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Nov 17, 2008 9:51 pm US/Eastern
Villanova Routs Fordham, 107-68
VILLANOVA, Pa (AP) ―
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Dante Cunningham scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher each scored 17 points to lead No. 23 Villanova past Fordham 107-68 on Monday night.
Villanova U.
Dante Cunningham scored a career-high 31 points and
grabbed 11 rebounds, and Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher each scored 17 points to
lead No. 23 Villanova past Fordham 107-68 on Monday night.
Cunningham scored 19
points in the first half, nearly matching his previous best of 21, to help the
Wildcats (2-0) pull away early. The 6-foot-8 senior converted a three-point
play in the opening minute of the second half to give him 22 points, and did it
again about a minute later to stretch the lead to 62-40 and all but wrap up
Villanova's 17th straight win at home.
Cunningham finished
11-of-17 from the field and 9-for-12 from the line.
The Wildcats got a nice
surprise when forward Shane Clark returned only 11 days after surgery on his
right knee. Clark, who averaged 7.1 points and
4.3 points in 32 games last season, was expected to miss 3-to-6 weeks. Instead,
he checked in 6 ½ minutes into the game and scored the first time he touched
the ball for a 17-11 lead.
The Wildcats worked the
ball inside again two possessions later and Clark,
playing with a brace on his right knee, made it 2-for-2 with another easy
basket.
Villanova played
without 6-10 center Casiem Drummond (foot) and swingman Dwayne Anderson missed
his second straight game (foot).
The Wildcats could
afford to rest them for this one. Or the rest of the nonconference season. Hard
to see over the next couple of weeks where an absent player or two will make
much of a difference with this kind of soft schedule.
The Wildcats played their
second of eight straight games in the Philadelphia
area and none expect to seriously test the Wildcats. Niagara and Monmouth are on the schedule this
week, and the Wildcats' first stiff test comes against No. 7 Texas at the Jimmy
V Classic on Dec. 9 at Madison
Square Garden.
Fordham (0-2) shot the
3-pointer early and often to try and pull the upset. The plan might have worked
if the Rams could made a few. Showing no
patience on offense, the Rams dribbled around the 3-point line and fired. Make
it, misfired.
The Rams went 5-for-19
in the first half and a woeful 8-of-26 overall. Brenton Butler led Fordham with
17 points.
Trey Blue banked a wild
3 from in front of the scorer's table late in the first half, causing Villanova
guard Scottie Reynolds to smile in disbelief.
With the student section chanting, "You can't stop him!" Cunningham
went inside for another easy basket in the second half to make it 86-55 and
give him 29 points. He made a layup with 7:31 left to put him over the 30-point
mark. He could have scored 40 if coach Jay Wright left him in, but he was
pulled at the next timeout.
The Wildcats broke the
100-point mark for the first time since scoring 103 vs. Hartford on Dec. 14, 2007.
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