Saturday, February 19, 2011
Posted: 2:30 p.m.Updated: 4:13 p.m.
By David CassiloFor CSNPhilly.com
BOX SCORE
CHICAGO -- Villanova was in serious danger of suffering yet another road loss to a Big East bottom dweller on Saturday, but a career-high 34 points from Corey Fisher led the Wildcats past DePaul, 77-75, in overtime.
Fisher scored 29 points in the second half and overtime as No. 15 Villanova (21-6, 9-5) rallied for the victory.
No three points were bigger than the shot he hit with 12 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 62 and send it to overtime.
I came off the screen and I know the big didnt want me to drive, and he gave me space so I just raised up and hit the shot, Fisher said.
With fellow senior guard Corey Stokes out, the Wildcats needed offense from Fisher now more than ever, but getting him to be the No. 1 scoring option has sometimes been a hard thing to do.
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Believe it or not with the way he took over this game, hes not comfortable with that, head coach Jay Wright said. He likes getting everybody involved. He really is a natural point guard.
On Saturday, Villanova needed that type of performance from Fisher. The Wildcats had already lost earlier this season to Providence and Rutgers on the road and needed a furious rally to avoid a third defeat.
This is the Big East. Night out and night in youre playing against a great team, Fisher said. It doesnt matter about record. Theres great teams in this league, and youre going to have to grind it out if youre going to win.
Despite jumping out to an early 9-2 lead, Villanova quickly found itself playing from behind after DePaul (7-19, 1-13) responded with a 20-5 run, capped off by three straight three-pointers.
The long-distance success became a trend for the Blue Demons. Although DePaul entered Saturday shooting 32.9 percent from beyond the arc in conferences games, it made 13 from downtown against Villanova, its most since March 11, 2009.
Connecting on seven of those three-pointers was junior guard Jeremiah Kelly, whose 25 points bested the career-high 23 he scored against Providence in his last game, DePauls lone conference victory.
However, a scoreless streak of more than five minutes for DePaul late in the second half allowed Villanova to get back into the game and eventually force overtime.
In that extra session, it was all Fisher and his backcourt mate Maalik Wayns. The two combined for 11 of Villanovas 15 points in overtime.
Im playing against Corey Fisher everyday in practice, said Wayns, who finished with 17 points. To get in a game like that with guys pressuring me and guys up in me, I just think about practice everyday.
The two players knocked down their free throws late in overtime to ensure the victory.
Usually joining Fisher and Wayns in the backcourt is Stokes, but the senior guard missed his third straight game with turf toe, despite going through a full workout before the game.
His absence has disrupted the flow on the offensive end, and put more of the responsibility on Fisher.
Corey Stokes is always a guy you just know is going to stretch the defense, Wright said. Even when hes not making shots, they are going to guard him no matter how far out he is, and its going to create space for everyone.
Wright said following the game that he would give Stokes a shot on Monday to see if he could make a return to the lineup against Syracuse (21-6, 8-6).
Getting him back should help what Wright considers to be the biggest thing his team needed to work on: the offense.
We just havent really had any flow offensively but our defenses and rebounding has really kept us in games, Wright said.
Villanova once again held a decisive edge on the glass Saturday. Led by Mouphtaou Yarous 15 rebounds, one shy of his career-high, the Wildcats outrebounded the Blue Demons 50-36 and 20-10 on the offensive end.
Wrights squad has outrebounded its opponent in five of its last six games.
Its next chance to do that will come on Monday against the Syracuse Orange. The game begins a tough four-game stretch to finish the regular season. After Syracuse, Villanova will host St. Johns before finishing its schedule with road games against Notre Dame and Pittsburgh, the conferences top two teams.
E-mail David Casillo at dcassilo@gmail.com