Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa made all 10 of his free throws en route to 22 points as visiting Columbia defeated Villanova 90-80 on Wednesday.
Avery Brown chipped in 18 points for the Lions (2-0), whose last win over a Big East opponent also came at Villanova on Nov. 20, 2012. Kenny Noland added 14 points for Columbia, while Noah Robledo notched 12 points off the bench.
The Lions shot 24 of 26 from the foul line and 53.7 percent from the floor.
The Wildcats (1-1) lost despite a huge effort by Eric Dixon, who scored a game-high 33 points, one shy of his career-high. He made 11 of 16 shots from the field, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Wooga Poplar contributed 16 points for Villanova and Jordan Longino had 14 points.
Villanova led 28-20 with under six minutes left in the first half before Rubio De La Rosa scored five points during a 7-0 run. The teams remained close for the duration of the half with Columbia holding a 39-37 lead at the break.
Dixon scored 19 of the Wildcats’ 37 points in the first while Rubio De La Rosa led the Lions with 10 in the opening period.
Dixon stayed hot early in the second half, recording two 3-pointers and two layups to help Villanova take a 49-48 lead with 16:09 to play.
Columbia led 60-57 midway through the second half before clamping down defensively, holding Villanova without a field goal for 4 1/2 minutes. During that stretch, Brown made a pair of free throws and Jaden Cooper delivered a layup and a 3-pointer to turn the Lions’ three-point lead into a 67-57 advantage.
Dixon’s layup got the Wildcats back within 71-64 with 5:03 left, but Rubio De La Rosa answered with six straight points to push the margin back to 13.
Villanova whittled the deficit down to nine points with about a minute left but it couldn’t get any closer the rest of the way.
–Field Level Media
