Final Stats

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. ââ'¬" A career high 26 points from sophomore guard Jalen Brunson helped propel No. 1 ranked Villanova past La Salle 89-79 on Tuesday night at the Palestra. The victory was VU's 17th straight in the Philadelphia Big Five City Series and moves their record to 9-0 on the 2016-17 season. La Salle drops to 4-3 overall, 0-2 Big Five.

The 26 points from Brunson are one more than he recorded in another Big Five game, played last Feb. 17 against Temple.

"That was a good battle in a tough environment," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright of a contest played before 7,120. "We didn't look good at times and that was a tribute to La Salle. They stayed with our perimeter guys and offensively they were really tough to guard.

"I was disappointed in our defense but I have to give La Salle credit. If they hadn't been so good they would have been easier to guard."

Senior Josh Hart added 21 points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Wildcats while sophomore Mikal Bridges contributed 16 points and four rebounds. Pookie Powell scored 27 points to lead La Salle, which connected on .525 of its field goal attempts on the night. Villanova, meanwhile, converted .507 of its attempts from the field.

"Our veterans ââ'¬" and I count Jalen in that group because he's an old soul ââ'¬" did a great job for us down the stretch," noted Wright.

"When you look back at this later in the season," added Hart, "we'll be able to say we were able to grind one out against a tough La Salle team."

This was Villanova's first game since being voted to the No. 1 spot in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls on Monday.

"We've just been taking things day by day," stated Hart. "We trying to get better every day. And that's really the advice the upperclassmen have been giving the younger guys like Dylan (Painter) who weren't part of this last year. It's really just a matter of us taking things one step at a time, one day at a time."

Both teams entered the game averaging better than 75 points per game and the first half offered a display of that firepower. The pace was up-tempo from the start with both teams on target from the field. La Salle grabbed a 26-25 lead towards the end of the half before a Villanova closing kick took the Wildcats to a 40-36 lead at halftime.

The Explorers converted 16-of-28 first half field goal attempts (.571) while Villanova dropped in 16-of-32 (.500) from the floor. La Salle enjoyed a 22-14 edge in points scored in the paint in the first 20 minutes and a 10-4 advantage in fast break points.

Brunson (12 points) and Hart (10 points) helped the Wildcats take the lead at the break.

Villanova created a bit of separation while slowing the Explorers early in the second half. They crafted a 65-52 advantage with just under 10 minutes left to play.

Yet La Salle revved up its offense connecting on 5-of-7 3-pointers during one stretch that helped it pull to within 77-73 with 1:14 to go in the second half. But clutch free throw shooting by Donte DiVincenzo, Mikal Bridges, Hart and Brunson, Villanova prevailed.

"La Salle came in with a good game plan against us and played with a little more energy than us," Wright stated. "They played really well against us. We didn't have our best game because of them and we found a way to grind it out. Any game you get in like this is valuable ââ'¬" win or lose. It's more fun to win and learn from it."

On Saturday, the Wildcats will be at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., to face former BIG EAST rival Notre Dame in the Never Forget Tribute Classic. That contest will air on CBS and tips off at noon.