Lots at stake on the line tomorrow for both Villanova and West Virginia: #8 vs. #9, NCAA Tournament seeding, Big East Tournament seeding, possible revenge for the Mountaineers.  We have been waiting for this game for awhile now.  Below are some articles in anticipation of the big showdown.

-Villanova’s rematch with West Virginia has large implications

-Villanova story awaits final chapter

-Rested WVU to battle Villanova

-Jay Bilas analyzes the matchup as a part of ESPN’s Weekend Watch

I am excited to be going to the game tomorrow, but I read that Gus Johnson is calling the game on CBS, which pisses me off that I won’t be able to hear him on TV.  Johnson and Bill Raftery have the best college hoops voices by far.  If you have never heard Gus’ “Rise and Fire” youtube video, please do so ASAP; it’s flat out awesome. 

Game just ended: 9:24 pm eastern time.  Villanova Wildcats defeat Cincinnati Bearcats 77-73.  Some notes on the game are below.

-After the bludgeoning at Syracuse, many people, including myself, were curious to see how Villanova would respond against the deperate Cincinnati Bearcats on their “Senior Night.”  The Wildcats seemed to come out of the gates ready to play; they hit the glass hard and had a nice rhythm on offense early on.

-Two Cats who really stood out in the beginning were Antonio Pena and Corey Stokes.  Pena was aggressive on the inside, and Stokes drained a few trey balls, which helped to build a lead of 10 with 8 minutes left in the first half.

-Then, the road squad went cold and looked confused on offense.  Cincinnati wasn’t exactly on fire, but the Cats could only muster 5 points over the final 8 minutes of the opening stanza.  As a result, the Bearcats were kept in the game, and eventually, they made a run to tie the game at half.

-Does that half sound eerily familiar?  Playing well at the start, then being unable to score over a long stretch of time allowing the opponent to storm back.  Syracuse game anybody?

-Halftime score: Villanova 31 Cincinnati 31

-Things got a little chippy to open the second half, with Antonio Pena and Yancy Gates exchanging some pleasantries off of a Pena rebound.  Both were given technicals, although that didn’t stop Gates from giving Mouphtaou Yarou a little shove soon thereafter. 

-The technicals may have fired up the Wildcats, as they went on a 12-1 run to open the last twenty minutes.

-Cincinnati cut the lead to 4 on a couple of occasions, but the playmaking of Scottie Reynolds and the fortitude of Mouphtaou Yarou aided Villanova in regaining momentum.

-The Nova lead reached 16 with about 7 minutes left, but the Bearcats did not pack it in.  A couple of missed assignments on perimeter defense by Villanova paved the way for Cincinnati to get right back in the game. 

-The Bearcats found themselves down only 3 with 3 minutes left, but a couple of shots from downtown clanged off the iron.  After a big trey from Reggie Redding, the Wildcats were up 6, but turnovers by Stokes and Maalik Wayns in the last minute gave Cincy a chance.  With Villanova up 2 and inbounding the ball with 3.2 secs left, they got the ball in the sure hands of Scottie Reynolds.  He promptly sunk 2 free throws and put the nail in the coffin.

Obviously, Villanova did not play a great game.  There were still lots of stupid mistakes, shooting droughts, and defensive lapses.  In addition, allowing a team to virtually erase a 16 point deficit with 7 minutes left is inexcusable.  In an NCAA Tournament game, Villanova would be going home right now with the aforementioned issues.  This is not the NCAA Tournament, though, and the Cats absolutely had to have this game.  Just to get back in the win column was so important tonight.  The victory will be a huge confidence builder heading into a showdown with West Virginia and then the Big East Tournament.  It’s not always going to be pretty, as we all know, because the Big East is a war night in and night out.  Any road win is critical, and for this group of Wildcats, who seemed to be on the ropes heading into this contest, this could be the gritty win that propels them into something special.  

The Game: #9 Villanova (23-5, 12-4) at Cincinnati (`6-12, 7-9)

Location: Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, OH

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

Broadcast: ESPN2

Brief Rundown: Villanova looks to be falling apart fast after getting embarassed in the Syracuse on Saturday Night. The seniors looked disinterested and the young guys looked overwhelmed and there is a sense of uneasiness surrounding the entire program. They are going into a tough place to play against a team that can do some damage despite their poor record on the season. If there was ever a time for a team to step up and reassert itself, it is now. Scottie and Reggie, this is your team. Lead by example.

