Devin Askew came off the bench to contribute a team-high 20 points along with seven assists to help visiting Villanova defeat Providence 88-82 on Tuesday night.
Villanova (14-3, 5-1 Big East), which had a 32-8 edge in bench points, has won its last four conference road games.
The Wildcats received 15 points from Tyler Perkins and 14 from Duke Brennan, each of whom had eight rebounds.
Providence’s Jaylin Sellers led all scorers with 24 points. Jamier Jones scored 23 in his return after missing one game with a right shoulder injury. The Friars (8-9, 1-4) also received a 21-point performance from Stefan Vaaks.
Providence played without leading scorer Jason Edwards due to a foot injury. Edwards is averaging 17.2 points per contest.
Villanova made 10 of its 28 3-point attempts as Askew and Perkins each made three. Providence entered the game ranked last in the Big East in opponents’ 3-point field goal percentage (37.9%).
Villanova held its first double-digit lead after a Brennan dunk put the Friars up 33-23 with 5:37 left in the first half. The Wildcats stretched their lead to 13 at 42-29 on a Malachi Palmer three-point play with 2:15 remaining in the half.
Providence trailed 46-34 at halftime despite shooting 56% from the floor (14 of 25) in the first 20 minutes.
An 8-0 run pulled the Friars within five at 63-58 with 10:17 to play, but Villanova scored the next five points to regain a double-digit lead. Providence trailed by six with 1:52 left, but failed to get closer than five points the rest of the way.
Matt Hodge (11 points) and Palmer (10) were the other Villanova players who scored in double figures.
The loss dropped Providence’s home record to 6-3 and extended the team’s losing streak to three games.
–Field Level Media
