I Bleed Blue and White

Not only did Villanova have to deal with mother nature over the weekend, but they also faced two of the best teams in the country on the road in a matter of 60 hours.  Like I said prior to the Georgetown game, I would have signed up for 1-1 over this stretch.  The Wildcats obliged with the win at West Virginia, and they get a solid 4 days off before a nice pair of home games against Providence and Connecticut.  Before we start focusing on the upcoming contests, let’s wrap up the game from last night.

-Postgame Quotes

-Villanova rallies from Georgetown loss, beats West Virginia

-Villanova beats West Virginia on the road

-Reynolds leads rebound victory for Villanova

-Andy Katz: Quick hitters from around the country

-Jay Wright’s interview with Mike Francesa

WFAN is my favorite sports radio station by far, and Mike Francesa is the best of the best.  One of the things Francesa touches on with Wright is the possibility of expanding the NCAA Tournament to include more teams.  Wright is in favor of a 96 team tourney, but Francesa brings up some good points to not expand the field; he mentions that regular season games will be less exciting, because in theory, it will be easier to make the big dance, so the regular season contests won’t mean as much.  I, for one, agree with Francesa and do not believe the tourney should be expanded.  There are only a few teams at most every year that get snubbed, which is part of the excitement of Selection Sunday.  Even some very mediocre teams get in the field, so there’s no reason to let 32 more average teams get in.  Anyone have any thoughts on this topic?

Game just ended at 9:18 p.m. ET. Villanova went into hostile territory and defeated West Virginia 82-75 and in the process shook off their first conference loss on Saturday and snapped the Mountaineers 6-game win streak. I only got to see the 2nd half (yes, I do have DVR and will eventually watch it), but I have to say I was thoroughly impressed with our play after the break.

We carried an 11-point lead into the 2nd half, and despite our shooting cooling off and some terrible, terrible officiating (yes, this time they were directly responsible for an unheard-of 6-point swing), we remained calm and carried out our plan en route to victory in one of the toughest venues in the country (helped out by the coin-throwers being banished, of course).

As I tweeted with a Syracuse blogger, the BIG EAST regular season title clearly runs through Villanova and Syracuse. They are undoubtedly the best two in the conference (the Hoyas are good too, but too many losses so far to compete). That matchup in a few weeks should be nuts.

Some random thoughts on the game:

• Scottie Reynolds does it again. 21 points and 5 assists and 19 of those came in the 2nd half. He was a perfect 10-10 at the line too. As Raf said, the kid is literally a dagger walking around the court (LOL).
• Great first half out of Dominic Cheek. Then we barely saw him in the 2nd. Weird, and even though we played great and went with the experience, he deserved to be out there until proven wrong.
• Corey Fisher has 17 points and I think I only saw him hit a couple of free throws. I heard he had an intentional foul too. I missed all the fun.
• Reggie Redding was phenomenal down the stretch. THAT is the player we all expected this season. That was Reggie in 2009-Final-Four-Run Mode.
• Taylor King had 8 rebounds, but not much else. Oh yeah, two brutal fouls. But was phenomenal on the glass, even if his shooting was awful. He was a big reason why we somehow out-rebounded WV.
• 10 and 9 for Antonio Pena. Raf said he was vital to this machine, and is this year’s Dante Cunningham. Bilas quickly agreed. So do I.
• Don’t think I remember Maalik Wayns at all. Also weird. He’s usually in the middle of things, one way or the other.
• Isaiah Armwood was really active. I think I have a mancrush on him. He’s gonna be something special in a couple of years.
• Unreal defense by the whole team on Da’Sean Butler, but particularly Corey Stokes. He had Butler whining like a friggan baby. Stokes also hit a huge runner late in the game.
• Good to see Mo Sutton get some good run.
• I have no idea why Mouphtaou Yarou didn’t play, and it doesn’t make me feel good.

HUGE win on the road. Could be season-defining. That is typical of ‘Nova teams under Jay Wright, to take one on the chin and then 2 days later bounce back and make a statement. It’s why I love this program.

Villanova is off until Saturday when they host Providence downtown. I’m a maybe for the game. Hoping to make it. And also, we’ll have our inaugural guest-post from IBBW’s good friend Andrew Trask. He’s very fired up, to say the least.

