NEW YORK, NY - Allan Ray scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half as No. 2 Villanova went on a decisive run and pulled away from Rutgers for an 87-55 victory Thursday night to advance to the semifinals of the Big East tournament.
Rutgers junior guard Quincy Douby scored 31 points -- 24 in the first half -- to lead 10th-seeded Rutgers (18-13), which will wait for the NIT announcement to see if it plays another game under coach Gary Waters.
Will Sheridan added 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Wildcats (25-3), who will play the winner of the late Pittsburgh-West Virginia game on Friday night.
Villanova, the Big East's regular-season co-champion with No. 1 Connecticut, trailed by one early in the second half but prevented the type of upset that eliminated the Huskies earlier in the day. Connecticut was stunned by ninth-seeded Syracuse 86-84 in overtime.
Rutgers, which surprised Seton Hall 61-48 in the opening round, took a 35-34 lead on Ollie Bailey's layup 25 seconds into the second half. But any designs of pulling off another upset were quickly thwarted by Villanova.
The Wildcats went on a 29-12 run, with seven points by Sheridan and six by Mike Nardi, to go up 64-46 on Shane Clark's free throw with 6:56 left. The Wildcats cruised the rest of the way for their 14th win in 15 games. They outscored Rutgers 53-22 in the second half.
Douby single-handedly kept Rutgers in it in the first half, going 9-of-14 from the field, including 5-for-7 on 3-pointers. He was two shy of tying the tournament record for points in a half, set by Connecticut's Donyell Marshall in 1994 and Providence's Billy Donovan in 1987 -- both against St. John's.
Villanova clamped down defensively on Douby in the second half, allowing the star guard two more field goals. Douby finished 11-of-21, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range.
Rutgers led by as many as six, 19-13 on Douby's 3-pointer with 10:13 left in the first half. But Nardi quickly erased the deficit with consecutive 3-pointers to tie it.
The lead changed hands three times in the closing minutes of the half, with the Wildcats getting the lead up to as many as seven points twice. Douby cut the deficit to one by scoring the last six points of the period, making it 34-33 at halftime.
Rutgers, which had won three straight, put a scare into the Wildcats last time the teams played before falling 84-78 in overtime on Jan. 11.
This time, though, the Scarlet Knights were without starting forward J.R. Inman, who broke his right leg on Feb. 5, and forward Adrian Hill, who got a lot of playing time as a backup but was sidelined for the year after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery Feb. 2.
POSTGAME NOTES
DOUBY FIRST HALF POINT TOTAL
The 24 points scored by junior guard Quincy Douby in the first half on Thursday’s quarterfinal match up was the second-most points scored in a half in BIG EAST Tournament history. Donyell Marshall of UConn scored 26 first-half points against St. John’s in 1994 and Billy Donovan of Providence had 26 in the second half against St. John’s in 1987.
DOUBY GOES FOR AT LEAST 20 IN A HALF AGAIN
Quincy Douby’s 24 first-half points marked the fourth time this season he has scored at least 20 point in a half. The other games were:
11/30 TEMPLE 21 pts. (second half) W, 67-53
12/3 at St. Mary’s 23 pts. (second half) W, 75-69
3/5 at St. John’s 24 pts. (second half) W, 82-70
3/9 vs. Villanova 24 pts. (first half) L, 87-55
ON THE CAREER CHARTS
Douby moved up in several single season and statistical categories tonight. They include:
SINGLE SEASON 3-POINT FG MADE
1. Quincy Douby (2005-06) 105
2. Jerome Coleman (2001-02) 99
SINGLE SEASON FG MADE
1. James Bailey (1977-78) 312
2. Bob Lloyd (1966-67) 277
3. Mike Dabney (1975-76) 272
4. Quincy Douby (2005-06) 264
5. Phil Sellers (1974-75) 254
SINGLE SEASON SCORING AVERAGE
1. Bob Lloyd (1966-67) 27.9
2. Bob Lloyd (1965-66) 26.5
3. Quincy Douby (2005-06) 25.1
SINGLE SEASON FG ATTEMPTS
1. Quincy Douby (2005-06) 580
2. Bob Lloyd (1966-67) 578
CAREER POINTS
7. Quincy Douby (2003-) 1,628
CAREER STEALS
11. Quincy Douby (2003-) 120
DOUBY CLOSING IN ON SINGLE-SEASON SCORING CHART
Quincy Douby’s 31 points give him 777 points for the season, which is second on the Rutgers all-time single-season scoring list. He needs 33 points to pass Bob Lloyd, who scored 809 points in 1966-67.
