PHILADELPHIA — The debut of freshman phenom Cam Whitmore added some extra energy inside Wells Fargo Center Saturday afternoon in what felt like a must-win game for a struggling Villanova men’s basketball team.
Caleb Daniels seemed to feed off it.
The Wildcats’ graduate senior led all scorers with 22 points, including a critical 3-pointer with 51 seconds on the clock to help Villanova snap a four-game losing streak with a 70-66 win over Oklahoma.
Statistical leaders
While Daniels led the way for Villanova (3-5), Eric Dixon added 12 points and Mark Armstrong had 10. Whitmore scored seven points in his debut, all in the first half. Chris Arcidiacono hit two 3s for six points. He hit a key triple with four minutes, 55 seconds to play to cut a four-point deficit to a single point, part of an 11-2 Villanova run that was capped by a Daniels basket at the rim.
Oklahoma’s Grant Sherfield made things difficult for Villanova all day. The senior guard scored 21 points (6 of 8 from 3-point range). He had a clean look from beyond the arc and could have tied the game with nine seconds left. Tanner and Jacob Groves scored 14 apiece for the Sooners (6-2).
Daniels took over
Following a strong showing out west last week in Portland (19.7 points, 6 rebounds per game over three games), Daniels played nearly the entire game Saturday (37 minutes) and had all the answers for Villanova down the stretch.
He scored in a variety of ways: in the post, from 3-point range and off the dribble. Fifteen of his 22 points came in the second half. He finished 8 of 10 from the floor.
No shot was bigger than his wing 3-pointer as the game clock ticked under a minute and the shot clock was at 4 seconds.
Whitmore made his mark
Whitmore and Jordan Longino were ready to check in less than three minutes into the game, but the first whistle in a free-flowing start didn’t come until 5:42 had lapsed with Oklahoma marching out to a 15-7 lead.
The Wells Fargo Center crowd gave Whitmore an ovation when his name was announced. Whitmore, a 6-foot-7 wing from Maryland and a projected starter, suffered a right thumb injury Oct. 5 followed by surgery the next week.
“That was love from Nova Nation,” Whitmore said. “Since I’ve been here they’ve been building me up. … I’m very thankful for it.
“I’ve been itching [to play] since the day I got hurt.”
Whitmore missed his first three shot attempts. His impact, though, was much more obvious when he checked in for a second time, with six minutes left in the half. He subbed for Dixon, and the Wildcats went with a smaller look.
A Whitmore steal started a transition play that ended in an Armstrong 3-pointer that capped a 10-0 run, part of an Oklahoma scoring drought that lasted 8:11.
Whitmore later nailed a corner 3-pointer after the Sooners stopped the run, and then blew by a defender for an easy lay-in. He finished the first half with seven points in 12 minutes and didn’t score in eight second-half minutes while turning it over twice. He didn’t play over the final 7:46.
Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said Friday that Whitmore would be on a minutes count when he made his debut. Twenty minutes was around that number.
“I liked where Cam was,” Neptune said after the game. “Listen, this guy has not played basketball, hasn’t picked up a basketball and couldn’t shoot with his right hand for seven weeks. Hasn’t gone up and down, no contact. And then, on top of that, he hasn’t played in college … hasn’t played at this level, in an NBA arena against what I think is a very good team.
“He gave us a big boost defensively.”
Defense shows up
Early, it looked like the same old problems would plague Villanova, which has had trouble defending the 3-point line early in the season. Oklahoma, behind Sherfield and Groves, was getting shots to fall from deep and led 20-9 seven minutes in.
The Sooners were 6 for 11 from 3-point range in the first half and went 4-for-12 in the second half, mostly because Villanova defended the perimeter better. The Wildcats also forced 13 turnovers (to Oklahoma’s seven).
“We got down and didn’t sulk when we could have and just turned our defensive intensity up to another level,” Neptune said. “I think that’s what finally overwhelmed them.”
Up next
Villanova plays the third of its four Big 5 games next, a Wednesday home game vs. Penn at Finneran Pavilion (7 p.m., CBS Sports Network).
The game will mark the debut of Jay Wright’s next gig: analyst for CBS Sports and Warner Brothers Discovery Sports. Former Villanova coach Steve Lappas will also be on the broadcast.
