Saint Joseph's Erik Reynolds II scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Hawks to a 78-65 Big 5 victory at #18/15 Villanova on Wednesday evening at Finneran Pavilion. With the win, St. Joe's advances to play Temple in the inaugural Big 5 Classic 5 title game on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

How It Happened
• Saint Joseph's jumped out to an early 11-6 lead on a three-pointer by Kacper Klaczek at 14:03.
• Behind a three-pointer by Brendan Hausen at 11:53, the Wildcats retook the lead, 14-13.
• Back-to-back three pointers from Cameron Brown and Xzayvier Brown pushed the Hawks back in front, 23-18.
• Villanova pulled ahead, 24-23, but consecutive three-pointers by Xzayvier Brown and Reynolds II gave Saint Joseph's the lead again, 29-24.
• Saint Joseph's used a 14-4 run to open its biggest lead of the half, 43-33, on a fastbreak layup by Lynn Greer III.
• A last-second basket by Villanova's Eric Dixon made it 43-35 at halftime.
• The Hawks scored the first six points of the second half on three-pointers by Rasheer Fleming and Klaczek to open a 49-35 advantage.
• The Wildcats cut Saint Joseph's lead to seven, 52-45, but the Hawks got buckets from Fleming and Greer III to open an 11-point gap, 56-45.
• Villanova once again cut its deficit to seven, 56-49, but that would be as close as the Wildcats would come as a three-pointer by Xzayvier Brown sparked a 10-2 run that saw the Hawks pull away for good.

Inside The Boxscore
• Reynolds II notched his second 20-point performance of the season, finishing with 24 points on 8-13 from the field, including 5-8 from behind the arc and 3-5 from the line.
• Xzayvier Brown added 16 points on 6-9 shooting, including 4-5 from distance, and added three assists.
• Greer III tallied 15 points to go with a game-high seven assists and seven rebounds.
• Fleming posted his first career double-double pouring in 12 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds.
• With Wednesday's win, the Hawks improved to 46-146 all-time versus ranked opponents. 
• St. Joe's previous win over a ranked opponent was a 78-48 victory over #17 Rhode Island on February 27, 2018.
• Wednesday's win snapped an 11-game skid to the Wildcats, and marked St. Joe's first win at Villanova since a 74-67 decision on February 2, 2004.

Up Next
The Hawks will compete for the inaugural Big 5 Classic title on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center versus Temple. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m., with the game airing on NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus.