PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Over the course of the game's opening minutes, Villanova searched for an offensive flow in its NCAA Tournament First Round matchup Friday at PPG Paints Arena against Delaware. The Wildcats scored just eight points in the game's opening 8:52 and trailed the Blue Hens 15-8 at the second official timeout of the afternoon.
 
When the Wildcats found that groove, it proved decisive, fueling a 15-2 surge that lifted them past Delaware 80-60 here today.
 
Justin Moore led a balanced attack with 21 points while Jermaine Samuels added 15 points and nine rebounds, including seven from the offensive glass. Villanova 13-of-28 from beyond the 3-point arc, it's ninth game this season of double-digit 3-pointers.
 
"At the start of the game it took us some time to adjust to their speed and their intelligence," said Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "We knew what they were doing offensively, we just couldn't guard it. Their defense was very intelligent too and it took us some time to figure that out too. But I think our guys did and that was the difference.
 
"They're a really well-coached team. I give them a lot of credit."
 
Delaware (22-13 overall) built an early 9-4 advantage five minutes into the period as the Wildcats connected on just 2-of-8 from the field to open the contest. The Blue Hens extended the edge to 15-8 with seven of those points supplied by Kevin Anderson after the first 8:52 in the first half.
 
A 6-0 spurt by the Wildcats that included a pair of 3-pointers, one from Collin Gillespie and another from Caleb Daniels, gave Nova its first lead at 20-19 before the Blue Hens answered to recapture the lead at 21-20 with just less than seven minutes to play in the first half.
 
"We were reading ball-screen coverage to see who was coming to help," said Moore. "Once we figured that out, we figured out where we could take our open shots. We could make the extra pass and find the open man."
 
Another burst – this one a 7-0 surge – gave the Wildcats a 27-23 lead with 3:10 on the first half clock. A 3-pointer by Gillespie and a nifty inside move and bucket by Eric Dixon were keys to that stretch.
 
Villanova closed out the half with a flurry that produced a 35-25 lead over the Blue Hens at intermission. After that initial cold start from the field, Villanova sank 12-of-20 to end the period at 50 percent (14-of-28). Daniels led the way with eight points while Dixon added seven points. Dixon (12 points) and Daniels (11 points) would end the day in double figures.
 
The Wildcats forced three Blue Hens turnovers in the first two minutes of the second half and picked up a 3-pointer from Moore and a driving basket from Gillespie to push their advantage to 40-25 after 1:55 of action. After a 3-pointer by Dixon and a traditional 3-point play by Moore, the Villanova lead was 46-27.
 
In fact, Moore's hot shooting produced 10 points in the first 5:17 of the second half, allowing Villanova to take a 54-37 lead. Triples from Samuels and Gillespie helped the Wildcats move out to a 66-48 lead with 7:40 to play in the period.
 
The most noteworthy play of the final minutes came in front of the Villanova bench when Samuels, racing for a loose ball, collided with assistant coach Dwayne Anderson. Anderson was forced to leave the bench with a facial injury. X-rays of his nose were negative and he reported feeling fine after being examined by the training staff.
 
"I knew the ball was going out of bounds and I was trying to jump out of his way," recounted Samuels. "He tried to catch me, and I guess his head caught my elbow. I was trying to move out of his way. It was an accident, but it just shows how much he loves us trying to catch me."
 
Samuels was asked by a media member if he had considered simply letting the ball go out of bounds given the large lead the Wildcats had at the time.
 
"No," he said. "That's not how we play here. At Villanova we're going to play a full 40. That's just the way we play here."
 
Added Wright: "Dwayne would have been mad at Jermaine if he had let that ball go out of bounds."
 
Villanova advances to meet No. 7 seed Ohio State Sunday at a time to be announced. The Wildcats improved to 12-2 in NCAA first round games since 2005.