Marshall coach Tom Herrion, who preaches defense against the 3-point goal, thought his team gave Arcidiacono too many easy looks.

 "We did a poor job on him early,'' he said. "That's unacceptable. I know he's a talented player, but we contributed mightily."

The contest was the Thundering Herd's first of four against major-conference opponents, with West Virginia, Cincinnati and Kentucky on the schedule in December. The Herd (1-1), which beat Longwood to start the season Friday, hung around deep into the second half.

Marshall got as close as two points twice in the second half, the last coming with exactly four minutes remaining when Chris Martin knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 70-68. But James Bell hit a 3-pointer, Hilliard drained two free throws, and Arcidiacono hit one on a 6-0 run that gave the Wildcats a 76-68 lead with 55 seconds left.

The Herd didn't score in the last four minutes, missing six shots and committing a turnover.

"I was really just watching to see what happened,'' said Villanova coach Jay Wright. "Either they're going to take a lead, or we're going to have the guts to fight through it. I like that we stayed tough. I thought we executed well down the stretch.''

D.D. Scarver led four Herd players in double figures with 22 points, hitting five 3-pointers in seven tries. Dennis Tinnon had 15 points and nine rebounds, Martin had 13 and Elijah Pittman 12.

Allowing the Wildcats (2-0) to shoot 50 percent didn't make Herrion happy, and neither did this: Marshall was roughed up on the boards, getting outrebounded 37-23. Even worse for the Herd, it managed only three offensive rebounds.

DeAndre Kane led the Herd with seven assists, but he scored just four points on 2-of-10 shooting. Otherwise, MU shot respectably, finishing 24 of 53 from all distances and 12 of 27 from 3-point range.

For Villanova, James Bell added 19 points and Darrun Hilliard contributed 15. Arcidiacono also had six assists.

"I thought Ryan was just great at the point,'' Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "I think he came in here from Day One knowing exactly what we wanted to do, and he has a very high basketball IQ."

Arcidiacono, from nearby Langhorne, Pa., was stellar in the first half when he made 5 of 8 shots from the field, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range. He also added four assists, including a nifty left-handed pass to Hilliard on a 2-on-1 break that ended with a Hilliard dunk.

Arcidiacono ended 6-for-11 from the field, including 4-for-9 from beyond the arc.

Sunday's boxscore

VILLANOVA 80, MARSHALL 68

Marshall (1-1)

    Min    FG    FT    R    A    P

Dennis Tinnon    36    4-7    6-9    9    1    15

Robert Goff    19    1-2    0-0    2    0    2

Nigel Spikes    15    0-1    0-0    2    0    0

D.D. Scarver    27    8-14    1-2    1    2    22

DeAndre Kane    35    2-10    0-2    3    7    4

Chris Martin    26    5-11    0-0    1    3    13

Jamir Hanner    4    0-0    0-0    2    0    0

Elijah Pittman    31    4-7    1-2    3    3    12

Tamron Manning    1    0-0    0-0    0    0    0

Yous Mbao    6    0-1    0-0    0    0    0

Totals    200    24-53    8-15    23    16    68

Villanova (2-0)

    Min    FG    FT    R    A    P

J. Pinkston    30    0-3    6-14    7    2    6

Mouphtaou Yarou    30    2-2    0-1    4    1    4

Darrun Hilliard    24    5-8    3-4    1    2    15

Ryan Arcidiacono    35    6-11    9-10    4    6    25

James Bell    27    7-12    2-2    4    1    19

Tony Chennault    13    2-5    0-0    1    0    4

Mislav Brzoja    1    0-0    0-0    0    0    0

Daniel Ochefu    6    0-1    1-2    3    0    1

Maurice Sutton    16    1-1    4-4    5    0    6

Team                3        

Totals    200    23-46     25-37    37    14    80

Halftime - Villanova 43-35. 3-point goals - MU 12-27 (Tinnon 1-2, Scarver 5-7, Kane 0-5, Martin 3-8, Pittman 3-5). Villanova 9-22 (Pinkston 0-2, Hilliard 2-3, Arcidiacono 4-9, Bell 3-5, Chennault 0-1). Attendance - 6,500.