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No. 12 Villanova beats Penn in Big 5 battle

Dec 9, 2010 - 2:48 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Corey Stokes had a career-high 34 points in No. 12 Villanova's 65-53 win over Big 5 rival Penn at the Palestra.

Stokes was 5-of-9 from three-point range for the Wildcats (7-1), who have won two straight since their 78-68 loss to Tennessee on November 26. Antonio Pena was the only other Villanova scorer in double-digits with 16 points and he also had eight rebounds.

Zack Rosen posted 20 points and five assists for Penn (4-4), which had a two- game win streak snapped. Jack Eggleston had 12 points and five rebounds in defeat.

Penn took its only lead of the game, 17-16, on a steal and breakaway bucket from Miles Cartwright. After a Nova timeout, Maalik Wayns made a driving layup to regain its lead and Stokes drained back-to-back three pointers making the score 24-17.

The Wildcats kept the lead into halftime, 30-23, after Corey Fisher went 1- of-2 from the free throw line.

The biggest Nova margin -- 13 points -- came when Stokes made a jumper with just under nine minutes to play. Cartwright then made a layup during the ensuing possession, however, Stokes answered back with another jumper.

The hosts threatened during the final two minutes when Tyler Bernardini drained a jumper to make the score 59-51. However, Villanova hung on, scoring six of the last eight points of the contest with Stokes finishing his career night with two free throws.

Game Notes

The Wildcats were without freshman JayVaughn Pinkston. Pinkston was suspended for the spring semester this week after facing two counts each of misdemeanor assault and harassment, stemming from an incident at an off-campus party in early November...Both teams shot under 50 percent from the field -- Villanova making 48.9 percent of its shots and Penn connecting on 41.7 percent. Fisher, the Wildcats' prolific scoring guard, finished with just four points on 1-of-6 shooting.