College basketball
Young keys WVU win over Villanova MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – Frank Young scored a career-high 25 points to lead No. 25 West Virginia to a 67-56 win over Villanova on Wednesday night.
Young’s eight 3-pointers also were a career high. Joe Alexander scored 16 points and Alex Ruoff added 11 for the Mountaineers (12-1, 2-0 Big East).
Young hit four 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes as West Virginia built an 18-8 lead. Villanova cut the deficit to 23-20 with 5 minutes remaining in the first half, but the Mountaineers answered with a 23-4 run.
After shooting 3-of-13 from 3-point range in the first half, Villanova switched up and went inside to Curtis Sumpter in the second half. The Wildcats took advantage of the smaller Mountaineers on offense and held West Virginia to six points in the first 12:12 of the second half, cutting the deficit to 52-42 with 8:21 left.
Sumpter scored on four of the next five Villanova possessions and the Wildcats pulled within five points before Alexander and Young hit consecutive 3-pointers. Darris Nichols added a long jumper to give West Virginia a 63-52 lead with 1:47 to go. All but six of the Mountaineers’ 21 second-half points came on 3s.
Sumpter, the Big East’s second-leading scorer, led the Wildcats (10-3, 0-1) with 21 points, 16 in the second half. But he fouled out with 34.7 seconds left. Mike Nardi added 12 points.
Villanova’s 56 points were its lowest total this season. The Wildcats came in averaging 81 points per game.
The Wildcats had 16 turnovers that led to 21 West Virginia points.
For the second straight game, West Virginia handed an opponent its first road loss. The Mountaineers beat Connecticut 81-71 on Saturday.
Villanova has dropped three straight to West Virginia.
Saint Joseph’s 89, Duquesne 41
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The Saint Joseph’s coaching staff has been begging Rob Ferguson to be more aggressive. Ferguson finally took their advice.
Ferguson tied his career-high with 22 points in only 23 minutes of playing time and Saint Joseph’s used an 18-0 run in the first half to cruise past Duquesne 89-41 on Wednesday.
“I’m starting to see what they mean,” Ferguson said. “The coaches want me to look for my shot more. I was more aggressive tonight. I felt very good out there.”
Ahmad Nivins added 17 points while D.J. Rivera scored 14 points and Pat Calathes had 12 for the Hawks (8-5), who shot 56 percent from the field.
They won their second consecutive game and improved to 18-1 lifetime against Duquesne in Philadelphia. Their 48-point victory was also their largest winning margin since a 114-63 win at Saint Bonaventure on Jan. 24, 2004.
“I didn’t necessarily see this coming,” Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli said. “I actually thought this was a dangerous game.”
Duquesne, which fell to 4-8 and had its two-game winning streak snapped, struggled from the field and shot 25 percent.
The Dukes went more than 10 minutes without a field goal during one stretch and hit just 4-of-28 shots in the first half. Robert Mitchell led Duquesne with 10 points.
“The first shot they made bounced in off the floor,” Duquesne coach Ron Everhart said. “It got worse from there.”
Trailing 6-5, the Hawks scored 18 straight for a 23-6 lead with 8:35 left in the first half. Ferguson scored nine points while Calathes had four during the run.
Saint Joseph’s led 41-12 at halftime and scored the first five points of the second half for a commanding 46-12 advantage.
The Hawks extended their lead to 66-18 with more than 13 minutes remaining. Saint Joseph’s led by as many as 53 points in the second half, and 11 players scored.
“Tonight I would say we moved forward,” Martelli said.