Bigus and Brown lead 'Nova to win

After the second Palestra sellout in as many games, St. Joseph's men's basketball coach Phil Martelli could only think about the final statistics that glared back at him. "Well, I sympathize wholeheartedly with Ray Rhodes," Martelli said. "When you have no offense, it's very difficult to win games." The underdog Palestra magic which helped Penn against Temple last week was not enough for St. Joseph's. Villanova took advantage of the Hawks' poor shooting from the field in a 61-49 Big Five win. St. Joe's (0-2, 0-1 Big Five) got off to a quick 8-2 lead in the first three minutes of the contest. At the end, it was the only lead the Hawks would have. The main culprit was St. Joe's inability to shoot from the floor. The Hawks tallied only 31 percent in the first half and 33 percent for the game. Within those numbers, starting Hawks forwards Andre Howard and Rob Haskins combined for a dismal 8-of-27 shooting from the field. "Offensively, for whatever the reason, we are just not playing quick enough, and not nearly intelligently enough," Martelli said. "Nine of our 11 turnovers in the first half were from our frontcourt guys." Meanwhile, Villanova (6-0, 1-0) took advantage, going on a 16-4 run of its own by the middle of the first half. The Wildcats never looked back, hitting 43 percent from beyond the arc and ending up at the free throw line eight times, all in the first half alone. "We thought we could run on them a little bit," Villanova forward Howard Brown said. "They had a big lineup, and our guards could get down a little bit faster. We got a lot of long rebounds, getting some opportunities from there to run our break." Villanova's success in the transition game happened despite the Hawks' success on the offensive boards, outshining the Wildcats 15-12 in that category. Martelli acknowledged the mark, but used the stat to reiterate his squad's glaring weakness of the night. "We had a plethora of opportunities in getting offensive rebounds because of the way we shot the ball," Martelli said. "In practice, we're very quick on offense. Here [in the game], we're throwing the ball to a guy, and the guy catches it as if he wants the defense to disappear. "We have to swing the ball around and put the ball on the floor like we did in the second half" Villanova's 33-20 halftime lead did not widen right away. St. Joe's kept the deficit to 10 six minutes into the second half, and closed the gap again with seven minutes left in the game, this time to 12. The Wildcats, however, continued to make shots and get results from Brown. The senior guard had a solid night, leading 'Nova with 15 points. Although Brown went 5-of-10 shooting, his all-around play was noticeable with three assists and seven rebounds to his credit. Villanova also had the edge from its bench players. Four of five reserves saw at least 16 minutes of playing time apiece. Wildcats freshman forward Brooks Sales led the bench charge, with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting as well as three steals in 16 minutes of action. "Part of the reason our freshman are looking good is that they're playing with so many experienced guys," Villanova coach Steve Lappas said. "We're putting one in with four experienced guys at a time, instead of two freshman and three veterans." On the other hand, St. Joe's reserves combined for only one point. Martelli focused on the five starters, four of whom are rookies or transfers. In attempting to make the starting unit cohesive, the bench has not yet seen the minutes that could lead to more point production from everyone. "I thought our bench would be more productive, and I'll take that [the responsibility] more on my shoulders," Martelli said. "I have to find a way to get them eased more into the game, and make sure they get the right number of reps. "We'd like to get 15 points from each position, not necessarily from each starter," Martelli said. "We need 75 points to be competitive against the schedule we're playing." With scoring down across the board in college basketball early this season, such a goal is a tall order. So is an undefeated record for Villanova after a hectic early portion of the schedule that included a cross continent trip. The Wildcats' performance so far has even amazed Lappas. "I'm a little surprised but not shocked that we're 6-0," Lappas said. "I'm a little surprised at how well we've played early. We played well tonight and won by an average of 10 in Alaska [the week before], but we're not really where we want to be yet." Neither is Villanova center Rafal Bigus, preferring larger venues to the venerable Palestra. "I like the big crowds," Bigus said. "I like to play against those kind of teams."

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