Cam Whitmore scores 21 as Villanova tops Penn in Big 5 matchup

Penn coach Steve Donahue said in his preparation for Wednesday night’s game that he thought Villanova “turned the corner” a bit Saturday when the Wildcats beat Oklahoma.

There was a big reason for that: star recruit Cam Whitmore finally made his debut after recovering from thumb surgery.

Whitmore’s presence in the Villanova lineup is paying off in wins. Four Villanova players scored in double figures, led by Whitmore’s 21 points, as the Wildcats held off Penn, 70-59, Wednesday night at Finneran Pavilion for their second consecutive win.

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Whitmore scored 13 of his 21 in the second half. Caleb Daniels and Eric Dixon each scored 12 for Villanova (4-5), and Brandon Slater added 10.

The Quakers (5-7) were led by Jordan Dingle’s game-high 25 points and career-high nine rebounds. Dingle kept Penn in the game in the second half. He scored seven points in the first 29 minutes and 18 over the final 11.

“Literally has to, in this environment, carry us in long stretches,” Donahue said of Dingle. “I thought he almost stole the game for us.”

Max Martz added 15 points for Penn.

Whitmore played in his first game in Finneran Pavilion after scoring seven points in 20 minutes of Saturday’s win over the Sooners at the Wells Fargo Center. The freshman gave the campus crowd plenty to cheer about.

He hit two threes among his eight first-half points. But it was two rebounds — one defensive and one offensive — on consecutive possessions where Whitmore jumped higher than anyone else that showed what he’s bringing to Villanova.

That athleticism showed even more clearly in the second half. With Villanova up 44-36, Whitmore drove at two Penn defenders and put up a shot that hit off the rim. But he stayed with it, rose over the Penn players and, with one hand, stuffed in the rebound through contact.

“I’m still shocked that he can go out there and play at this level,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said, noting Whitmore only had four or five full practices before joining the lineup.

Later, while Villanova struggled to find offense and Penn continued to hang around, Whitmore drove the baseline and finished off a reverse layup to give the Wildcats a 10-point lead, 64-54, with less than four minutes to play.

Whitmore was plus-14 in 24 minutes.

Donahue was asked if Whitmore reminded him of any players over the years. He pointed to Ken Durrett (La Salle) and Howard Porter (Villanova).

“He’s a big body and the stroke is perfect,” Donahue said. “And then you close out on him and he has the skills of a 6-2 guard.

“He’s not going to be here long, guys.”

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A 13-0 Villanova run featured a pair of Whitmore triples, and another from Chris Arcidiacono to help Villanova turn a three-point deficit into a 10-point lead, 30-20.

Penn went four minutes without scoring during that stretch.

Villanova went the entire first half without scoring a basket in the paint. The Wildcats, who have struggled from distance so far this year, put together a good shooting half (10-for-21) and led by 10, 36-26, at the break.

While Penn was without second-leading scorer Clark Slajchert (17.4 points per game), Dingle did all he could to keep the Quakers in the game.

He scored 18 of Penn’s final 21 points.

The Quakers, meanwhile, held Villanova to 0-for-9 shooting from three-point range in the second half.

“I thought we were just tentative on our closeouts,” Donahue said of the first half. “The second half I thought we did a really good job.”

Penn lost despite connecting on a higher percentage of shots (42.9% to Villanova’s 42%) and collecting more rebounds (34 to Villanova’s 25). The Quakers had nine offensive rebounds and 11 second-chance points.

But Villanova scoring 23 points off 14 Penn turnovers and connecting on 18 of 21 free throws was what made all the difference in the 11-point margin.

“We were careless, just not confident with the ball,” Donahue said.

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Villanova has two more nonconference games before Big East play begins. The Wildcats play Saturday vs. Boston College in the Never Forget Tribute Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (5 p.m.). They close out their Big 5 schedule Dec. 17 vs. St. Joseph’s.

Penn plays the fourth of four consecutive Big 5 games Saturday vs. Temple at the Palestra (1 p.m.).