Cincinnati was touted as a possible breakout team this year in the BIG EAST but they have fizzled to a degree. Deonta Vaughn is the senior leader on this team and he’s flanked by a solid big man in Yancy Gates and phenom freshman Lance Stephenson, who is also the team’s leading scorer. They’ll be looking for some saving grace in a disappointing year and a win over a Top-1o team would make them feel a lot better about themselves.

What I Want To See: I just want to see some heart out of this team. I thought they had broken out of the slump in a dominating win over South Florida, but they turned around and got run off the court against a very, very good team, but it was still wildly disappointing to see. The seniors need to realize this is the stretch run for them and play with pride and lead this young but talented team. I want to see the hustle and determination that made me fall in love with this program.

…Lets Go Nova…I’ll be tweeting during the 2nd half for anyone on Twitter…we need this game if we’re even thinking about a 2-seed in The Dance…not to mention getting us back on the right track…this is a good test for this team coming off a bad loss…

Game just ended: 11:15 pm eastern time.  Syracuse Orange defeat Villanova Wildcats 95-77.  Some notes on the game are below.

-The epic showdown began with the Orange jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead, but Villanova responded right away with some deep treys by Scottie Reynolds.

-Villanova was really getting out in transition and forcing the issue throughout the first 12 minutes of the game, which allowed the Cats to build a lead as big as 9 at one point.

-Unfortunately, the good guys went ice cold over the latter part of the first half, allowing the Orange to gain some confidence and take control of the momentum.  The missed shots and subsequent long rebounds gave Syracuse the chances to get their transition game going.  For the most part, Villanova was not getting back on defense and Cuse ended the half on a 20-6 run.

-Halftime score: Syracuse 46 Villanova 36

-I really think Villanova played toe to toe with the Orange in the first stanza, but the Cats got absolutely blitzed in the second half.  The defense was a freakin joke, with Syracuse (specifically Andy Rautins) slicing and dicing the road squad.

-Syracuse shot an extremely high percentage in the final twenty minutes, but that directly relates to Villanova’s inability to prevent entry passes deep into the Orange post guys.  All Rick Jackson and Arinze Onauku had to do was drop the ball in the ocean. 

-As much as Villanova fans mock Andy Rautins, the kid can play.  He does virtually everything right, whether it’s defense, shooting, passing, leading.  Without him, Syracuse would not even be a top 10 team.

-The one positive Villanova can take away from this game was the offensive play of Mouphtaou Yarou.  He had numerous offensive rebounds and strong putbacks.  Couple that with a few nice short jumpers and it turned out to be a stellar performance by the highly touted freshman.

Ok listen–Syracuse was easily the better team tonight, and they may just be flat out better in general.  Regardless, who f’n cares?  This loss counts the same as the rest of the losses.  Sure, the chances of getting a #1 seed are much tougher now, but there really isn’t that much difference between a 1 or 2 seed.  Villanova went into an arena with 34,000+ anti-Villanova fans, played ok for 20 minutes, and then got hammered.  Playing in this type of atmosphere will definitely help in the weeks to come, especially in the NCAA Tournament.  Obviously, there are a variety of deficiencies that the Cats need to fix (defense, rebounding, Taylor King’s shooting, Reggie Redding’s offense, fouling, etc.), but Villanova is still a very good team that has the potential to do big things.  Like Jim Boeheim said right after the game, “It’s about who’s #1 at the end.”  

Game just ended: 11:02 pm eastern time.  Villanova Wildcats defeat South Florida Bulls 74-49.  Some notes on the game are below.

-On ‘Senior Night’ on the Main Line, both teams came out cold, with each missing their first 3 shots.  The Wildcats eventually broke the ice, jumping out to an 8-0 lead. 

-The Bulls battled throughout most of the first half, keeping the deficit withing striking range.  In the last 6 minutes or so, though, the Cats broke the game open to a degree behind some acrobatic plays by Scottie Reynolds and the long distance shooting of Corey Stokes.  In addition, Antonio Pena added some thunderous dunks, while Mouphtaou Yarou provided solid work on the glass.

-As we all know, two of the main issues in Villanova losses this year has been defense and rebounding.  The Cats did a very nice job in the first half guarding the Bulls on the perimeter, especially on Dominique Jones, and boxing out on missed shots.

