VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Before the season officially began, Villanova was already without two key players.
The Wildcats still had plenty of depth to overtake Albany.
Scottie Reynolds scored all 13 of his points in the second half, Corey Stokes and Dante Cunningham also had 13 apiece and No. 23 Villanova opened the season with a 78-60 win over Albany on Friday.
"That's the definition of our program attitude," Reynolds said. "Things are going to happen. Adversity is going to strike at some point of the season."
Antonio Pena contributed 12 points while Reggie Redding scored 11 and Corey Fisher had 10 for the Wildcats, who won their first game of the season at The Pavilion for the 18th year in a row. It was also Villanova's 200th career victory in the 6,500-seat building.
Before the game, Villanova announced that senior guard Dwayne Anderson was out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his left foot. On Nov. 6, senior forward Shane Clark had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and is expected to miss 3-6 weeks.
"We've got to find a way to play with these eight (players)," Villanova coach Jay Wright said, referring to his rotation.
Will Harris and Anthony Raffa scored 13 points each for Albany.
Villanova jumped out to a 24-8 lead midway through the first half and led 40-24 at the break.
"We were a little bit like a deer in the headlight at the start," Albany coach Will Brown said.
Albany got within 49-37 early in the second half, but Villanova pulled away as Fisher scored four points on an 8-0 run.
"It was a good start," Wright said. "I want to give them credit. They battled us. They were tough."
The Wildcats were 22-13 and advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament last year before falling to eventual national champion Kansas. Albany finished 15-15.
