VILLANOVA (AP) – Curtis Sumpter couldn’t make a basket during warmups. Once the game started, he couldn’t miss.

Sumpter scored a career-high 39 points and grabbed nine rebounds, leading Villanova to a 74-55 win over Northeastern on Friday night.

Sumpter made his first six shots, including three 3-pointers, as the Wildcats (6-2) raced to a 26-9 lead on the way to their third-straight win.

“I was missing every shot. I couldn’t believe it,” Sumpter said of shootaround. “Luckily in the game, they went in. After about the third 3, that’s when I knew I was going to play really well.”

Sumpter, who Villanova coach Jay Wright called Villanova’s most improved player, went 16-for-20 from the floor and was the only Wildcat in double figures. He scored the most points by a Wildcat since Kerry Kittles had 44 in 1995.

“Curtis was great. His teammates did a good job of reading how they were playing us and got him the ball,” Wright said.

Northeastern (3-4) focused on shutting down Villanova’s leading scorers, guards Allan Ray (19.6 ppg) and Randy Foye (18.1). That left Sumpter open early, especially near the perimeter.

“I hit a couple of shots … got into a rhythm and stuck with it,” he said. “I just wanted to make some shots so the defense would not play them so hard so they could get to the basket as well.”

Ray and Foye may not have been open – they combined for 18 points – but they did each have six assists. Mike Nardi had seven, as the Wildcats had 22 assists on 29 baskets.

Huskies coach Ron Everhart said nothing they did defensively against Sumpter worked.

“Sumpter was coming free and they were getting him the ball. Sumpter was just phenomenal,” he said.

Northeastern, who went scoreless for 8 minutes and started 4-for-22 during the first half, began a late rally with four-straight 3-pointers. Adam Drain sank two, and Jesse Dunn and Sylbrin Robinson each hit one, making it 34-21 at the half.

Marcus Barnes made two 3s and Javorie Wilson hit one in the opening minutes for Northeastern.

Sumpter and Will Sheridan had a couple of thunderous dunks, pushing the lead back to 11, but Barnes, who led the Huskies with 16, hit another 3 to make it 45-37 with 12 minutes left in the half.

Villanova’s Ray and Randy Foye each followed with 3s to start an 11-3 run, and the Wildcats never let the lead dip below double digits again.

“We came out with great intensity and we jumped on them with a sense of urgency, but somehow they get that feeling of, ‘We’ve got them,’ and good teams don’t do that,” Wright said.

Jason Fraser, who had not played this season because of a stress fracture in his left heel, made his debut with 10 minutes left in the first half. Fraser missed the final month of last season because of his heel, and he was suspended for the final three games for misuse of a university telephone access code.

Fraser scored one point in 9 minutes.

This was the final game that Villanova was affected by the phone-code suspensions. Both Marcus Austin and Derrick Snowden sat out Friday. The Wildcats will have a full roster for their Dec. 22 game against Columbia.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’re starting to come together,” Wright said.

AP-ES-12-12-03 2231EST