Villanova starts fast, holds off Penn, 73-65

Mouphtaou Yarou scored 21 points and pulled down 11 rebounds Saturday night to lift Villanova to a 73-65 victory over Penn in a Big Five game played at the Pavilion.

Yarou, who at 6-foot-10 and 255 pounds owned a size advantage over whoever guarded him for Penn, managed to find room inside despite the best defensive efforts of the Quakers. He shot 6 of 13 from the field and 9 of 12 from the free throw line.

The Quakers (4-5 overall, 0-2 Big Five) trailed by 18 at halftime and early in the second half. They trimmed the deficit to eight midway through the second half, and made a late run in the final 1 minute, 4 seconds when they scored 14 points, 11 by Zack Rosen.

Back-to-back threes by Rosen narrowed Villanova's lead to 63-57 with 45.4 seconds to play. Yarou took charge on the Wildcats' next possession, muscling inside for a layup and a subsequent free throw. But the Quakers wouldn't die, cutting the gap to four, 69-65, on another trey by Rosen with 14.6 seconds remaining.

But James Bell hit four free throws in the final 13.5 seconds to secure the win for the Wildcats (5-2, 2-0).

Freshman Darrun Hilliard chipped in with 13 points for Villanova. Rosen paced Penn with 21 and Tyler Bernardini added 13.

Maalik Wayns, 'Nova's top scorer with a 20-point average, picked up his second personal foul with just over 11 minutes left in the first half and sat for the remainder of the period. He wound up with 11 points and three assists.

The Wildcats shot 52 percent in the first half, and limited Penn to 29 percent, in taking a 38-20 lead at the break.

The Quakers began their comeback when three-point baskets by Bernardini and Marin Kukoc - Penn's first field goals from beyond the arc all night - sparked a 12-2 run that narrowed the gap to 42-34 on Bernardini's layup with 12:31 seconds remaining.

Penn got to within eight points on three other occasions, the last time on Rosen's drive that made it 48-40 with 8:55 to play. The Wildcats opened up their margin to 13 on a layup by Wayns - his first points of the game - and a three-point play by freshman Hilliard.

But the Quakers trimmed it back to eight, 55-47, on a layup by Henry Brooks with 4:38 to play. Wayns followed with a three-point basket, Villanova's first of the second half after 10 straight misses, to get the advantage to 11 with 4:19 remaining.

The Wildcats scored the first eight points of the game and held on to the advantage. From 22-16, they exploded on a run of 10 straight points, including three-point baskets by freshmen Hilliard, Ty Johnson and Achraf Yacoubou.

Yacoubou's three-ball made it 32-16 with 3:23 left in the first half. Johnson's scoop shot in the lane at the buzzer extended the Cats' lead to 38-20 at intermission.

Both Villanova and Penn had problems scoring in the opening 41/2 minutes of the second half. The Wildcats managed a field goal on their first 10 possessions, while the Quakers had one basket on their first nine.

Contact staff writer Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494 or jjuliano@phillynews.com