VILLANOVA, Pa. — Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points and Corey Stokes had 17 to lead No. 12 Villanova to an 82-72 win over Rutgers on Thursday night.
Corey Fisher scored seven of his 14 points in a 2-minute stretch midway through the second half that turned a two-point hole into a 63-56 lead. Villanova (21-5, 9-4 Big East) then went 8-for-11 from the floor and used a 20-5 run to win for the seventh time in the past eight games.
Rutgers (10-16, 1-12) gamely tried to duplicate last year’s 80-68 stunner over the Wildcats in Piscataway, N.J., and kept this one close for most of the first 30 minutes. Mike Rosario scored 19 points and Anthony Farmer had 17.
The Scarlet Knights are 0-7 on the road in conference games.
The Wildcats needed some time to revert to form and bounce back from their 18-point loss last week at West Virginia. Stokes and Reynolds each hit 3s that stretched Villanova’s lead to nine and the Wildcats finally seemed to shake the pesky Scarlet Knights.
Only problem was, Jaron Griffin wasn’t going to let Rutgers go down easy. Not considered much a scoring threat at only 3 points per game, the senior reserve sank two 3-pointers that quickly sliced the deficit to three. His next 3 at the 11-minute mark put Rutgers up 54-52 for its first lead since it was 18-16 early in the first half.
Villanova answered with a basket, then Mike Cobrun put Rutgers ahead 56-54 with 10 minutes left and the Scarlet Knights had visions of another upset. Rutgers hasn’t beaten the same nationally ranked team in consecutive seasons since knocking off Syracuse in 1998 and 1999.
Those thoughts of spoiling Villanova’s senior night didn’t last long.
Fisher, Villanova’s top scorer off the bench, went on his spurt to turn the game around. Stokes nailed a 3 to make it an 11-point game and send the Wildcats on their way to their 27th straight win at the Pavilion. He hit another 3 with 4:21 left for a 76-61 lead that signaled to the fans not used to the 9 p.m. tip that it was time to leave. And plenty did.
The Wildcats haven’t lost at their on-campus home since Jan. 6, 2007.
The Scarlet Knights made seven of their first 10 shots to start the game and were tied at 27 late in the half. Reynolds scored 11 points in the half and helped Villanova take a 37-31 lead at the break.
Dante Cunningham scored 12 points for the Wildcats.
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