Offenses sputter as 'Nova beats La Salle at Palestra

It is about as inevitable as a cold, rainy day this time of year.

Two Big 5 teams come to the Palestra, and regardless of how much offensive firepower is on the floor, the game ends up scrappy and defensive.

Saturday was no exception, with La Salle and Villanova squaring off in each team's second city series game of the season.

The quality of play matched the dreary weather outside with both teams shooting poorly and committing a barrage of turnovers. In the end, Villanova was the better team and won easily, 54-43, in front of a sparse crowd of 3,311.

"That certainly wasn't pretty, but we will take it," Wildcats coach Jay Wright said.

La Salle students twice heckled Villanova (3-1, 1-1 Big 5) in the first half with chants of "Fundamentals!" after bad passing and missed shots. But, like much of what La Salle (1-5, 0-2) did on the court, this was of no avail.

Just like a week earlier in the Palestra against Temple, Villanova shot poorly from beyond the arc, making only two of 18 three-point attempts. La Salle was even worse, shooting 1-for-11 from three-point range and only 11-for-38 overall.

Acknowledging his team's recent lackluster performances on 33rd Street, Wright said, "I don't know if it's karma -- the only consistent thread there is us.

"We're still a little sloppy, but we're getting there," he added. "If you're consistent on the glass defensively, you're going to be able to stay in a lot of games."

Villanova was not only consistent on the glass, it was dominant, with 44 rebounds to the Explorers' 25. The Wildcats had 22 boards on each end of the floor, while La Salle had only seven on offense and 18 on defense.

"We lost the game because of rebounding," La Salle head coach John Giannini said.

Despite the game's overall sloppiness, there were a few moments for the highlight reels. In the first half, Explorers star forward Steven Smith had slam dunks on consecutive possessions, with assists both times from guard Tabby Cunningham. This led to a chant of "N-B-A!" from the La Salle student section, well aware that Smith, a junior forward, has arguably the best chance to turn pro of any Big 5 player.

But while Smith finished the day as the game's leading scorer with 19 points and had eight rebounds, those dunks broke a scoreless drought for his team that lasted for 10 minutes and 37 seconds during the first half.

Explorers fans also chanted "We can't hear you" at the Villanova student section at one point,though La Salle was trailing at the time. It was that kind of day, though, with a smaller and much quieter crowd in the building than usually found at a city series game.

The atmosphere was raised for a few moments in the second half when Wright and Giannini were called for technical fouls within a minute of each other for hotly disputing calls by the officials.

La Salle stayed close for a short time in the second half thanks to good shooting from close range by Smith and Cunningham. With 16:04 to go, Villanova's lead was only seven points.

But the Wildcats responded right away, as their next possession culminated in a two-handed Jason Fraser dunk. With 10:12 to go, the Wildcats took a 10-point lead after a pair of Allan Ray free throws, and the margin stayed in double digits for the rest of the game.

Although the win was relatively easy for his team, Wright praised La Salle's tenacity and perseverance.

"They are a very, very scrappy team," he said. "I think John's doing a great job with them, and they are going to beat some people."

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