No. 9 Villanova Travels To Cincinnati Hoping To Stop Recent Big East Slide

Cincinnati, OH (Sports Network) - Scottie Reynolds led six Villanova players in double figures with 17 points, as the ninth-seeded Wildcats edged Cincinnati, 77-73, in Big East play.

Corey Stokes added 14 points and Reggie Redding had 11 for Villanova (24-5, 13-4 Big East), which was coming off Saturday’s blowout loss at Syracuse. The Wildcats won for just the second time in their last five games.

Antonio Pena, Mouphtaou Yarou and Corey Fisher all scored 10 in the win.

Rashad Bishop had 19 points to pace Cincinnati (16-13, 7-10), which lost for the fourth time in five contests. Deonta Vaughn had 18 points in the loss, while Yancy Gates added 13 and Lance Stephenson 12.

Villanova held a 66-51 lead with just over six minutes to play, but Cincinnati followed with the next 14 points to all but erase the deficit. Jaquon Parker kicked off the run with a layup and three-pointer before Vaughn connected from long distance.

Bishop’s layup with 2:48 to play closed the rally, getting the Bearcats within 66-65.

However, Redding followed with two free throws before draining a three to restore a two-possession edge for Villanova. Gates sank a pair from the line with 1:11 on the clock, but Cincinnati didn’t score for over a minute in a critical dry spell, as the Wildcats put the game out of reach with free throws.

Villanova led for most of the first half, though the Bearcats managed to even the game, 31-31, at the break on a Vaughn trey.

But the Wildcats went back ahead with the first seven points of the second half and continued to play in front. Villanova established a game-high lead of 16, 64-48, on two Fisher free throws with 6:19 remaining.

Villanova shot 47.7 percent, including a 10-of-21 mark from three-point range. However, the Wildcats took only 44 shots compared to 66 for Cincinnati, which made 39.4 percent.