UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The Hartford men's basketball was unable to hold off a hot three-point shooting Villanova squad, as the Hawks dropped an 87-53 decision to the 12th-ranked Wildcats inside #Bubbleville on Tuesday night. Veteran guards Traci Carter and Austin Williams combined for 24 points for the Hawks, who fall to 0-2 after opening the season facing a pair of tough BIG EAST opponents.
 
Villanova (3-1), which knocked down 15 three-pointers in the game, landed six players in double figures. Justin Moore led the way with 15 points while Eric Dixon added 14. 
 
VILLANOVA 87, HARTFORD 53
Villanova bombed away from the outside early and used five early three-pointers to build a 24-12 lead with nine minutes left in the opening half. The Wildcats continued to connect from behind the arc, tacking on three more makes from long range to take a 43-24 lead into the break. 
 
After Moore's fourth three of the game extended the lead to 46-24, Hartford trimmed the deficit to 16 with 17:43 left on a 6-0 spurt capped by back-to-back buckets by Williams. But Villanova did more damage from behind the arc and quickly put the game out of reach by delivering four three-pointers within a three-minute stretch to go up, 58-31, with 14:28 to go. 
 
NEWS & NOTES

• Williams, who made his debut for Hartford after transferring from Marist Friday night at UConn, scored 11 points
• Webley had an solid performance, scoring nine points while grabbing a team-best six rebounds in 33 minutes
• Hartford shot 39 percent from the floor (20-of-52) and 30 percent from three (7-of-23)
• Villanova went 52 percent on the night (34-of-65), including a 41 percent effort from behind the arc (15-of-37)

 
NEXT ON TAP
The turnaround is quick for the Hawks, as they return to action on Wednesday night with a non-conference tilt at Fairfield. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN3.

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