Villanova was one of the better teams in the nation last season, and it appears the Wildcats are ready to pick up where they left off. JayVaughn Pinkston scored 15 points and teammates Darrun Hilliard and Kris Jenkins chipped in 14 and 13 respectively as the Wildcats turned a 2-point halftime lead into a 77-53 rout of the VCU Rams in the first game of the Legends Classic in Brooklyn.
Villanova coach Jay Wright was curious to see how his team would handle the pressure of VCU, and for the better part of the second half, his Wildcats passed the test. Nova turned the ball over only nine times against the Rams’ Havoc defense and limited VCU to just 37% shooting in the surprisingly easy victory.
"You don't see this kind of pressure and you don't see it consistently," Wright said. "You just knew you were going to get tested. You knew we were going to see how good of a passing team we are."
The Wildcats move to 4-0 on the season and will face #19 Michigan in the Classic Championship on Tuesday night.
Briante Weber and Melvin Johnson each scored 13 points for the Rams, who suffered their first loss of the season to drop to 3-1.
"I think we have the team certainly to be competitive in these types of games, but we're not where we need to be yet," VCU coach Shaka Smart said. "If anything, this is an eye opener to remind us of that."
The Rams will play against the Oregon Ducks in the 3rd place game of the Legends Classic on Tuesday in what is sure to be a fast paced contest.