VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Kris Jenkins put this one to bed early.
On Tuesday night at the Pavilion, the junior forward poured in a career-high 31 points, including 17 in the first 10 minutes, as No. 3 Villanova cruised past DePaul, 83-62, to secure its third straight outright Big East title.
Jenkins shot a whopping 8 for 14 from three-point range and went on his own personal 14-0 run in the first for the Wildcats (26-4 overall, 15-2 Big East), who had already clinched the top seed in next week’s Big East tournament coming in.
His performance was first Villanova’s first 30-plus game this season.
Villanova, playing its first game without the No. 1 ranking in three weeks, had little trouble with Big East lightweight DePaul (9-20, 3-14) in its final game at the Pavilion this season, leading from start to finish to win its second straight after losing to Xavier a week ago.
Big men on campus
Jenkins was the star of the show, not only hitting his career high in points but also in made three-pointers (eight). But fellow junior Josh Hart also had a big game for ’Nova, scoring 18 points on 6 for 11 shooting. And senior Ryan Arcidiacono had seven assists — one shy of hitting 500 for his career.
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For DePaul, talented freshman guard Eli Cain had a team-high 14 points and four assists, despite battling foul trouble. Myke Henry added 13 for the Blue Demons.
By the numbers
• DePaul shot 9 for 16 from three-point range while Villanova shot 14 for 31 from distance.
• DePaul committed 17 turnovers with Villanova scoring 25 points off those giveaways.
• Villanova was outrebounded by DePaul, 34-29.
First half
After Hart scored the first six points of the game for ’Nova, DePaul made things interesting and pulled within 11-10. But that’s when Jenkins took over, burying four straight three-pointers and a layup over three minutes to turn an 11-10 lead into a 25-10 advantage with 10:26 left in the first half.
Jenkins had 20 in the first half to help Villanova extend its advantage to 51-33 lead at the break. The Wildcats were lights out in the first half, shooting 67.9 percent (19 for 28) from the field and 53.3 percent (8 for 15) from three-point range, while forcing the Blue Demons into 11 turnovers.
Pavilion dominance
Tuesday’s win marked the Wildcats’ 39th straight at home — a streak they will now carry into another season.
Villanova has been especially dominant this season, outscoring its opponents by an average of 23.5 points in its on-campus gym.
Perretta honored
Villanova women’s basketball coach Harry Perretta was honored in the second half and presented with a game ball for winning 700 career games.
The longtime coach reached the milestone last Sunday with Villanova’s 63-60 win over Georgetown, joining an exclusive club that features only two other active women’s coaches — Geno Auriemma (UConn) and Robin Selvig (Montana).
Up next
Villanova concludes its regular season Saturday vs. Georgetown at the Wells Fargo Center before next week’s Big East tournament begins.
DePaul hosts Seton Hall on Saturday.