Bucknell University
(17-8)
Villanova
(15-6)
No. 25 Villanova Outguns Bucknell, 89-51
2/15/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2005
VILLANOVA, Pa. - Allan Ray scored 23 points to lead 25th-ranked Villanova to an 89-51 victory over Bucknell on Tuesday night before a sellout crowd at The Pavilion. Chris McNaughton scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half to lead Bucknell, which fell to 17-8 after playing its third game in five days.
The Bison were hoping to knock off a nationally ranked Big East team for the second time this season, but the talented Wildcats (15-6) hit them with a barrage of early shots and took control in the late stages of the first half. Bucknell won at then-seventh-ranked Pittsburgh on Jan. 2.
Charles Lee added 11 points and Darren Mastropaolo scored a career-high nine for the second straight game. Bucknell had 15 assists on 20 field goals and turned the ball over only 13 times, but the Bison were hampered by 8-for-17 free-throw shooting.
Ray and Mike Nardi (14 points) hit four 3-pointers each while Curtis Sumpter had 14 points for Villanova, which is coached by 1983 Bucknell graduate Jay Wright. Kyle Lowry had nine points and seven assists off the bench filling in for starter Randy Foye, who was injured after a hard fall 10 minutes into the contest.
Bucknell scoring leader Kevin Bettencourt, who was defended for much of the night by the 6-7 Sumpter, was held scoreless. He did have a team-high five assists without a turnover in 27 minutes. Abe Badmus and John Griffin had four assists each. Freshman Rob Thomas scored the first five points of his career in the game's final minutes.
It was the first time this season the Bison allowed more than 74 points in a game and the first time in more than a year that they yielded more than 80.
Both teams were red hot to start the contest, and the Bison played Villanova to a dead heat for the first eight minutes. McNaughton scored 12 of Bucknell's first 17 points, and his dunk off a Kevin Bettencourt dish tied the game at 17 at the 12:50 mark.
Both teams made eight of their first 11 shots from the floor, but while the Bison cooled off, the Wildcats remained hot all half. Jason Fraser's 3-point play ignited a game-changing 10-0 run, which grew to 16-2 after Nardi canned back-to-back 3-pointers that gave Villanova a 33-19 edge.
The Bison scored six of the next eight points to pull within 37-25, but two Sumpter buckets and a seven-footer from Lowry in the final minute made it 43-28 at the half. It was the most points allowed by the Bison in the first half this season, surpassing the 39 posted by Niagara on Dec. 22.
Villanova shot 15-for-26 in the first half, while the Bison were 12-for-26, but the Wildcats outscored the Bison 18-3 from 3-point range. The triumverate of McNaughton (14), Lee (7) and Mastropaolo (5) combined for 26 of Bucknell's 28 first-half points.
The Wildcats used a 19-3 run to pull away in the second half. Chris Charles' dunk with 11 seconds to play gave Villanova its largest lead of the night at 38 points.
Bucknell returns to Patriot League play on Saturday at Army. Tip-off is 1 p.m. from Christl Arena.
