Fifth-seeded Villanova defeats No. 12 seed Winthrop, 73-63, in NCAA Tournament first-round game

Without an injured Collin Gillespie in the lineup, Villanova was considered to be vulnerable to the dreaded 5-vs.-12 NCAA Tournament first-round upset against a Winthrop team that had won 23 of its 24 games this season.

But the Wildcats, who had lost their previous two games without Gillespie, pulled together Friday night behind the scoring of Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Justin Moore and a fine second-half effort on defense to defeat the Eagles, 73-63, at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

The Cats (17-6) advanced to the second round of their seventh consecutive tournament, and will take on No. 13 seed North Texas on Sunday. The Mean Green upset fourth seed Purdue, 78-69, in overtime.

Villanova placed four players in double figures. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had 22 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and three blocked shots, while Justin Moore added 15 points, Jermaine Samuels 11, and Caleb Daniels 10.

D.J. Burns scored 12 points to lead Winthrop (23-2), the Big South tournament champion. Point guard Chandler Vaudrin had nine points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, and five turnovers.

The Wildcats gradually began to pull away from Winthrop with the help of their defense. They limited the Eagles to 28.6% shooting in the second half and forced seven turnovers. Winthrop shot 36.8% for the game.

“I think we did a good job in our transition defense,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “We got matched up really quick. We did a good job on Vaudrin, who’s an outstanding player.”

Midway through the second half, the Wildcats were leading, 48-45, but they held Winthrop without a field goal for a 4-minute, 29-second span and mounted a 12-2 run that extended their advantage to 13, 60-47, on Samuels’ scoop shot with 6:58 remaining.

Winthrop scored the next five points on Kyle Zunic’s three-point basket and a pair of free throws by Vaudrin, but Robinson-Earl and Brandon Slater each hit a free throw to make it a 62-52 game with 3:33 to play and the Eagles never got closer than eight again.

“That was a good win for us against a very good team,” Wright said. “I was proud of our guys. It was a really good defensive effort. They’re an outstanding offensive team. They shoot it well. I thought our defense was the key to the game. Offensively, Jeremiah was great, not just scoring but he had six assists. He allowed us to run the offense through him.”

The Wildcats led by as many as 10 points in the first half and did not trail until a 10-0 run gave the Eagles their first lead at 22-21 with 6 minutes remaining. But two threes later in the period allowed them to regain the lead, 34-33, at the break.

Villanova shot 43.8% in the first half, missing its first seven three-point shots but knocking down five of its last nine, and held an 18-16 rebounding advantage. The Eagles connected on 44.8%, outscoring the Wildcats in the paint, 18-14.

Moore led the Wildcats at the half with 10 points and Robinson-Earl contributed eight points, six rebounds, and four assists.

Burns, a 6-foot-9, 275-pound man in the middle, led the Eagles with nine points while Vaudrin, their do-everything point guard, had four points, four rebounds, and two assists.

The Wildcats started fast in the second half with the help of Bryan Antoine. Antoine, who has had injury problems and sank just a pair of three-point baskets in 66 minutes of playing time, drilled a pair in a 52-second span to spark an 8-0 run that gave ‘Nova a 43-34 lead with 16:43 to play.

» READ MORE: Drexel falls, 78-49, in first round of NCAA Tournament against No. 1 Illinois

Villanova went the next 4:13 without a field goal and the Eagles narrowed the gap to three, 45-42. The two teams then traded conventional three-point plays -- Robinson-Earl for the Wildcats, Chase Claxton for Winthrop -- keeping the margin at three before ‘Nova started to pull away.

The Wildcats managed to keep the pace more to their liking in the first half, hitting a good percentage of shots early and then retreating back on defense later on missed shots, choosing not to crash the offensive boards as they did earlier when they hit three follow-up baskets in the opening 5 ½ minutes.

Villanova fashioned an early 9-0 run to gain the advantage early, sparked by a conventional three-point play by Daniels. Samuels dunked home a follow-up basket to give the Cats a 13-4 lead with 14:38 left in the half.

» READ MORE: Illinois an NCAA mountain too high for Drexel | Mike Jensen

After Burns scored for Winthrop, Cole Swider came off the bench and knocked down a three-pointer to give ‘Nova its largest lead of the half at 16-6. But the Wildcats scored just 10 points in the next 10 minutes and the Eagles whittled into the deficit, attacking the basket at will.

Winthrop scored 10 consecutive points that featured three-point baskets by Russell Jones and Adonis Arms, and a turnaround shot by Burns gave the Eagles their first lead.

The game was later tied at 24, 26, and 28 before Moore’s three-pointer put the Wildcats back in front at 31-28 with 2:33 to play. The Eagles scored the next five points but Swider’s three from the left wing with 12 seconds to play gave Villanova the lead back, 34-33, at halftime.