-Halftime score: Villanova 36 South Florida 25 

-Although Villanova was home and sporting a 36 game winning streak at the Pavilion, an 11 point lead in the Big East is never safe.  Dominique Jones started to knock down some trey balls and suddenly, the lead was a meager 6 with about thirteen minutes left. 

-Did you really think the Wildcats would lose on ‘Senior Night,’ though?  It obviously wasn’t a guarantee with the way the team has played recently, but I really didn’t think Scottie Reynolds and Reggie Redding would let the team leave without a victory.  Sure enough, the Cats began to impose their will via their depth, and the lead ballooned to 17 with 5 minutes left.

-Fittingly, the three (yes, three) seniors deserve high praise for their performances, not only for their outstanding careers obviously, but for their play in this game.  Although Russell Wooten does not play very much, he deserves the same amount of credit as anyone else on the squad.  Reggie Redding did not put on a stellar offensive display by any stretch, but his defense on the sharpshooter Jones was phenomenal.  Wherever Jones went, there was Redding in his hip pocket.  For a team like Villanova that has let certain opponents light them up this year, the shutting down of Jones by Reggie was a welcome sight.  What else can we say about Scottie?  He is simply the rock of this team and the entire program.  Like always, he made things happen tonight, whether it was draining a 3, getting to the foul line, creating shots for others, or diving for loose balls. 

-Thankfully, ‘Senior Night’ isn’t the last celebration for these seniors, because there is so much more to accomplish for them and this team as a whole.

While many of you would like to just forget about the most recent poor performance by Villanova, I don’t think it is that simple.  This group of Wildcats has some glaring weaknesses that need to be addressed.  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for some), the next game is less than 48 hours away, so the time to really learn from the mistakes made against Pittsburgh is miniscule.  Of course, the issues are not going to be fixed overnight, but I expect to see a much, much better game from the good guys on Wednesday night against a dangerous South Florida team.  Another clunker will result in complete chaos for the Nova faithful.  Anyways, we have no choice but to start focusing on the next game and hoping the Cats can right the ship.  Below are some quotes from South Florida head coach Stan Heath’s Monday press conference following a tough home loss to the St. John’s Red Storm, which really put a damper on their NCAA Tournament hopes. 

Opening Statement…
“We would like to put the last one behind us. It wasn’t a good performance, and I didn’t think our intensity level was there at all. I don’t think we worked as a team as well as we needed to, but welcome to the BIG EAST. We are not the only team that has probably had those same ups and downs during the year, and there is still a log jam of teams right where we are so this is a pivotal game. Villanova is coming off of two losses so they are not going to be a happy bunch of guys, and we just laid an egg so were not very happy either. We get to play on their on-campus facility which is a little bit different because it seats about five or six thousand people and they are all right on top of you. We will have to block that out and we will have to bring a much better defensive effort and a much better offensive performance and really get back to where we were a few weeks ago. ”

On whether it’s harder to prepare for Villanova because they haven’t played them all year…
“That is our league. We play three teams twice and the majority of the teams we just play once. I don’t think it is a plus or a minus. They are in the same boat as us, but they are awfully good. They know who they are, they know what they do and they have great leadership and experience out of Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher. It is a very defensive minded team that is aggressive and takes you out of what you want to do. Offensively, they know what they can and can’t do and they do things very well out there.”

On if he’s concentrating on just the perimeter game with Villanova…
“They force you to make some plays. The key is, and I thought Pittsburgh did a phenomenal job, is having some ball movement and player movement before you attack. You’re going to see trapping ball screens. You’re going to see switching on defense. You’re going to see a lot of things a lot of teams aren’t usually playing, simply because they have, I think, forward positions, the 3, 4 and 5, that are so interchangeable and so moveable that they can do things that are a little bit unconventional that you see. It’s a difficult team in a lot of ways. I look back on our film from last year, we played them wire to wire. It’s the last three, four minutes of the game, and we missed a layup, missed two 1-and-1’s. I think we missed an open shot. It’s still a game that within the last three minutes we had a legitimate chance to pull off, we just didn’t get through. I don’t look at them as way up here and we’re way down here. They’re a good, good team, but it’s a team that we’re going to prepare as hard as we can to try to steal a win. Hopefully we liken it to maybe a Georgetown situation, where we go into there as the underdog but we just come together, we grind it out, and we find a way to win.”

