VILLANOVA, Pa. – Eric Paschall and Phil Booth helped rally the Villanova Wildcats past DePaul 73-68 on Wednesday night at the Finneran Pavilion.

The Wildcats trailed for 32 minutes in this one before claiming their first lead on a Booth 3-pointer with 7:58 to play in the contest and then held off the Blue Demons down the stretch, getting a stop in the final 15 seconds with DePaul attempting to forge a tie while trailing by three points.
 
The win was the first in BIG EAST play at the rededicated Finneran Pavilion for the 'Cats who upped their overall record to 10-4, 1-0 in conference action. Villanova trailed by 14 points in the first half and 38-34 at halftime.
 
"You've just got to give DePaul credit for coming in here and really being ready to play," stated VU head coach Jay Wright. "They just jumped us. We struggled early with our transition defense and they really took advantage of it.
 
"I was proud of our leadership, particularly Eric and Phil. Their presence just gives our other guys confidence. They made sure we kept grinding and that's the way it's going to be in the BIG EAST this year. We're going to have to earn everything we get."
 
Paschall finished with 24 points and six rebounds while Booth added 15 points and six assists. The Wildcats were outrebounded 36-24 and allowed the Blue Demons (8-5 overall, 0-2 BIG EAST) to connect on .528 of their field goal attempts on the evening. Yet they forced 18 turnovers and enjoyed an 18-4 edge in points scored off of those miscues.
 
A 10-day layoff between Villanova's last outing– an 81-58 victory over Connecticut on Dec. 22 – and this one appeared to work against the Wildcats in the early going. DePaul converted 6-of-9 from the field in the first 4:38 to jump out to a 13-5 lead, forcing VU to call for a timeout.
 
"That (layoff) could have had a little impact but we really don't look at that," noted Wright. "DePaul had to travel to play on the road while we were rested."
 
The sizzling shooting helped the Blue Demons keep the Wildcats at arm's length, even as Villanova began to find an offensive flow. DePaul connected on .692 of its attempts in the game's first 8:23 and that allowed it to craft a 21-14 lead. A 9-2 advantage on the glass over Villanova was another significant stat in the game's early minutes.
 
Back to back 3-pointers by Eli Cain pushed the DePaul lead to 30-16 at the midpoint of the first half.
 
However, the Wildcats were able to slow the Blue Demons at the defensive end, forcing four turnovers that helped ignite a 13-2 burst to shave the deficit to 32-29 with 3:43 to play in the first half. A Jahvon Quinerly deep 3-pointer got the Wildcats to within 34-32 but the Blue Demons took a 38-34 lead into the locker room at intermission.
 
DePaul connected on 16-of-29 first half field goal attempts (.552), including 5-of-11 from beyond the 3-point arc. Meanwhile, Villanova was 12-of-28 from the floor (.429) and 6-of-18 from distance.
 
Freshman Saddiq Bey led the Wildcats with 10 first half points while senior Eric Paschall added nine points.
 
DePaul reeled off the first seven points of the second half to push its lead to 45-34 after three minutes of the second half. Meanwhile, Villanova missed its first six field goal attempts of the period. A 3-pointer by Paschall halted the run but with 13:49 to play in the second half the 'Cats were staring up at a 49-42 deficit.
 
Paschall's work later sparked a 9-0 run that took the Wildcats from a 56-51 deficit to a 60-56 lead. Strus answered with a deep 3-pointer to care the lead to 60-59 at the 6:09 mark of the second half.
 
"Eric and Phil made some tough shots to get us going," Wright stated. "And I thought we were able to force some turnovers that helped us."
 
The Wildcats take their first road trip of the BIG EAST regular season to Providence, where they are to face the host Friars on Saturday at 2 p.m. The contest will be televised nationally on Fox (Fox 29 in Philadelphia) and broadcast on 610 ESPN Radio in the Delaware Valley with Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby calling the action for the Nova Nation.