10th-ranked Villanova takes care of La Salle

Philadelphia, PA -- Darrun Hilliard and Dylan Ennis each contributed 15 points as No. 10 Villanova remained unbeaten thanks to a 84-70 decision over rival La Salle in the Big 5 opener for both schools and the second of two City Series contests on Wednesday from Gola Arena.

Josh Hart and JayVaughn Pinkston poured in 12 points apiece, with Daniel Ochefu adding 10 and eight rebounds for the Wildcats (7-0), who next face Saint Joseph's on Saturday afternoon in the 2014 edition of the Holy War between the Catholic institutions.

That's a good road win for us," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "We watched film of La Salle and knew that they were just not going to go away. They've got really good chemistry and (coach) John (Gianinni) is not going to let them quit. They're tough. To come in here and win a Big Five game against a team that I think is going to be very good is good for us."

Jerell Wright totaled a game-best 19 points for the Explorers (4-3), who take on Temple three days from now. Khalid Lewis picked up 17 points and Jordan Price had 10 in a losing cause.

Villanova led 4-0 early on but La Salle countered to go up 9-8 on a triple from Cleon Roberts.

Pinkston hit a bucket a short time later to fuel a 16-5 surge which sent the Wildcats on top 24-14 with 8:24 left in the half on back-to-back shots from Hart.

A Lewis shot closed the gap to 24-18, but Kris Jenkins drained a trey and Pinkston converted a three-point play and 'Nova was up 30-18, then the visitors' lead enlarged to 35-20 on a jumper from Ochefu with 4:30 remaining.

A triple from Hillard boosted Villanova's margin to 18, at 45-27, with just over a minute to play before intermission and that spread stood at the break after Pinkston converted a jumper to make it 47-29.

Price scored four straight and Wright added a layup to shrink La Salle's deficit to 51-40 less than five minutes into the second half.

However, Ennis hit from long distance on the next possession and within a span of four minutes a Ryan Arcidiacono basket boosted the 'Nova lead to 63-44.

"They did a really good job of taking away our threes, especially early," explained Wright. "It gave us driving lanes. These two (Hilliard and Ennis) really took advantage of that. I thought these guys recognized that really well. I thought that was a key. Usually that's tough to decipher -- that I can get to the rim on the first play without making a pass. These two did a great job of that."

Pinkston hit two from the line with 6:09 remaining and the Wildcats led by 20 for the first time, 74-54, before La Salle's last run -- an 11-2 burst capped by two Wright free throws -- pulled it to 80-70 with  2:10 to play.

The Explorers missed their final three shots while Ochefu and Pinkston hit easy buckets to close out the contest.

Notes: Villanova has won 12 of the last 13 meetings since December of 2002. La Salle's last win against 'Nova was 77-74 (OT) on Nov. 25, 2012 at the Pavilion ... The Explorers have dropped three in a row since opening the year with four wins ... The Wildcats scored 21 points off 13 La Salle turnovers ... Ennis led all players with nine assists.

SJP's Morris nominated for Basketball Hall of Fame

Philadelphia, PA -- Former Temple University men's head basketball coach John Chaney announced the nomination of long-time city basketball coach and current St. Joseph's Prep bench boss Bill “Speedy” Morris to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

In his 44 years of coaching at the high school and college level, Morris has had nothing but success. At all five of his coaching stops, he has guided his team to a championship in his second year, often after taking over moribund programs. At Roman Catholic High School, where he began his career and spent 14 seasons as head coach, Morris won six championships and still holds the best winning percentage in school history. He then moved to Penn Charter where he led the team to 41 wins in two seasons, winning the league championship in his second season.

That began Morris’ 17 years coaching at the collegiate level. First, he took over the La Salle women’s basketball team. Like Roman and Penn Charter, he was immediately successful, winning 43 games and a conference championship in his second season, when the Explorers advanced to the NCAA Tournament. He then moved to take the head men’s position at La Salle, becoming the only coach in NCAA history to ever make the switch from women to men. With the men’s team, Morris continued his amazing success. He still has the most wins in school history and led the Explorers to four conference titles and six postseason appearances (four NCAA tournaments and two NIT tournaments).

In 2001, Morris returned to his roots in Philadelphia Catholic League basketball, taking over the reins of the Prep. In 2003, he won the first of back-to-back Catholic League titles, the school’s first in three decades. His 235 wins are the most in school history and the team won the school’s first PIAA district championship in 2012. Overall, his eight Catholic League titles rank him at the top of the record books and last year he became the all-time winningest high school coach in Philadelphia history. He is also in exclusive company with 904 career wins.

“Speedy’s success on the floor is obvious and legendary,” says Rev. George W. Bur, S.J., President of St. Joseph’s Prep. “On the court, he has made our program into a consistent winner, something that we had been unable to achieve over the first 80 years that we had basketball. Off the court, Speedy runs a solid program, one that we are very proud to be associated with. He has made the program into a family and incorporated the mission of our school into the mission of our team.”

Morris is a tireless supporter of Coaches vs. Cancer and has consistently been one of the group’s top area fundraisers. In addition, Speedy raises money for many area charities, mostly speaking without a stipend. He and his son Chris have performed more than two dozen comedy shows, with all proceeds benefitting a local charity.

Morris has received many honors over the past few years: Philadelphia Big Five Hall of Fame, Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, La Salle University Athletics Hall of Fame, the Archdiocesan Hall of Fame the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and the court was named in his honor at Roman Catholic. He is one of the most accomplished and honored coaches in one of the world’s greatest basketball cities.