UPDATED:

Postgame Quotes

ORIGINAL:

Game just ended: 2:26 pm eastern time.  Pittsburgh Panthers defeat Villanova Wildcats 70-65.  Some notes on the game are below.

-Before getting to the game action, let me first say that I love games on CBS, even though I may be in the minority that like Verne Lundquist. 

-The game started out very sloppy for both teams, with bricks being thrown up left and right along with fouls and turnovers galore.

-The Panthers began to seize the momentum of the back and forth affair about midway through the opening stanza.  They certainly weren’t lighting it up from the field, but they got numerous second chance opportunities via their offensive rebounding. 

-Jay Wright earned yet another technical foul, which has got to be about his 4th of the year.  Some of the calls were questionable, but I have definitely seen worse this season.  After the technical foul shots, the Panthers were up 10 or 11, but the Cats made a mini run towards the end of the half to keep themselves in the game. 

-The two biggest problems of the first half for Villanova stemmed from their poor foul shooting, and as I mentioned before, getting thoroughly dominated on the glass.

-Halftime score: Pittsburgh 29 Villanova 23

-Did you really expect anything else in the second half, other than a typical, hard-fought Big East slugfest?

-Each team bended but never broke in the final 20 minutes.  The Cats cut it to 2 on multiple occasions, but a response was delivered each time by Gilbert Brown or Ashton Gibbs.  Sometimes, it seemed like the Panthers might pull away, but a response was delivered each time by Corey Stokes or Scottie Reynolds.

-In the end, though, Pitt just made more plays down the stretch to stave off the Wildcats.  On a crucial 1-1 free throw opportunity with 2 mins left and Villanova down only 3, Gilbert Brown missed the front end, but the overpowering Gary Mcghee, as he did so many times throughout the game, muscled his way to an offensive rebound.  Then, with the Cats down 4 and a minute left, Villanova put the full court press on.  The Pitt inbounder tried to throw a bomb to a streaking teammate (ala Reggie Redding in last year’s Elite 8), but the pass was way too long.  The hustling Pitt player dove into the stands, somehow saved the ball by knocking it in play, and it went off Antonio Pena’s hand out of bounds.  One more…Ashton Gibbs, who shoots 90% from the free throw line, missed 2 free throws in a row with 45 secs left, but on the push-out, Scottie Reynolds threw it right to a Pitt player.  These plays were not the sole reason for the loss obviously, but they serve as an example of the mistakes made by the Cats today. 

-Two last comments from me…1) As unathletic as Gary Mcghee is, he absolutely mandhandled the Villanova frontcourt today, and in my opinion, he won the game for the Panthers.  2) Jamie Dixon deserves coach of the year honors. 

Pittsburgh had 20+ offensive rebounds.  Enough said.  Let the ranting begin. 

Sorry for the late postGame recap. I think there was a mixup as Brian usually handles it but he may have been busy and we didn’t sync up on that. By now you’ve probably seen the highlights ad nauseum on SportsCenter and if you live in the Northeast you’ve definitely read about it in the morning papers.

UConn ’shocked’ Villanova last night at The Wachovia Center, making it the 4th loss in 4 days for BIG EAST Top-10 teams. During the game, I really wasn’t even worried as we were only down a few points midway through the 2nd half. I figured the Huskies’ would stop hitting literally every shot (I’m pretty sure they didn’t miss a 2nd half FG attempt until under 10 minutes left in the game) and that our shooting would miraculously pick up. Neither occurred.

Kemba Walker delivered the best game of his career in my opinion, and virtually every Wildcat turned in one of their worst of the season. That’s a recipe for a loss. More concerning though, is that we’ve now seen the best game a team can play (Georgetown and now UConn) and we’ve gotten beaten soundly. Great teams can fight off those performances, at least in my mind. I’d like to see us find a way to adjust.

