Staff and Wire Reports
RADNOR — Acaden Lewis scored 20 points as Villanova beat Butler, 82-73, Wednesday night.
Lewis shot 8 of 14 from the field, including 2 for 8 from 3-point range, for the Wildcats (22-6, 13-4 Big East). Bryce Lindsay added 19 points. Devin Askew hit four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points. Duke Brennan paired eight points with 10 rebounds and five assists.
Michael Ajayi led the Bulldogs (15-14, 6-12) with 17 points and nine rebounds. Butler got 15 points from Yohan Traore. Finley Bizjack also had 12 points.
Villanova took the lead with 13:21 remaining in the first half and did not trail again. Lewis led the Wildcats with 14 points in the first half to help put them ahead 42-28 at the break. Askew scored 16 points in the second half.
Butler halved the deficit with a 7-0 run to start the second half and got within a point with nine minutes to play on a Jamie Kaiser three throw. But Askew scored eight straight points on a 10-2 run that stretched the lead back to 10 with 67-57. Butler got no closer than six points the rest of the way.
Saint Joseph’s 81, George Mason 63 >> Derek Simpson had 23 points, eight assists and three steals for the Hawks.
Jaiden Glover scored 21 points for the Hawks (18-10, 10-5 Atlantic 10). Dasear Haskins had 12 points.
Riley Allenspach finished with 23 points for the Patriots (21-7, 9-6).
Saint Joseph’s took the lead for good with 13:47 remaining in the first half. The score was 44-25 at halftime, with Simpson racking up 15 points. Khaafiq Myers scored a team-high 10 points after halftime for St. Joe’s.
Women’s Basketball
Aryss Macktoon scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as La Salle topped VCU, 71-54, in Virginia Wednesday night.
Kiera Williams added 13 points. Ivona Milianic had nine off the bench. Ashleigh Connor and Joan Quinn (Cardinal O’Hara All-Delco) scored eight each for La Salle (16-12, 9-8 Atlantic 10). The Explorers matched their highest win total since the 2022-23 season.
George Mason 85, Saint Joseph’s 59 >> Faith Stinson scored 15 points, and Aleah Snead and Gabby Casey tallied nine points each. But the Hawks (19-9, 10-7 Atlantic 10) couldn’t stop Mason from shooting 9-for-17 from 3-point range and 26-for-33 from the line in seeing a four-game winning streak end.
Zahirah Walton led George Mason with 29 points.
Rice 77, Temple 66 >> Kaylah Turner scored 22 points, and Jalessa Molina paired 17 points with 11 rebounds. Temple (12-15, 6-9 AAC) saw a two-game winning streak ended as Rice improved to 15-0 in the conference in the battle of Owls at the Liacouras Center.