Hot-shooting Villanova breezes past South Florida

Villanova coach Jay Wright won't go so far as to say that his Wildcats have corrected their inconsistencies or that they're ready to breeze through their treacherous stretch run of Big East games.

But he is feeling a lot better about his team following its second straight lopsided victory, this one a 68-40 waltz Saturday over South Florida at the Pavilion.

The Wildcats (15-9, 6-5 Big East) shot 65 percent from the field in the first half to go up by 23 points and didn't let down in the second half in setting a team record for fewest points allowed to a Big East opponent. They also established a season low for field-goal percentage defense (23.4 percent) against the Bulls (10-13, 1-10), who lost their sixth straight.

"Every experience is an important one," Wright said. "Having a lead like this at halftime and coming out in the second half and taking care of business is new. We've had some leads in the first half and didn't take care of business. So that was a good step for us. That's why I like the direction the team's going."

The Wildcats led at the half for the 20th time this season but still has managed to lose six games when doing so, but not Saturday.

"What I really liked is when we had a lead in the second half and we were making shots, it didn't take away from our defensive commitment," Wright said. "Even in the first half at DePaul, we were making shots and I thought we kind of relaxed defensively. So I was really pleased with that."

The Wildcats limited the Bulls to 11 field goals and beat them on the boards 39-28.

"We always took pride in our defense and we had to figure out the right way to do it as a team, not as a bunch of individuals," said sophomore guard Darrun Hilliard, who led 'Nova with 17 points. "I think we're coming along with that."

After the Bulls scored the game's first basket, the Wildcats went on a 12-0 run to establish control early. USF drew to within five, 16-11, with 9 minutes, 11 seconds left in the first half but did not make another field goal from there while the Cats outscored the visitors 23-5 to take a 39-16 lead at the break.

The margin grew to 67-33 with 1:32 left.

Now after back-to-back victories against teams with a combined two Big East wins, the road literally gets tougher for the Wildcats, who travel to Cincinnati and Connecticut this week.

"What we do on the road will prove what kind of team we are," Wright said. "You've got to win on the road in this league and it's tough. But we're feeling good and we like playing on the road."