The Game: #2 Villanova (20-2, 9-1) at #6 West Virginia (19-3, 8-2)

Location: The WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, WV

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

Broadcast: Big Monday on ESPN

Brief Rundown: Villanova had the brakes beat off them by Georgetown in a blizzard just two days ago in Washington D.C. Villanova gave up 100 points for the first time in who knows how long, and acted as if the ball was covered in a rare disease, turning it over again and again. And despite all that, they continued to battle and made that game closer than it should have been. No time to think about that though, as they play their second Top-10 opponent on the road, in a place where they’ve struggled.

West Virginia has been winning a lot since losing to Notre Dame and Syracuse earlier this year. Both were by a combined 3 points though, so even when they went down they were there until the end. Da’Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks are the stars for the Mountaineers, and will test Villanova’s front line. While they may be lacking in quality guards (an area we can exploit) they are certainly not lacking in frontcourt talent, so this will be an interesting battle.

What I Want To See: I want to see the young guys rebound from an embarrassing outing on Saturday. We’ll see what they’re made of tonight in what should be as hostile an environment that they’ll see until Syracuse. I also want to see us go on the attack with lots of guards instead of trying to conform to WV’s size. Isaiah Armwood vs. Ebanks could be a fun matchup to watch though.

…Lets Go Nova!…time to put Saturday behind us and rebound with a BIG win tonight…I’ll be tweeting during the 2nd half for the first time in a long time…

UPDATED:

-Adventures of getting to the game

-AP Recap

-Boxscore

-Postgame Quotes

-Georgetown back on the national title scene

ORIGINAL:

Game just ended: 2:30 pm eastern time.  Georgetown Hoyas defeat Villanova Wildcats 103-90.  Some notes on the game are below.

-The game started out going back and forth with each team trading buckets for much of the first 8 minutes or so.  Then, things really started to change, as Villanova began turning the ball over and coming up empty on the offensive possessions they did have.  Couple that with Jason Clark and Austin Freeman basically not missing threes, it all added up to a recipe for disaster.

-Although the Hoyas shot lights out in the first half, Villanova wasn’t exactly stifling on the defensive end.  I thought Jay Wright stuck with the press too long.  It takes time off the shot clock for the opponent, but if they can consistently break it, matching up becomes a problem because everyone is scrambling to find their man.  Once Georgetown broke the press, the Cats did not get to their man in time, leaving Clark and Freeman wide open for threes. 

-Halftime score: Georgetown 50 Villanova 31

-Obviously, being down 19 at the half is not an insurmountable lead for this Villanova squad, because they can score in bunches, so it seemed like a matter of time before the Cats made a run. 

-The visitors cut the deficit to about 12 on multiple occasions, but each time, Georgetown responded with some clutch buckets. 

-All in all, Villanova didn’t play good defense, but honestly, no one was beating Georgetown today.  They were pretty much unconscious all game, mostly from beyond the arc.  It wasn’t just one guy either, like the Seton Hall game with Jeremy Hazell, rather the whole G’town team was locked in. 

-I’ll end by mentioning the horrendous job by the refs, but this was not the difference in the game.  No excuses.  Georgetown was the better team today and deserved to win. 

Nobody wants to lose, especially to archrival Georgetown, but this is not the end of the world.  Villanova was due for a clunker, and Georgetown is no slouch.  Like I texted my dad at one point during the game, “Better now than March.”

Looks like 3 feet of snow won’t keep Jay & Company from laying the smackdown on the Hoyas this afternoon. Georgetown’s official site says the game is still on, and will be played at its original scheduled time of Noon today at the Verizon Center.

Yet another major snowstorm approaches the Northeast this weekend, threatening numerous sporting events across the nation.  Regardless of the weather though, the showdown between Georgetown and Villanova at the Verizon Center on Saturday is most likely going to happen.  It is pretty much a foregone conclusion that Washington D.C. will get slammed by almost 2 feet of snow.  Georgetown officials obviously know this, and they are still saying the game is on, so there’s no reason to believe they would posptone the contest at this point.  If you still plan on attending the game, kudos to you, but be prepared to use a mode of transportation other than the Metrorail.  Furthermore, while the entire East Coast will be experiencing a virtual white-out this weekend with the snow, Georgetown fans may try to gray-out the arena.  Not really sure how well that is going to work, considering the Verizon Center will be well under full capacity.  Anyways, please be careful if you are traveling this weekend.

I’ll leave you with some interesting articles surrounding Villanova and the Big East:

-Wildcats living up to lofty expectations

-Big East coaches, including Jay Wright, want a bigger NCAA Tournament

Before we talk about the road ahead, let’s put a bow on the Seton Hall game.  Unfortunately, I did not get to see the game last night, as I had a basketball game of my own, although I did listen to the second half on the radio.  Since I missed the Cats in action, I resorted to a bevy of internet sites to get me caught up on Nova hoops.  Below are some of the things I delved into. 