DOUBY HITS FOR 30 … AGAIN
Quincy Douby surpassed the 30-point mark for the sixth time this season and seventh time in his career. The Scarlet Knights are 4-2 this season when Douby scores 30 or more points. Additionally, his 31 points are the most by a Rutgers player in its BIG EAST Tournament history, topping Geoff Billet’s 25-point performance against Miami in 1996.
On the season, Douby has scored 20 or more points in 23 of Rutgers’ last 28 games and has scored in double figures in 37 straight games. In addition, he has led RU in scoring in 29 straight games and 30 of 31 games overall.
Douby’s two-game BIG EAST Tournament stat line
Opponent FGM-FGA 3-FGM-FGA PTS. REB. AST.
Seton Hall 6-16 1-6 18 8 7
Villanova 11-21 6-10 31 6 1
Overall 17-37 7-17 49 (24.5) 14 8
BAILEY CRASHES THE BOARDS
Sophomore forward Ollie Bailey proved to be a strong force on the boards in his two BIG EAST Tournament games, collecting 10 rebounds against Seton Hall and 11 caroms against Villanova in Thursday night’s quarterfinal.
Box Score (Final)
BIG EAST Men's Basketball
Rutgers vs Villanova (03-09-06)
VISITORS: Rutgers
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
01 WEBB, Marquis....... f 1 9 0 3 0 0 2 0 2 2 2 3 2 0 0 35
40 BAILEY, Ollie....... f 1 3 0 0 2 4 4 7 11 1 4 1 2 2 0 30
21 JOYNES, Byron....... c 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 3 4 4 0 0 1 1 0 28
02 FARMER, Anthony..... g 3 6 0 1 2 2 0 2 2 4 8 2 3 0 0 31
05 DOUBY, Quincy....... g 11 21 6 10 3 4 2 4 6 4 31 1 2 1 1 35
10 MIMMO, Jon.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
23 CHERRY, Jason....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
30 GRIFFIN, Jaron...... 1 4 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 2 0 0 10
32 GIBSON, Zack........ 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1
33 KEATING, Shayle..... 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 10
42 RUSSELL, Frank...... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
44 INGLIS, Jimmie...... 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 12
45 WATERSTRADT, Dan.... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
TM TEAM................ 1 1 2 1
Totals.............. 20 53 7 19 8 13 10 18 28 20 55 9 13 4 1 200
1st Half 2nd Half Game Totals
TOTAL FG%: 0-0 .000 20-53 .377 20-53 .377
3-Pt. FG%: 0-0 .000 7-15 .467 7-19 .368
F Throw %: 0-0 .000 8-13 .615 8-13 .615
Deadball rebounds: 0,1
HOME TEAM: Villanova
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
50 SHERIDAN, Will...... f 7 13 0 0 3 3 9 4 13 3 17 0 1 2 0 32
01 LOWRY, Kyle......... g 4 9 1 1 5 5 2 4 6 2 14 4 1 0 2 32
02 FOYE, Randy......... g 4 11 0 6 2 3 1 6 7 2 10 4 1 2 0 31
12 NARDI, Mike......... g 4 8 4 6 0 1 0 2 2 2 12 0 0 1 1 29
14 RAY, Allan.......... g 8 18 3 8 7 7 0 2 2 3 26 0 0 0 1 31
03 BENN, Bilal......... 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3
20 FRASER, Jason....... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
21 CHARLES, Chris...... 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2
22 DUNLEAVY, Baker..... 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1
23 ANDERSON, Dwayne.... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
33 CUNNINGHAM, Dante... 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 3 5 3 2 2 2 1 1 21
35 CLARK, Shane........ 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 14
42 TCHUISI, Frank...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TM TEAM................ 3 3 6 1
Totals.............. 28 63 8 21 23 27 18 26 44 16 87 10 5 7 6 200
1st Half 2nd Half Game Totals
TOTAL FG%: 0-0 .000 28-63 .444 28-63 .444
3-Pt. FG%: 0-0 .000 8-21 .381 8-21 .381
F Throw %: 0-0 .000 23-27 .852 23-27 .852
Deadball rebounds: 2,2
Date: 03-09-06 Site: New York, N.Y. - Madison Square Garde Attendance: 19594
Officials: Tim Higgins; Pat Driscoll; Earl Walton;
Technical fouls: Rutgers-None. Villanova-, TEAM.
Score by Periods 1 2 Total
Rutgers............. 33 22 - 55
Villanova........... 34 53 - 87
