I Bleed Blue and White

Game ended right around 9pm eastern time.  Villanova Wildcats defeat Delaware Blue Hens 97-63.  Some notes on the game are below. 

-Villanova jumped out to a 10 point lead five minutes into the first half, but the Blue Hens pulled to within 24-22 with eleven minutes left.

-After that, the Cats took over and showed their muscle, especially Reggie Redding, who had double figures by intermission.

-Halftime score: Villanova 48 Delaware 32

-Delaware actually cut their 16 point deficit in half right out of the chute in the second half. 

-With only a 7 point lead and 14 minutes remaining, Villanova put the game away for good, extending the lead to a 20+ margin for the rest of the game. 

-Pretty much everyone played a solid game for the Cats, with the exception being Corey Stokes.  Sure, his defense is stellar, but we basically take that as a given now.  The offense for him is the puzzling part, as he just can’t find his stroke.  He finished with 5 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 turnovers.  No way anyone should be giving up on Stokes though, because this guy is due to find his shot at some point.  Flat out, the Cats will need Stokes in order to survive in the rugged Big East.   

-In terms of stats, Scottie Reynolds had 22 points and 6 assists, Reggie Redding scored 16 points and grabbed 6 boards, while Taylor King notched a double-double with 19 points (8-8 from the line) and 12 rebounds. 

-Give credit to Delaware.  They are a bad basketball team, but they did not give up at all.  They could have mailed it in halfway through the first half, but they made a few runs, and to cut Villanova’s lead to 7 in the second half is impressive for them.  Jawan Carter, who averages 38.5 minutes for the Blue Hens, played 40 minutes tonight, scoring 13 points. 

It’s on to the Big East finally.  The Cats get a nice 10 days off before their first conference game against Marquette.  I’m really pumped to see Big East basketball for the next 3 months.  Speaking of the Big East, Dana O’Neil, a writer for ESPN, wrote up an interesting review of the Big East conference up to this point in the season.  This will be my last post until after Christmas, so I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday.