National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Pittsburgh 79, Villanova 70
When: 2:00 PM ET, Sunday, February 5, 2012
Where: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Officials: # Roger Ayers, # Jim Burr, # John Gaffney
Attendance: 12508
By SportsDirect Inc.

PITTSBURGH 79, VILLANOVA 70: Tray Woodall continued his strong play of late with 29 points, six rebounds and five assists as host Pittsburgh picked up its fourth straight win with a 79-70 triumph over Villanova.

Ashton Gibbs added 25 points for the Panthers (15-9, 4-7 Big East), who have pushed their way back onto the NCAA Tournament bubble. Pittsburgh will face only one currently ranked team - No. 25 Louisville - the rest of the regular season.

Woodall, who missed 11 of 12 games with a groin injury, has been the biggest reason for the turnaround. The junior point guard is averaging 18.5 points and 6.8 assists during the four-game winning streak.

Gibbs and Woodall combined for 26 points in the first half as Pittsburgh blasted out to a 40-28 lead at the break, shooting 54 percent in the period.

Villanova (10-13, 3-8 Big East) let it get to 45-28 on Gibbs’ 3-pointer early in the second before slowly beginning to push back. The Wildcats chipped it all the way down to 71-68 on JayVaughn Pinkston’s free throws with 23 seconds left.

But Woodall converted a layup at the other end and hit four free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal it.

Mouphtauo Yarou collected 12 points and 14 rebounds for Villanova.
Top Game Performances
 
Villanova   Pittsburgh
Maalik Wayns 18 Scoring Tray Woodall 29
Maalik Wayns 4 Assists Tray Woodall 5
Mouphtaou Yarou 14 Rebounds Talib Zanna 8
JayVaughn Pinkston 6 Free Throws Made Tray Woodall 12
JayVaughn Pinkston 2 Steals Cameron Wright 4
Mouphtaou Yarou 3 Blocks Dante Taylor 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Villanova 70 35.9 6-19 18-23 12 33 4 4 11
Pittsburgh 79 43.1 8-18 27-31 11 32 6 7 15