A picture of calm after a tough night.

Please excuse the delay in posts. We took the weekend off. But we’re back. And we went to the Big 5’s breakfast at the Palestra this morning, which allowed us to gather some intelligence we hope you’ll find useful. Now let’s get to it…

Neither game was pretty, but Villanova won the Philly Hoop Group Classic over the weekend by beating Towson, 64-47, and Rhode Island, 78-65. An announced crowd of 6,101 was at the P for Saturday’s game against Rhody.

Tha Wildcats are now 6-0, and they moved up to No. 16 in the ESPN/USA Today rankings.

“Someone asked me after the (Rhode Island) game, ‘Did you think you were gonna run out of jerseys?’ ” said Jay Wright, the Villanova coach. “We had three blood jerseys, three guys had to change.”

The Rhody win was a good one for the ‘Cats, given the physicality of the game. It was, in some respects, a preview of the bruisers they’re certain to face once the Big East schedule kicks into gear next month.

“That’s every night in the Big East, and we hadn’t had a game like that,” Wright said. “We didn’t shoot the ball that well, but I think you’ve got to give their defense credit. And not shooting the ball well, playing against a good defensive team and still finding a way to win made me feel good.”

The ‘Cats were just 2-for-15 from 3-point range. They shot just 40.3 percent overall, but URI — which had only lost by three at Duke a couple of weeks ago — shot just 41.5 percent. Reggie Redding had the unenviable task of limiting URI sharpshooter Jimmy Baron, who still scored 23 but overall didn’t do too much damage. Dante Cunningham had 19 points and 12 rebounds. He also blocked three shots.

In both games, the ‘Cats started slowly. Wright said he would like to see ‘Nova take better shots — he said too many were contested and/or rushed — and be more consistent defensively. In both games, the ‘Cats didn’t defend as well as he would have liked in the first half.

“Thank God we survived it,” Wright said. “We still have to get better — we have to improve a lot, but that was a good test for us.”

Up next is Penn tomorrow night at the P-spot. Tip is at 8. BIG FIVE POST will publish a full preview tomorrow afternoon, so come on back.

Photo credit: Getty Images