Portland made 56.3 percent of its shots and stunned Villanova 83-71 Friday for a signature win for the program on Day 2 of the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Ore.
Moses Wood’s 16 points led Portland, along with 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds from Tyler Robertson. The Pilots led the entire second half and moved on to the tournament’s fifth-place game on Sunday.
Portland (5-3) of the West Coast Conference took advantage of playing the tournament in its own backyard. Friday’s game was at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, just a few miles away from the Portland campus.
The win came on the heels of an 89-81 loss to No. 1 North Carolina on Thanksgiving, Portland making a game of it against the Tar Heels. Then came Friday’s win over a traditional top program.
The Wildcats (2-4) trailed by as many as 18 points early in the second half but cut the lead to 75-68 with 1:18 to play on Chris Arcidiacono’s 3-pointer. The Pilots answered with free throws before Villanova made it 77-71 on Brandon Slater’s 3 at the 1:09 mark.
But the Wildcats ran out of time, having lost leading scorer Caleb Daniels after he fouled out late in the game. Portland closed out the game with six unanswered free throws.
Daniels finished with 18 points and Jordan Longino added 14 for the Wildcats. Villanova was just 23 for 69 (33.3 percent) as a team.
Robertson’s offensive rebound and putback with 4:09 to play put the Pilots ahead 69-60. He and Wood combined for 23 of Portland’s 48 second-half points.
Villanova finished the game missing its last eight shots, while Portland was 14 for 23 in shooting in the second half (60.9 percent). The Wildcats led by four in the first half, their largest lead of the game, but Portland ended the half on a 16-4 run for a 35-27 halftime lead.
Vasilije Vucinic had eight of the 16 points, including a dunk with 2:48 to go. Vucinic finished with 10 points off the bench.
Villanova’s last losing season was 2011-12 when it finished 13-19 and fell under .500 for good after its 21st game.
–Field Level Media
