PITTSBURGH — Delaware came ready to play Friday afternoon as another 15-seed seeking an NCAA Tournament upset like Saint Peter’s did to Kentucky.
The Blue Hens did their part and kept pace early, but Villanova’s hot shooting kicked in and never cooled down as the second-seeded Wildcats dominated Delaware, 80-60, in their South Region first-round matchup.
Villanova and former DeMatha Catholic guard Justin Moore led all scorers with 21 points and six assists on 7-of-13 shooting. The Fort Washington, Maryland, native recorded his fourth 20-point performance of the season and first since a Jan. 8 win at DePaul.
“We were reading [Delaware’s] ball screen coverage and if they were coming to help, who was helping,” Moore said. “Once we figured that out, we were able to figure out when we could take our open shots.”
Forward Jyare Davis paced Delaware with 17 points and 6 rebounds. The Blue Hens (22-13) are now 0-16 all-time against the Wildcats and fell to 1-32 against current Big East schools.
“They play really hard. They’re very disciplined. They’re a very connected group,” Davis said. “You make mistakes, they definitely capitalize. And some of our mistakes, they capitalized on, and it ended up biting us in the end.”
Delaware led 15-8 at one point, thanks to a hot-shooting start of its own. But Villanova blistered its way up and down the PPG Paints Arena floor early and often. The Wildcats (27-7) shot 50% from the field and three-point range in the first half and finished at 50.9% overall.
“At the start of the game, it took us some time to just adjust to their speed and their intelligence offensively, try to figure out what they were doing,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “We knew what they were doing, we just couldn’t guard it.”
Delaware guard Jameer Nelson Jr. struggled, missing his first seven shots and only finishing with eight points, all in the second half. He had previously scored at least 10 points in 12 of his last 13 games, but started cold and never recovered.
“He’s a dynamic guard, can score at all three levels, and he shifty. So we just had to adjust to what he was trying to do early on,” said Villanova guard Collin Gillespie of Nelson, “and I think we played great team defense and were able to try and slow him down that way.”
One point of major separation between the teams: Perimeter scoring. Delaware struggled in that department, missing 17 of its 20 attempts.
“I think the end of first half and early part of the second half they were able to really extend that lead, and we were batting uphill from there,” Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby said.
Villanova moves on to the second round in Pittsburgh and faces seventh-seeded Ohio State on Sunday.
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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