South Florida beats Villanova 65-51
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hugh Robertson and Victor Rudd Jr. scored 14 points each as South Florida beat Villanova 65-51 on Wednesday night.
South Florida (16-10, 9-4 Big East) matched its highest victory total in conference play. The Bulls had a conference record of 9-9 during the 2009-10 season, and had just three Big East wins and 10 victories overall last season.
South Florida also got 10 points apiece from Anthony Collins and Jawanza Poland.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Maurice Sutton had 10 points for Villanova (11-14, 4-9). The Wildcats played without leading scorer Maalik Wayns (averaging 17.8 points a game) due to a sprained left knee.
Villanova, which had seven days off since beating Providence 74-72 on Feb. 7, started a stretch of three games in six days.
Robertson's slam on a fastbreak and his two free throws during a 10-2 run helped put South Florida ahead 33-25 7 minutes into the second half.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Collins hit four free throws, with two coming after a technical was called on the Villanova bench, that extended the South Florida advantage to 37-27 with 12 minutes left.
The Bulls took a 44-31 lead on Poland's long-range jumper, and a 3-pointer from Rudd Jr. made it 59-39 late in the second half.
Dominic Cheek had five points, including a 3-pointer, as Villanova took an early 10-5 lead. After South Florida tied it at 20-all on Poland's layup, neither team scored again over the final four minutes of the first half.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Villanova freshman forward JayVaughn Pinkston, coming off a 28-point, 14-rebound performance against Providence, had just eight points. He made 1 of 13 shots.
South Florida also won the other meeting between the teams this season, 74-57 at Villanova on Jan. 5.