VILLANOVA, Pa. — Corey Stokes scored 19 points, and Corey Fisher had 16 to lead No. 6 Villanova to an 86-41 victory over Lafayette on Saturday night.
Jared Mintz scored 12 points for the overmatched Leopards (1-3).
The Wildcats (4-0) won their 41st consecutive game at The Pavilion. Their average margin of victory this season has been 28.5 points.
Villanova will get a tougher test against UCLA in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
As expected, this was no contest from the start. It didn’t help that Lafayette didn’t have starting forward Darion Benbow, out with a broken finger.
Stokes hit 3 three-pointersearly, including consecutive baskets to cap a 10-0 run and give Villanova a 19-6 lead. The Wildcats led 31-10 before Lafayette had a 10-0 run. Ryan Willen had a three-pointer and layup during that spurt.
Fisher made a reverse layup to give the Wildcats their biggest lead up to that point, 49-26, early in the second half. Maurice Sutton’s dunk extended the lead to 30 with more than 11 minutes left. Fisher scored on another reverse minutes later to make it 70-37.
NO. 4 OHIO STATE 81, UNC-WILMINGTON 41
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Deshaun Thomas scored 15 points and No. 4 Ohio State’s talented freshmen stole the show in a victory over UNCWilmington in the Global SportsInvitational.
In addition to Thomas, firstyear players Jordan Sibert and Jared Sullinger each had 11 points for the Buckeyes (3-0). William Buford added 12, David Lighty had 10 and Dallas Lauderdale had 10 rebounds.
NO. 15 MISSOURI 96, NORTH FLORIDA 58
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Ricardo Ratliffe had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Missouri set an arena record by forcing 34 turnovers and finished with a 24-0 run.
Marcus Denmon had 18 points, and Laurence Bowers had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks for the Tigers (2-0), who were much stronger only two days after Western Illinois took them to the wire in their opener.
NO. 16 BUTLER 88, BALL ST. 55
INDIANAPOLIS - Shelvin Mack had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Matt Howard added 16 points and 10 rebounds to help Butler rout Ball State.
Butler (2-1) won its seventh consecutive in a rivalry that has been played annually since 1950. The Bulldogs won their 17th in a row against Indiana opponents.
Malik Perry scored all 13 of his points in the second half for Ball State (2-1).
NO. 25 SAN DIEGO ST. 79, WIS.-GREEN BAY 70
OXFORD, Ohio - Kawhi Leonard scored 23 points and San Diego State shook off a sluggish start to beat Wisconsin-Green Bay in a CBE Classic subregional game.
Leonard also had 10 rebounds for his20th career double-double, and Chase Tapley added 14 points to help the Aztecs improve to 3-0 for the first time since the 2007-2008 season.
SEC CAMPBELL 61, AUBURN 54
AUBURN, Ala. - Amir Celestin came off the bench to score 13 points, nine in the second half, as Campbell defeated Auburn in the Global Sports Hoops Showcase.
It was the first victory for the Camels (2-2) over an SEC team since they beat South Carolina 73-72 in overtime on Jan. 12, 1994.
After Andrew Malone’s three-pointer gave the Tigers (0-3) their final lead, 49-47, with 6:28 remaining, they didn’t score again until the final nine seconds.
Malone led the Tigers with 17 points.
IOWA 55, ALABAMA 47
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands - Zach McCabe scored 13 points and Eric May 12 as Iowa came back from an early 10-point deficit to defeat Alabama 55-47 on Saturday night in a consolation round game at the Paradise Jam.
Iowa will face Long Beach State on Monday in its next game at the tournament, while Alabama will play Saint Peter’s.
Sports, Pages 30 on 11/21/2010