Despite a lackluster finish, the Villanova Wildcats managed to take home the 2015 Preseason NIT Tip-Off title in a 69-52 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
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Kris Jenkins had 12 points for Villanova, and Ryan Arcidiacono added nine as Villanova improved to 6-0 this season. Jalen Brunson led the Wildcats with nine points through the first half and the ‘Cats eked to a seven point lead at the half. Villanova helped make some of that deficit back by forcing 23 turnovers while coughing it up just six times.
Dawkins also has been seeing strides from his 2014 recruiting class, with sophomores Reid Travis, Dorian Pickens and Michael Humphrey all averaging at least 10.5 points in expanded roles. They will face Arkansas in the consolation game Friday.
Neither team could get it going from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, which ended with ‘Nova leading 30-23 despite shooting 32.3 percent (10-of-31) overall; Stanford (6-of-30, 20.0 percent) was even worse despite a noticeable size advantage inside.
Stanford is now in rebuilding mode after losing their top three players from last year’s team in Chasson Randle, Stefan Nastic, and Anthony Brown and although they were able to pick up a nice home win to defeat GB in overtime to kick off their season, the Cardinal have really struggled defensively in their last two losses against SMU and Saint Mary’s.
Georgia Tech grabbed its only lead at 7-6 on Marcus Georges-Hunt’s layup 3:36 into the game.
The Cardinal were outscored 45-24 in the second half Sunday.
Stanford held Villanova, which entered Thursday’s matchup averaging 84.8 ppg, to 59 points in the contest – nearly 26 points below its season scoring average. Below is everything you need to know about the game, including the Villanova vs. Stanford online live stream, TV broadcast information, game notes and prediction.
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Stanford: Thursday was Stanford’s 13th game in NY since 2011-12. Junior Marcus Allen continued his string of consistent efforts with 12 more points, and freshman Marcus Sheffield enjoyed a bit of a breakout game with two key corner threes that jumpstarted the brief second-half Cardinal comeback effort. The Razorbacks have seen their season get off to a rocky start after they advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament last March, most recently falling to Georgia Tech in the tournament semifinal.
