolling for the Wildcats with a 3-pointer before Joey Ptsanski answered with a field goal for the Leopards. A Darrun Hilliard bucket gave Villanova a 5-2 edge and the Wildcats never looked back the rest of the way.

As per usual, it was balanced scoring that helped set the tone for Villanova. JayVaughn Pinkston did some early damage with seven points and four rebounds in the game's early moments as Villanova built a 27-13 lead with 8:09 to play in the first half after consecutive Kris Jenkins 3-pointers.

Villanova stretched the edge to 49-26 at halftime while connecting on 20-of-32 field goal attempts (.625). The Wildcats had an 18-8 advantage on the glass and 24-10 edge on points scored in the paint.

Lafayette got the deficit to 21 before a 10-0 run by the Wildcats stretched the margin and Villanova was able to begin advance to a second round clash with either North Carolina State of LSU on Saturday.

The Wildcats are now 33-2 on the season and have won 16 in a row.

Follow Villanova Basketball on social media

Twitter: @NovaMBB #NovaMBB

Instagram: @novambb