Written by Ernie Casanova
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL— This Thanksgiving holiday marked the opening day of the AdvoCare Invitational as it proved to have a very unique and eventful start to it. With half of the lineup being early NCAA tournament probables, this invitational was expected to be short of underwhelming.
The first game of the day was last year’s champion Villanova taking on Canisius College out of New York. The Wildcats drained in the first shot of the game, being a three-pointer from starting guard Phil Booth as well as the first five points in total. Shortly after, Canisius scored their first points on a Jalanni White layup in the paint. As time went on, the Wildcats were slowly building their lead, going up 17-8 seven minutes in. There was much physical play in the first half with both teams totaling for 19 fouls in 20 minutes, and they wouldn’t stop hounding each other. Villanova benefited from second-chance points and rebounding as they outscored their opponent heavily in each category.
The second half was a bit of a turnaround at the start, as Canisius drained multiple three-pointers to go on an 11-5 run and cut their deficit. Canisius guard Isaiah Reese started the half with two points and was responsible for all of the 11 during the run, quickly raising his point total to 13. He hit three shots from beyond the arc and a mid-range jumper to quiet the pro-Villanova crowd at the HP Field House. Despite the effort, the Wildcats used superb rebounding skills and executed in the paint to pull away late and avoid another upset after dropping one surprisingly in overtime to Furman last week.
The Wildcats out-rebounded Canisius 51-24, specifically on defense 33-17, but specialized in using those rebounds to convert on second-chance points. They also annihilated their opponent in that category, 21-2 as well as outscoring them in the paint 32-16. An all-around good game for Villanova, they could’ve been more efficient from beyond the arc as they only shot 28% from three-point range. After last week’s devastating loss, the Wildcats look to use this weekend to bounce back and take charge the rest of the way.
Leading the Wildcats was Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, securing a double-double with 15 points on 6-7 shooting, 13 rebounds, and three steals. Behind him was Booth with 15 points and Bey with 11 points and eight rebounds. As for Canisius, Reese led the way with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Takal Molson contributed 10 points and four assists. Nova wan by a final of 83-56.
Villanova advances to the next round and will take on the winner of the Oklahoma State and Memphis matchup on Friday at 11:30AM ET. Canisius will take on the loser of that matchup on Friday at 1:30PM ET in hopes of reaching the consolation stages.
(Image Credit: Chris Tello/ The SkyBoat)
