CHICAGO (AP) — Collin Gillespie made the first one and Saddiq Bey got the last one.
In between, Villanova put on quite a show.
Gillespie and Bey each made five of Villanova’s 18 3-pointers, and the 12th-ranked Wildcats used their long-range shooting to beat DePaul 91-71 on Wednesday night.
“We shot the ball great,” coach Jay Wright said. “We’ve run into some teams that have done that to us and when someone is shooting the ball like that it’s kind of hard for the opponent to do anything. We just did a really good job sharing the ball and knocking down 3s.”
Villanova went 18 for 26 from deep in its 20th straight victory against DePaul. The Wildcats (20-6, 9-4 Big East) have made at least nine 3s in their last five games, including 17 during Sunday’s 76-56 victory at Temple.
Bey finished with 20 points and seven assists. Gillespie and Justin Moore had 17 points apiece.
“Just be more solid every day and keep getting better with every practice and every game. That’s our mentality,” Bey said.
DePaul (13-13, 1-12) dropped its eighth straight game. The Blue Demons took the Wildcats to overtime in a 79-75 loss on Jan. 14, but the rematch was a blowout.
Coach Dave Leitao said the losing has taken a toll on his team.
“Obviously we’re all involved in this game of basketball, but what’s going on in front of us is a little bit more life than it is basketball,” he said, “in that, all of us have to figure out when you face adversity, how best to deal with it.”
While Villanova was taking aim from deep, DePaul went 4 for 12 from 3-point range. Jalen Coleman-Lands scored 17 points, and Paul Reed finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
During one telling sequence in the second half, Coleman-Lands made a nice steal before missing a jam for DePaul. Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree then slammed it home at the other end, giving Villanova a 77-46 lead with 8:21 left.
Cosby-Roundtree had a season-high 11 points and seven rebounds.
“It was just me coming in and trying to do whatever the team needed,” he said. “Just tried to be on the glass and rebounding and focus on defense and rebounding.”
The Wildcats grabbed control when they closed the first half with a 15-2 run for a 46-26 lead at the break. They had 10 3s at halftime; the Blue Demons had 10 made field goals.
