VILLANOVA, Pa. – Another spirited defensive effort helped No. 6/6 Villanova down Saint Joseph's 81-52 in a Philadelphia Big Five game played Saturday at Finneran Pavilion. The Wildcats held the Hawks to .362 shooting from the field, including .226 from beyond the 3-point arc (7-of-31).
 
Collin Gillespie led five double figure scorers for the Wildcats with 23 points.
 
The triumph was Nova's third by more than double-digits this week after earlier Palestra wins over La Salle (72-46) and Penn (71-56). Villanova allowed just 51.3 points per game in these three City Series contests.
 
"That was a good defensive performance by us," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "I was impressed."
 
Saint Joseph's head coach Billy Lange served two stints on Wright's Villanova staff and the Wildcats were especially aware of the damage the Hawks can do from the perimeter.
 
"Billy is one of the bright offensive minds in basketball," noted Wright. "A lot of the things we do were from ideas he had. He's really good at that. We knew coming into this game that they're really good at spreading the floor, which is why I'm happy with our defense."
 
A 12-0 spurt midway through the first half helped Villanova build a 26-11 lead with 7:54 to play. Efficient scoring from graduate students Jermaine Samuels and Gillespie – the pair were a combined 5-of-6 from the field and 6-of-6 at the free throw line over the opening 12 minutes – helped fuel the surge.
 
Saint Joseph's responded with a 7-0 burst of its own to close the gap to 26-18 with 5:34 on the clock. While the Hawks offense picked up, Villanova cooled from the field and was also hindered by untimely turnovers (seven through the contest's first 17 minutes).
 
However, consecutive 3-pointers from Gillespie, accompanied by a couple of defensive stops, gave Villanova a boost heading into halftime, up 34-22.
 
Gillespie's 15 points over the first 20 minutes led the Wildcats while Jordan Hall's nine points set the pace for the Hawks.
 
Justin Moore – held scoreless in the first half - hit a pair of 3-pointers to open the second half that, in tandem with two defensive stops, gave Villanova a 40-22 lead over the Hawks 2:10 into the second half. A free throw and another Moore bucket sandwiched around a SJU 3-pointer made it 46-25 Villanova at the 14:40 mark of the second half. The junior would end the day with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 30:06 of action.
 
"I'm really proud of him," said Wright. "He wasn't making shots the last couple of games, but I thought he was dominant in the Penn game even without shots falling. Today he was unbelievable defensively."
 
Moore saw long stints of action shadowing Saint Joseph's sharpshooter Taylor Funk, who was held scoreless in 33:45.
"Justin did an incredible job," stated Wright. "He's our best defender. We don't talk about it a lot because we play a lot of good team defense. But we always put him on the (opponents') best player, and he carries it a lot of responsibility. Funk's good. What he did to Georgetown (in a recent SJU win) was impressive. He can really take over a game."
 
Added Moore: "(Funk)'s a great player. I just always tried to know where he is. He moves well without the ball. I was sprinting hard all the time and staying connected to him. That's what we worked on in preparing for this game. It worked out for us."
 
As for the offensive outburst, Moore says that is never a primary concern.
 
"We're not worried about our shots going in and I'm not worried about my shot going in," he said. "We take pride in defending and rebounding. The rest will take care of itself as long as I'm rebounding and playing team defense."
 
The Wildcats (6-2 overall, 3-0 Big Five) also got a boost from junior guard Chris Arcidiacono, who finished with eight points and five rebounds on a day when Nova was without guard Caleb Daniels (non-COVID virus).
 
"I'm always going to try to be helpful by defending and rebounding," added Arcidiacono. "I try to create some more energy when I come into the game."
 
Wright liked the overall effort.
 
"You're not going to play many teams that can spread you out and play with the pace they do offensively," he stated. "We're always going to have this to refer to when we play other teams. Getting some of the younger guys' minutes is valuable too. Game minutes are more valuable than anything."
 
Villanova's busy stretch of games continues on Tuesday when it meets Syracuse in the second game of the Jimmy V Classic doubleheader at Madison Square Garden (ESPN and Villanova IHeart Radio Network).