National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Villanova 74, Providence 72
When: 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Where: The Pavilion, Villanova, Pennsylvania
Officials: # Jeff Clarke, # Tony Green, # Karl Hess
Attendance: 6500

VILLANOVA 74, PROVIDENCE 72:
JayVaughn Pinkston scored nine of his 28 points in the final 2:13 as Villanova battled back from a 19-point deficit to edge visiting Providence.

Pinkston added 14 rebounds and Dominic Cheek and Mouphtaou Yarou scored 17 apiece for the Wildcats (11-13, 4-8 Big East), who snapped a three-game slide by dominating on the interior.

The Friars (13-12, 2-10) led 60-41 with just over 14 minutes left when they went cold from the field, failing to make a field goal over a stretch of 8:25 as Villanova climbed back.

Providence would recover and go back up, 72-67, with 1:54 left but Pinkston took over, converting a three-point play and then dunking in transition to knot it at 72-72. His layup with 27 seconds left proved to be the winning basket.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
Providence got four 3-pointer’s from Bryce Cotton during an 18-2 run to close the first half and take a 44-30 lead at the break … Pinkston missed the majority of that burst in the locker room after taking a finger in the eye … Villanova leading scorer Maalik Wayns was held to three points on 1-of-6 shooting ... After shooting 60 percent in the first half, the Friars slipped to 32 percent after the break.
Top Game Performances
 
Providence   Villanova
Bryce Cotton 20 Scoring JayVaughn Pinkston 28
Vincent Council 7 Assists James Bell 8
Bilal Dixon 8 Rebounds JayVaughn Pinkston 14
Vincent Council 7 Free Throws Made JayVaughn Pinkston 8
Gerard Coleman 3 Steals James Bell 2
Bilal Dixon 2 Blocks JayVaughn Pinkston 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Providence 72 44.6 8-15 14-20 14 25 3 6 13
Villanova 74 45.0 6-17 14-17 18 29 6 7 11