No. 4 'Nova dispatches DePaul; No. 1 UConn looms

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) -- Now, Villanova can worry about

Connecticut.

Randy Foye scored 23 points and Kyle Lowry added 15 to lead the

fourth-ranked Wildcats to their eighth straight victory, 61-51 over

DePaul on Saturday.

Next up: No. 1 UConn on Monday.

"Earlier in the week, on Thursday, they were asking us about

UConn, and [coach Jay Wright] told us you have to worry about

DePaul first, we have to go in there and play a great team in

DePaul and then worry about UConn after that," Foye said.

Although Saturday's game wasn't a letdown for Villanova, it

wasn't a thing of beauty, either.

The Wildcats were 21-of-59 from the field, including 5-of-21 on

3-pointers, and had just six assists. But they were 14-of-19 from

the free throw line, had five steals and scored 11 points off

DePaul's 13 turnovers.

Foye was 8-of-20 from the field, including 4-of-12 on

3-pointers, but he hit several clutch shots in the second half. He

had a layup and jumper during a six-point run late that increased

the lead to 52-40.

The Wildcats (19-2, 9-1 Big East) were without third-leading

scorer Mike Nardi, who missed his second straight game with

tonsillitis. Wright said he considered inserting Nardi in the

second half, before the Wildcats pulled away.

Lowry was 5-for-11 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds. He

had 25 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals in

Tuesday's 71-58 victory over Saint Joseph's.

"You've got to deal with it," Lowry said. "Every night you

are not going to be shooting 55 percent and hitting 12 3s. Some

nights are just going to come down to defense."

And Villanova's was good enough -- again.

"That's really what we've done all year," Wright said. "We

just continue to find ways. I don't think we are ever going to be

pretty. ... This is who we are."

Karron Clarke had 14 points and 15 rebounds for DePaul (9-13,

2-9), which has lost eight of nine overall and five in a row at

home. The Blue Demons were 10-for-23 at the free throw line.

"That's probably how dentistry was in the 1800s, before they

had anesthetics," coach Jerry Wainwright said. "That's how I

felt."

So did his players.

"Free throws are haunting us lately," guard Sammy Mejia said

after going 2-of-5 at the line.

Wainwright acknowledged that the backdrop at Allstate Arena is

different from that of their gym on campus. But he also pointed out

that he sees players with hitches in their stroke at the line.

"I don't know what else you can say; you need to make them,"

Wainwright said.

DePaul outscored Villanova 17-8 over the opening 9:31 of the

second half to pull within 40-37.

With the score 46-40, Villanova's Bilal Benn put back an airball

by Allan Ray, and Foye followed with a layup and jumper that made

it a 12-point game with 3:37 left.

The game was the first between Villanova and new Big East member

DePaul since February 1979. DePaul has not beaten a Top Ten team

since December 2001, when it defeated No. 10 Missouri at the United

Center in Chicago. Its last victory over a Top 5 opponent was by

one point in overtime over No. 3 Cincinnati at Allstate Arena eight

years ago.

A jumper by Wilson Chandler and a basket by Marlon Brumfield

pulled DePaul within 32-24 early in the second half, but Foye hit a

3 from the left wing.

Another 3 by Foye made it 40-26, but Jabari Currie and Clarke

hit from the outside to pull DePaul within 40-32. After a missed

jumper by Ray, Chandler brought the crowd to its feet with a dunk

that made it a six-point game. Mejia's 3-pointer then pulled DePaul

within 40-37 with 9:29 remaining.

"When we cut it to three, that was one of the few moments in

the game where we were actually being aggressive on the offensive

end," Mejia said.

The Wildcats built a 32-20 halftime lead despite missing six of

their first seven shots and hitting just 12 of 31 overall.

Villanova turns its attention toward Monday's showdown with

UConn.

"It's definitely important, and you know it's going to be a big

game, but you still have to go back and review the film on DePaul

and see the mistakes that we made and correct them in practice

tomorrow," Lowry said.