VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) -- Gary Buchanan had 17 of his 22 points in the second half as Villanova shook off a slow start to gain an 84-69 win over Manhattan in the first round of the NIT Thursday night.
Villanova (18-12) did not score for the first 7:10 of the game and turned the ball over 14 times in the first half to trail 33-27 at halftime. They still trailed midway through the second half but a layup by Brooks Sales with 12:18 left gave the Wildcats their first lead, 45-43, with 12:18 left.
The Wildcats advantage reached 11 when a 3-pointer by Buchanan capped a 6-0 run to make it 71-60 with 3:56 remaining.
Sales had 17 points, giving him 1,003 for his career. He also has 837 career rebounds, making him the eighth Wildcat in history to reach the 1,000 point and 800 rebound plateaus.
Derrick Snowden scored 21 points and Reggie Bryant added 16 for Villanova, which made 27-of-50 (54 percent) from the field to advance to the second round of the NIT for the second time in the last three years.
Luis Flores matched a career-high with 33 points and Dave Holmes added 19 for the Jaspers (20-9), which lost in the quarterfinals of the 2002 HSBC MAAC tournament.
The Wildcats turned the ball over seven times and missed five straight field goals as Manhattan jumped out to a quick 11-0 lead, paced by nine points by Flores, who scored 16 in the half.