Cam Whitmore scored 21 points in his second career game and host Villanova defeated Big 5 rival Pennsylvania 70-59 on Wednesday.
Whitmore, a highly-touted freshman, missed the first seven games following right thumb surgery and contributed seven points in his debut for the Wildcats in a 70-66 win over Oklahoma Saturday in Philadelphia.
Eric Dixon and Caleb Daniels added 12 each and Brandon Slater contributed 10 for Villanova (4-5), which has won two straight following a four-game losing streak.
Villanova continued to play without Justin Moore, who’s recovering from an Achilles injury.
Jordan Dingle led Pennsylvania (5-7) with 25 points and nine rebounds and Max Martz added 15 before fouling out with 6:38 left.
The Quakers have dropped three in a row, all to Big 5 teams with previous overtime losses to Saint Joseph’s and La Salle.
Pennsylvania was without injured Clark Slajchert, the team’s second-leading scorer at 17.4 points per game.
Pennsylvania jumped out to a 16-11 lead following Martz’s one-handed dunk with 10:34 left in the first half.
Martz hit his first four shots and the Quakers led 20-17.
The Wildcats scored the next eight points — a trey by Chris Arcidiacono, two free throws by Slater and a 3-pointer by Whitmore.
Villanova extended its run to 13-0 when Whitmore dropped in another trey and added two free throws for a 30-20 lead.
The Wildcats, who were 10-of-21 from 3-point territory in the first 20 minutes, led 36-26. They missed all nine treys in the second half.
Martz paced the Quakers with eight, but they missed eight of their final nine shots before halftime.
When Dingle hit his first shot after missing the first four and Martz hit a short jumper, Pennsylvania trailed 42-36 with 16:20 remaining.
Slater converted a layup, Whitmore tossed down a vicious dunk and the Wildcats extended their advantage to 10. Whitmore then produced a three-point play and followed with a layup as Villanova led 53-38 with 11:45 to go.
The Quakers refused to wilt and proceeded on an 8-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Dingle, to close within eight.
The Wildcats then went ahead 68-56 after a layup by Slater with 2:32 left.
–Field Level Media
