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Wayns, Fisher pace Wildcats in win over West Virginia

Feb 6, 2011 - 12:38 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Maalik Wayns had 17 points, Corey Fisher scored 16 and 12th-ranked Villanova pulled away to beat No. 25 West Virginia, 66-50, at Wells Fargo Center.

Mouphtaou Yarou finished with 11 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats (19-4, 7-3 Big East), who have won two games in a row after consecutive losses to Providence and Georgetown.

"It was probably our best defensive effort of the year," Villanova head coach Jay Wright said. "To outrebound them, for us, is big. It's an area where we have not been consistent."

Kevin Jones tallied 16 points to pace the Mountaineers (15-7, 6-4), who were aiming for their third straight win.

"We played well at Louisville and maybe could have won, but we didn't. We won at Cincinnati and then come in here and don't win," West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins said. "This league is hard. It's the best league in America."

West Virginia raced out to a 10-4 lead, but the Wildcats responded with a 17-4 surge. Fisher nailed a three-pointer to cap the run and put Villanova ahead 21-14, and the home team led 30-19 at halftime after a Wayns trey.

The Mountaineers trimmed their deficit to 36-33 on a John Flowers jumper a little over four minutes into the second frame. That's as close as West Virginia got the rest of the way.

Moments later, Wayns made a layup to ignite a 7-0 burst that increased the Wildcats' lead to 52-40. A Yarou dunk stretched the margin to 64-43 with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.

Game Notes

Antonio Pena posted 10 points and four rebounds for Villanova, which shot 54.3 percent from the floor, including a sizzling 70 percent in the second half, and made 7-of-14 three-pointers...Flowers totaled 15 points...West Virginia was limited to 35.8 percent shooting and converted only 5-of-12 free throws.