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Reynolds scores 21 as Villanova downs Hartford

Dec 15, 2007 - 4:35 AM VILLANOVA, Pennsylvania (Ticker) -- Scottie Reynolds scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half as No. 18 Villanova pulled away in the final 10 minutes to defeat Hartford, 103-75, on Friday.

Freshman Corey Fisher scored 18 points and Dante Cunningham added 13 and a career-high 13 rebounds for the Wildcats (8-1), who used a 12-0 run midway through the second half to pull away from the Hawks.

Shane Clark scored 16 points and Malcolm Grant came off the bench to score 12 as Villanova won its fourth straight.

With Villanova leading, 66-63, Fisher doubled the Wildcats' lead with a 3-pointer with 9:38 left. After a steal and feed from Fisher, Dwayne Anderson converted a layup to give Villanova an eight-point lead.

"I like to bring a positive attitude and change the game any way I can," Anderson said.

Clark, Anderson and Reynolds followed with layups before Reynolds added a free throw to extend the Wildcats' lead to 78-63 with 7:57 to play.

"Everybody who touches the ball (for Villanova) is a threat," Hartford coach Dan Leibovitz said. "Just too much for us."

Villanova continued to pull away down the stretch, taking its biggest lead of the game when Fisher capped the scoring with a 3-pointer with 1:54 to play. The Wildcats outscored the Hawks, 37-12, over the final 9:38.

"Villanova has those energy people," Leibovitz said. "They just come in and change the game. I thought we played 28 very good minutes. Their depth, and maybe our lack of depth, became the difference. I think we ran out of gas."

Reynolds, who only attempted two shots in the first half, came out more aggressively in the second half.

"The (first) half was done," Reynolds said. "You've got to play another half. If you have a bad half, you've got to come back in the second half."

It was the second consecutive 100-point game for Villanova, which was coming off a 101-93 victory at Temple on Sunday. It was the Wildcats' highest point total since a 108-61 win over Rider last December, the last time Villanova had five players reach double figures in scoring in the same game.

"We can score," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "We can put a team on the floor with experienced guys. We're trying to develop some depth."

Reynolds, Fisher and Grant each had four of Villanova's season-high 15 3-pointers. It was the most shots from the arc in a game for the Wildcats since a school-record 17 in an 84-47 victory over Lehigh on November 27, 2005.

Fisher and Grant each scored nine points as Villanova led, 44-41, at halftime despite 15 points from Joe Zeglinski and 12 from Michael Turner.

Hartford scored the game's first five points, but Cunningham hit a jumper with 6:27 remaining in the opening half to give the Wildcats the lead for good at 32-31.

Zeglinski scored 20 points and Warren McLendon had 19 for the Hawks (5-7), whose seven losses have all come on the road.