Some other random thoughts:

• After a brilliant first half, Scottie Reynolds didn’t do much after the break, and that really hurt us. Usually it’s the opposite with Scottie turning it up in crunch time. Jerome Dyson (one of the best defenders in the country) deserves a lot of credit as he made the proper adjustments to slow him down.
• Taylor King has hit the proverbial wall. His shooting is atrocious, and he’s beginning to make some boneheaded passes. The hustle is still there, but the confidence isn’t.
• When Antonio Pena gets in foul trouble, we’re in deep shit. Simple as that.
• Maurice Sutton has got to learn to stand and take a charge, or at the very least stand with his hands straight up. Jumping and trying to block every shot against elite guards is why he fouled out in just 9 minutes.
• The refs weren’t great (UConn certainly got the better whistle), but we forgot what has allowed us to succeed against them recently. The extra pass off the drive when their shot-blockers go up has led to easy buckets. Last night was a display of selfish basketball where we were constantly getting ours shots stuffed or altered. Their is a reason why they have been the best shot-blocking team of the past decade. Adjust.
• Since when does UConn shoot 80% at the FT line? Jesus.
• Our last two losses our opponents have shot 23 and 24 more FT’s than us respectively. Ummm?
• Scottie Reynolds did not attempt a FT. Wow.
• Foul trouble is becoming an increasing problem for Corey Stokes. And a lot of them are cheap ones around the hoop.
• Mouphtaou Yarou showed us something last night. Probably the only player that I came away impressed with in a loss (that never happens). I’ll get to Jay in a second, but Mouph should have played A LOT more last night.
• And finally, to our coach, who I love. I really do. But he needs to be called out when it was apparent to everyone but him that what was going on was not working. Yes, UConn shot the ball great. But they are awful in the halfcourt set. They have 2 guys who can create their own shot (Walker and Dyson). So what do we do? Press them, and allow them to run and throw alley-oops, which they are very good at. It was maddening. Come on Jay, you’re better than that.

Villanova gets a much-needed full week of practice (and hopefully a humbling, verbal berating from the coaching staff) before they travel to Pitt, where the Panthers will most certainly be out for blood. Right now, I don’t know if we can win that game. We need to refocus.

The Game: #3 Villanova(22-2, 11-1) vs. UConn (14-11, 4-8)

Location: The Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

Broadcast: Big Monday on ESPN

Brief Rundown: Villanova played one of its sloppier games of the year during Saturday’s matinee with Providence, but they turned it on late to pull away by double digits. Corey Fisher had one of the best games of his career with 22 points and 5 assists to lead the charge. No time for rest though as a desperate Huskies team comes to town looking to possibly salvage a very disappointing year.

UConn is a team with great talent, but outside of Jerome Dyson and Stanley Robinson, there are not many scoring options on this team, and they do not have great depth in the backcourt. They are dangerous though for a couple reasons. First, they do have great talent. Alongside Dyson and Robinson is Kemba Walker, who while having a sophomore slump, is capable of turning it on. The Huskies have a deep but inexperienced frontcourt, so the Wildcat bigs will need to step up.

What I Want To See: I want to see us come out and destroy this team. Give them no hope early, and they’ll fold. The longer we let them hang around the more they’ll start to believe. Also, they are a  BIG team, and rebounding will not be easy. It’ll be a team effort to have success against the Husky bigs, led by Gavin Edwards.

…Lets Go Nova!…I of course do not have President’s Day off from work, or I’d be at the game…but I will be on Twitter for the 2nd half if anyone wants to chat!…

After a full 4 days of rest following the big West Virginia win, Villanova looked lackluster and played sloppy at times yesterday in a 92-81 victory over the feisty Providence Friars at the Wachovia Center.  Turnovers, especially against the press, seemed to be a big problem for the Wildcats.  Give credit to Providence though, as they are very active and quick on defense.  Nonetheless, the good guys took care of business late, which is what you are supposed to do as a decided favorite and the #4 team in the nation.  Below are some articles recapping the win and how the Cats can get better. 

-AP Recap

-#4 Villanova Too Much for Providence in 92-81 Win

-The Closer: Reynolds’ 2nd-Half Numbers Turn Heads

-Villanova’s Winning Formula Works Again in Win over Providence

-Reynolds Rescues Villanova Again

-Video Clip from CSN Philly (this link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet…click on the SPORTSNITE tab and the clip is from entitled, “Jay Wright talks about Nova’s sloppy start-2/12″)

Hopefully, Villanova can rectify their mistakes in a hurry, because the desperate and hated UConn Huskies come to town tomorrow night.  Two things I can’t wait for: 1) Bill Raftery announcing, obviously and 2) Jim Calhoun calling his standard timeout 30 seconds into the game and ripping his players.