Kritik und Lob » s rotation fresh.Matusz was 27-41 with

VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Kris Jenkins hit a 3-pointer without much hoopla.He wasnt mobbed by his Villanova teammates, and confetti didnt rain from the rafters. No streamers, no hysterical fans. Jenkins simply hustled back for a routine defensive assignment.His first 3 of the game simply helped the Wildcats open the season the same way they ended the last one -- with a win.Jalen Brunson scored 17 points, Jenkins had 16, and No. 4 Villanova opened the defense of its national championship with an 88-48 victory over Lafayette on Friday night.Playing a game is probably the best thing we can do to get past last season, coach Jay Wright said.Jenkins hit a buzzer-beating 3 in the 2015-16 title game to lift the Wildcats to a 77-74 win over North Carolina. With a national championship banner hanging in the rafters, Jenkins naturally scored Villanovas first two points of the season after forcing a turnover at midcourt. The forward then hit his first 3 to make it 10-2 and helped the Wildcats storm to a 49-17 lead at the end of the first half.Villanova looked every bit like a team that could become the first repeat national champ since Florida in 2006 and 2007. Jenkins, who flirted with leaving for the NBA after last season, said the Wildcats had moved forward.Its pretty easy to do because we have a team thats hungry, he said.The Wildcats, three-time defending Big East champs, also have a team thats deep and versatile. Josh Hart, a preseason All-American, scored 13 points for the Wildcats. Reserve Mikal Bridges had 16 points and eight rebounds.Thats what a top team has, Lafayette coach Fran OHanlon said. It has a number of guys fighting for a lot of playing time and getting a lot of playing time.Brunson and Jenkins each hit four of Villanovas 15 3-pointers.Nick Lindner led the Leopards with 10 points.?BIG PICTURELafayette: The Leopards continue to play Villanova, even with just one win in 10 career matchups. The Leopards missed 12 of 13 3-point attempts in the first half and scored only two points on their first 20 possessions. The Leopards, out of the Patriot League, wont play another team in the regular season like Villanova. Lafayette does return to Philadelphia on Dec. 22 to play at Saint Josephs.Villanova: The Wildcats could use an easy one before they play at No. 15 Purdue on Monday. The Wildcats won their 40th straight game at the Pavilion and sold out the gym for the 170th straight time. Villanova is a whopping 98-13 there since the start of the 2013-14 season.THANKS FOR NOTHINGOHanlon played point guard for three seasons (1967-70) for the Wildcats. He had just one small problem opening the season at Villanova.Jay didnt say he was going to win the national title, OHanlon said with a laugh.The Wildcats make a return trip next season and play Lafayette at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania. OHanlon said the original pitch to his program was that the game in Allentown would be this season. When that fell through, the Wildcats offered Lafayette to come to campus this season.Yeah, thats some favor, Jay, OHanlon said. Im going to play the national champs twice. They may be twice (two-time champs) by that time.POLL IMPLICATIONSVillanova will remain ranked inside the top five.UP NEXTLafayette plays Monday night at Saint Peters.Villanova tries for a 3-0 career mark against the Boilermakers on Monday. Villanova won games against Purdue in 1995 and 2012. Wholesale Custom Packers Shirts . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. 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CHICAGO -- Once a highly touted prospect, left-hander Brian Matusz found himself out the big leagues -- and out of a job -- in mid-June after he was traded by Baltimore and released by Atlanta.Thats when the Chicago Cubs called to offer Matusz a minor-league deal. Six weeks later, the 29-year-old southpaw will make his Cubs debut on national television Sunday night in a rubber match against the Seattle Mariners.Another Oriole-turned-Cub, reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta, said he was eager to welcome his new teammate.Matusz and I played together for quite a while, said Arrieta, who spent parts of four seasons in Baltimore. Ive seen him pitch extremely well. ... Hes a smart guy. Hes got some really good pitches that he knows how to use effectively. I look forward to watching him pitch.Chicago (62-41) will look to bounce back from a rare late-inning meltdown. On Saturday, the Cubs led 1-0 in the eighth inning when closer Aroldis Chapman allowed a two-out, two-run double to Mariners center fielder Leonys Martin. Seattle (52-50) tacked on two more runs to improve to 11-5 in interleague play this season.The Cubs dropped to 56-2 this season when leading after eight innings.Seattle now turns to ace right-hander Felix Hernandez (5-4, 3.45 ERA), who will make his 13th start of the season and his third start since coming off the 15-day disabled list because of a strained right calf. In two starts since his return, Hernandez has allowed nine runs in 12 2/3 innings against the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates.Hernandez has faced the Cubs once in his career. On June 24, 2010, he limited Cubs hitters to two runs and five hits in nine innings. He walked one and struck out eight.This time, Hernandez will encounter a much tougher opponent. The Cubs team he shut down in 2010 included ordinary hitters such as Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, Xavier Nady, Chad Tracy and Koyie Hill.dddddddddddd This years lineup includes five National League All-Stars and has scored 510 runs -- fourth in the majors.Its another game, Hernandez told the Tacoma News-Tribune. Ive just got to go out there and do my job.The same could be said for Matusz, although his prime-time assignment at Wrigley Field hardly qualifies as just another game. A strong outing could earn Matusz additional starting opportunities as Cubs manager Joe Maddon looks to use a sixth starter at times during the second half of the season to keep the rest of his rotation fresh.Matusz was 27-41 with a 4.85 ERA in 279 career games (68 starts) with Baltimore. At Triple-A Iowa, he was 0-0 with a 1.93 ERA in two starts. He walked three and struck out 11 in 9 1/3 innings.We just think its prudent to be proactive with the moment, not to wait, Maddon said. Too many times, you push and push and push (the five starters), and eventually the rest is absolutely necessary. Prior to being absolutely necessary, its a hard sell sometimes to the rest of the group. ... You try to just lay out your best plan in advance. Ive done it in the past down south (in Tampa), and up here its no different.Arrieta said he and the rest of the Cubs rotation could benefit from an extra days rest on occasion. Right-hander Kyle Hendricks initially was slated to pitch Sunday, but instead will wait an extra day along with right-handers Arrieta, John Lackey and Jason Hammel and left-hander Jon Lester.Well find a way to use that day to get some work done and get better, Arrieta said. At this time of year, every one of us might need to refine something. That extra day might not be a bad idea. ' ' '