No. 1 again, Villanova pounds Seton Hall

Villanova had only one day to put a poor performance in its last game in its rearview mirror, and Seton Hall will be the first to tell you the Wildcats did an extremely good job of it.

The Wildcats, returning to the No. 1 perch in the AP poll after one week away from it, rushed out to an 18-point lead in the first half Monday night and kept their foot on the gas in the second, overwhelming the Pirates, 76-46, in the fourth game of the Big East Marathon.

The victory was the 1,700th in program history at Villanova (18-1, 6-1 Big East), and 47th in a row at the Pavilion, a school record.

The Wildcats, who committed a season-high 20 turnovers in their win Saturday at St. John's, had just 10 against the Pirates (12-6, 2-4), who lost their third straight game. Kris Jenkins led five players in double figures with 16 points. Jalen Brunson added 13 points plus six assists, and Josh Hart had 11 points.

They also did a good job of team rebounding, gaining a 39-33 advantage on the boards led by Darryl Reynolds with nine. Reynolds did a good job of blocking out Angel Delgado, the nation's No. 3 rebounder with 12.4 per game, who finished with six rebounds.

After trailing briefly, 5-4, in the first 5½ minutes, the Wildcats dominated. Their defense played a pivotal role in Seton Hall's abysmal 3-of-20 start from the field. A 21-3 run over a period of 7½ minutes gave them their largest lead of the half, 25-7, on Donte DiVincenzo's three-point play with 8 minutes, 7 seconds left in the period.

The Cats knocked down four three-point baskets during their surge, with four players taking part - Eric Paschall, Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Jenkins.

Seton Hall cut into the deficit before halftime, hitting five of its last 10 shots from the field and trailing 33-23 on Desi Rodriguez's three-point basket with just over a minute to play. But Hart nailed a three-pointer to give 'Nova a 36-23 lead at the break.

The Wildcats connected on just one of their last seven shots but finished the half shooting 50 percent, while limiting the Pirates to 26.7 percent.

Seton Hall needed to make a run after halftime to get back into the game, but it was the Wildcats who did instead. A follow-up dunk by Reynolds touched off a 17-3 spurt in the opening six minutes of the period and the lead reached 53-26 on DiVincenzo's dunk.

The Wildcats stretched the lead to 36, 73-37, on Brunson's three-pointer - 'Nova's 12th of the game - with 6:20 to play.

Paschall and DiVincenzo added 10 points apiece for 'Nova. Rodriguez led the Pirates with 15 points.