Overview
 
The Villanova Wildcats (4-1 overall, 1-0 Big Five) jumped out to an early lead and held La Salle to 3-of-13 from beyond the arc (.231) on their way to a methodical 70-55 win on Wednesday night at John A. Glasner Arena in Philadelphia.
 
Villanova never trailed and expanded a nine point halftime lead to a margin that grew to as many as 20 points before the final score was entered into the scorebook.
 
"It was a good road win," said Villanova head coach Kevin Willard.
 
Matt Hodge enjoyed his best game of his five-game college career, finishing with 17 points and three rebounds, connecting on 7-of-9 field goal attempts.
 
"It felt good to get the win," Hodge stated. "We have a lot of respect for the Big Five. We know how big these games are."
 
Wildcats Gained An Early Edge
 
A corner 3-pointer by Hodge on Villanova's first possession set the tone for an impressive start. The Wildcats reeled off the first seven points of the evening and held a 13-4 lead over the Explorers after 5:30 had been played. VU forced four La Salle turnovers in that span.
 
La Salle found its offense and narrowed the gap to 17-14 as the clock approached the 10-minute mark of the first period. The Explorers connected on 7-of-11 field goal attempts in that run. Meanwhile, the 'Cats misfired on their next six attempts from beyond the arc following Hodge's initial triple.
 
But Villanova pushed the lead out to 34-22 over the next eight minutes, fueled by sticky defense and some timely baskets from Tyler Perkins (eight first half points).
 
Hodge Lends a Helping Hand
 
The native of Limburg, Belgium stepped forward at a couple of key moments with a substantial bucket. That was never truer than on the Wildcats' final possession of the first period.
 
La Salle had used a 6-0 spurt to claw back to within six as the clock ticked toward the end of the period. A 3-2 zone with length at every position had slowed Villanova and the shot clock was winding down. A pass made its way to Hodge beyond the arc at the top of the key and he sank his third from deep in the first 20 minutes. His 11 points led Villanova in the first half.
 
The Wildcats got a defensive stop on the Explorers' final possession. This allowed them to take a 37-29 lead into the locker room.
 
Second Act
 
The Wildcats slowly stretched their advantage over the first 13:01 of the second half with Hodge and Perkins doing much of the damage. Villanova led 58-40 after a Perkins drive for two that came because of rapid ball rotation from Tafara Gapare to Acaden Lewis to Perkins in the corner.
 
Villanova pushed the edge to 66-46 with 3:26 left to play.
 
Tyler Perkins finished with a season-best 13 points while Lewis contributed 12 points and six assists.
 
Medical Center
 
Guard Malcolm Flaggs was the only Wildcat not in uniform for this contest due to the strained right achilles that has sidelined him to this point in the regular season.
 
What Comes Next
 
Villanova is idle this weekend before returning to action Tuesday night at Finneran Pavilion against Old Dominion. Tipoff is slated for just after 7 p.m.
 
The Wildcats' second outing in Big Five play follows the contest with the Monarchs.
Temple (1-0 Big Five) will be at Finneran Pavilion on Monday, Dec. 1 for a 6:30 p.m. battle. The winner of that game advances to the championship round of the Big Five Classic, set for Saturday, Dec. 6 at Xfinity Mobile Arena.