No. 3 Villanova gets past No. 15 Purdue

Purdue's Vince Edwards (12) battles for a loose ball with Villanova's Mikal Bridges (25) on Nov. 14.

By Associated Press

Nov. 14, 2016 10:30 PM PT

Josh Hart scored 24 points and Darryl Reynolds had 12 to lead No. 3 Villanova to a 79-76 victory over No. 15 Purdue on Monday night at West Lafayette, Ind.

The Wildcats (2-0) have won eight games in a row, including the six NCAA tournament victories that gave them the national title last season.

“Josh just said to me at the beginning of the second half that ‘we got this,’ ” Coach Jay Wright said. “That’s the real strength of this team — the leadership. I think that’s what you saw the start of the second half.”

They ended the Boilermakers’ home winning streak at nine games and became only the second team to beat Matt Painter in November since he became Purdue’s coach in 2006-07.

Isaac Haas scored 22 points for the Boilermakers (1-1), 18 in the second half. Caleb Swanigan had 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Villanova scored seven consecutive baskets to start the second half to take a 56-45 lead. Swanigan and Haas combined for five consecutive baskets that cut the Purdue deficit to 61-60.

In other selected games involving top-25 teams:

at No. 11 Xavier 86, Buffalo 53: J.P. Macura scored 18 points and the Musketeers (2-0) took advantage of 38 fouls by the Bulls.

Buffalo (1-1) couldn’t keep up with Xavier’s quickness and got into early foul trouble. The Bulls trailed, 42-22, late in the first half and had committed 23 fouls.

Xavier made 28 of 38 free throws. Macura made all of his 10 free throws.

Nick Perkins had 15 points for the Bulls, who shot 32% from the field.

at No. 20 Iowa State 73, Mount St. Mary’s 55: Monte Morris scored 18 points, Matt Thomas had 13, and Deonte Burton had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Cyclones, who have won their first two games by an average of 30 points.

Mount St. Mary’s (0-2) got within 10 points early in the second half but six Cyclones scored during a 15-1 run that put the game out of reach. Elijah Long, the brother of Iowa State’s Naz Mitrou-Long, had 19 points for the Mountaineers.

at No. 23 Texas 80, Louisiana Monroe 59: Tevin Mack returned from a one-game suspension for an off-season rules violation and scored 14 points, and the Longhorns (2-0) used a big second half to pull away.

The Warhawks (1-1) cut Texas’ lead to 46-40 on a three-pointer by Jordan Harris before the Longhorns responded with a 16-4 run.

Marvin Jean-Pierre scored 13 points for the Warhawks, who shot 30%.