on.The NBA and players association have recently expressed optimism over reaching a new

VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Jay Wright and his Villanova players are ready to enjoy Thanksgiving and take a much-needed break from basketball.Josh Hart had 13 points and 11 rebounds, Kris Jenkins scored 11 points and No. 2 Villanova knocked off feisty College of Charleston 63-47 on Wednesday night.The Wildcats improved to 6-0 a season after winning the national championship but struggled to put away the overmatched Cougars in their fourth game in seven days and their sixth in 13.It was not a pretty game, Wright said. We just found a way to gut it out.Mikal Bridges and Eric Paschall added eight points and five rebounds apiece for the Wildcats, who shot just 5 for 17 from 3-point range and 8 for 22 from the field in the second half.Jarrell Brantley led Charleston with 18 points and seven rebounds. The Cougars shot 4 for 22 from 3-point range and committed 14 turnovers.Its a good way to learn, Brantley said. Theyre a really good team and do a lot of things right. It will only help.Jenkins, who famously hit the title-winning shot to beat North Carolina at the buzzer last April, was held out of the starting lineup by Wright because he missed a class. But the senior forward came in just 3 minutes into the game and played 28 minutes, shooting 4 for 7 from the field.Hart, who won MVP of the 2016 Gildan Charleston Classic after leading the Wildcats to the tournament title on Sunday, also shot 4 for 7 from the field and 2 for 3 from 3-point range.He was called back into the game in the final minutes after Wright admitted to putting his walk-ons in too early -- not that it bothered the teams star senior.Im not really worried about minutes, said Hart, a Wooden Award candidate. Id love to play the whole game if the coach lets me.BIG PICTURECharleston: After starting a season with three straight wins for the first time since 2011-12, the Cougars have dropped three in a row to fall back to .500. But they will have some easier games coming up before entering play in the Colonial Athletic Association, where they were picked to finish fourth.Villanova: The defending national champs continued to roll through the early portion of their schedule. Four of their next five games come against Philadelphia Big 5 rivals, where the competition is always heated, with a marquee matchup vs. Notre Dame sandwiched in between.ULTIMATE CHALLENGEAlthough the Cougars left town with a loss, Charleston coach Earl Grant felt the game was, in many ways, a win-win for his program.My thought process coming into this game is its the ultimate challenge, Grant said. You get to play against the best team in college basketball. They won the championship last year and until someone beats them this year theyre still the champion. . We knew it would be hard but I think, at this time of year, hard things are good.NOVEMBER REIGNOver the past four seasons, Villanova is 25-0 in the month of November and have claimed four tournament championships in the month, including their recent run through the Gildan Charleston Classic.Wednesdays game was technically Villanovas fourth victory of the Charleston Classic -- after wins over Western Michigan, Wake Forest and UCF at TD Arena -- but the result didnt factor into the bracket.NO BOOTH, NO PROBLEM (FOR NOW)Phil Booth missed his third straight game for Villanova with left knee inflammation. But Wright said the injury is minor and hes eager to get one of his top guards back after the Thanksgiving break.I thought we held up pretty well, Wright said of his teams grueling stretch. If we werent getting Phil Booth back, I think Id be more concerned.POLL IMPLICATIONSAfter moving up a spot to No. 2 this week, Villanova figures to stay there behind top-ranked Kentucky barring any major upsets.UP NEXTCharleston aims to snap its three-game losing streak when it hosts USC Upstate on Sunday.Villanova will look for a record 15th straight Big 5 win against Penn at the historic Palestra on Tuesday. Custom Basketball Jerseys China .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. Discount Custom Basketball Jerseys . Soukalova missed only one target and completed the 15-kilometre course in 40 minutes, 32.6 seconds for both victories in this seasons individual discipline. Darya Domracheva of Belarus was second, 34. http://www.customjerseysbasketball.com/ . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. Clearance Custom Basketball Jerseys . R.J. Umberger scored twice to lead the Blue Jackets to a franchise-record for consecutive wins with a 5-3 victory Tuesday night over the Los Angeles Kings. Sale Custom Basketball Jerseys . The quest begins with what is supposed to be an easy one, although Germany has traditionally been a stubborn opponent to Canadian teams at international tournaments. NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Sunday echoed optimism that a new collective bargaining agreement with the National Basketball Players Association would be reached soon.Silver said he thought a deal could be done in time to avoid a work stoppage after this season.Im not going to put any more specific timetable on it than that, but that we continue to meet, said Silver, who spoke in Shanghai ahead of the 10th Global Games in China. In fact, the head of the players association, Michele Roberts, was in Spain, where I just came from, where she was accompanying the Oklahoma City Thunder. We had an opportunity to speak there as well. So we continue to be engaged on a regular basis. I remain optimistic that were going to get something done relatively soon.The NBA and players association have recently expressed optimism over reaching a new agreement in the coming weeks.The current 10-year deal, signed in 2011, has a Dec. 15 opt-out clause, but both sides want to get a deal in place before then. Negotiations on the last CBA lasted until December 2011, which reduced the 2011-12 season by 16 games.dddddddddddd.Silver spoke at a news conference to announce an NBA partnership with BesTV to broadcast 1,300 games in China.In terms of our present bargaining discussions with the players, Id say theyre going very well and theres been a great sense and spirit of cooperation across the table and desire to move forward, Silver said. Theres a sense from both the owners and the union management that there is a lot at stake here, and I think everyones feeling the pressure from all the constituents involved in this league for all the jobs that we provide that its incumbent upon us to work something out and to get a deal done.An update on the negotiations is likely to come in two weeks, when Silver makes his annual October address after a board of governors session. ' ' '