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Balanced attack leads Villanova past Albany

Nov 15, 2008 - 5:20 AM VILLANOVA, Pennsylvania (Ticker) -- Villanova showed plenty of balance in its season-opening victory.

Scottie Reynolds scored all 13 of his points in the second half and had six assists as 25th-ranked Villanova had six players score in double figures in a 78-60 victory over Albany on Friday.

Dante Cunningham and Corey Stokes also had 13 points apiece and Antonio Pena added 12 for the Wildcats (1-0), who shot 55 percent (28-of-51) from the floor.

"This was a good start for us," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "I want to give Albany credit. I have been on the other side of this matchup before, being the coach of a mid-major team. Albany battled us tough. They were physical and we only beat them by three on the glass."

Villanova made 11 of its first 15 shots en route to a 24-8 bulge with 9:47 left in the first half. Pena and Cunningham each scored eight points during the fast start.

"We were kind of a deer caught in the headlights for the first 10 minutes," Albany coach Will Brown said. "Our energy was good but their pressure and size and their length bothered us quite a bit. They were very aggressive, more so than I anticipated them being defensively. I was very impressed and it was tough for us to recover."

The Wildcats held a 40-24 lead at the break and used an 8-0 run early in the second half to take a 57-37 bulge with 12 minutes left to play.

Albany climbed back within 60-49 but Reynolds scored five points during another 8-0 burst to put the game out of reach with under five minutes left to play.

It was Villanova's 18th consecutive victory in home openers.

"We had 18 assists as a team and that was good," Wright said. "We have guys that can score but we have to get better defensively and get better on the glass. Right now we are a team of guys that can score."

Will Harris and Anthony Raffa scored 13 points apiece to lead the Great Danes.