-Villanova vs. Seton Hall AP Recap

-Villanova vs. Seton Hall Box Score

-Villanova vs. Seton Hall Postgame Quotes

-Reynolds Scores 2,000th Point in Win

-Jay Wright and Adam Zagoria’s Bet

-Villanova Has Championship Feel

-CSN Philly Quick Villanova Basketball Clips  (this link takes you to the CSN Philly video page…click on the SPORTSNITE tab and there is 1 clip from January 31st discussing a possible #1 ranking and 1 clip from February 2nd relaying Scottie reaching 2,000 points)

9 Big East regular season games down, 9 to go.  A perfect start in conference has everyone salivating about what this team could accomplish, but as we all know by now, the second half of the schedule is much tougher than the first.  I never like to look too far ahead, much like the Cats always seem to focus on the “next game,” so I’ll only take a quick glance at a very important game in a few weeks.  The showdown with Syracuse should be a doozy, and the hype is already starting, as the Carrier Dome is sold out and an attendance record will be broken in the process.  But… 

Again, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, because over a 2 and a half day span this weekend into next week, Villanova will play road games against #7 Georgetown and #6 West Virginia.  As I ask in the title, is a loss on the horizon?  In my opinion (and I think I may take some heat about this from you Cat fans), I would be very content to come out of these next 2 games at 1-1.  Could the Cats win both?  Sure.  Could they lose both?  Easily.  In the end, coming out of this 2 game stretch with a win and a loss would be solid.  I want to hear what you think, though; would you be ok with 1-1 come Tuesday morning or is 2-0 the only option?

Let me just start this off with a rant about ESPNU. I hate it. Not the channel itself, but the whole concept. You want to show me more college sports? Fine. I love you. You want to make it so certain TV providers cannot show ESPNU? Go to hell.

That’s what I went through last night. I felt like crap and all I wanted to do was watch my Cats on my HDTV. But I had to drive across town to a friend’s house to accomplish this. I spite the day you were born, ESPNU.

Anyways, the game went pretty well. We won by 10 in the end, but I was concerned this was a trap game beforehand for a few reasons:

• The long layoff
• The wine and cheese crowd at The Pavilion
• Jeremy Hazell

Through the first 35 minutes, all 3 of my worst fears came to life. We looked lacksidaisical at times on the court and were’nt playing as well as we were capable. The building was silent, and it wasn’t just the alums.

(Side rant: Are you kidding me students? You wait until Seton Hall takes the lead in the 2nd half before we hear a Let’s Go Nova chant? I hope you aren’t feeling entitled that you have the #2 team in the country. Please provide with a homecourt advantage. Rant over.)

And then finally, Hazell couldn’t miss a damn shot. We actually were playing great defense on him too. Sure he has unlimited range and got some open looks. But he also hit some circus shots. Quick shout-out to Bobby G. for benching him down the stretch. We all really appreciate it!

Oh yeah, and a certain somebody got to 2,000 points, and rightly heard his name belted out by the masses. Side note here too — really happy they didn’t stop the game and make a big deal. That would go against everything Scottie is about. He’s humble, and that moment was too. Glad the fans reacted accordingly though with a standing ovation.

Jamie rightly pointed out to me last night, “Why is it that we dick around for 30 minutes and then decide, f*ck it, let’s just go win this damn thing?” I have no idea, but a lot of it has to do with our depth. We’re just fresher at the end. Seton Hall gave us their absolute best shot last night, and never did I really think we were in trouble. That says a lot about this team.

Other thoughts…

• Congrats again to Scottie. Whoever that guy was guarding him was doing a great job not letting him get free. But he still got what he deserved. Now go and get Kerry.
• How big was Corey Stokes in the 2nd half? THAT was the player we’ve been waiting to see all year. Sign of things to come? Let’s hope, as his offense could take this team to another level.
• Antonio Peña was a beast. No other way around it. 16 points and 8 boards. He won a good test against the league’s top rebounder, Herb Pope.
• The next time we see Jeremy Hazell is entirely too soon.
• Dominic Cheek was great in the 1st half, but I didn’t really see him much in the 2nd. Liked how he was attacking the basket, which is something we haven’t seen much of from him lately.
• Maalik Wayns may have put himself in a mini-doghouse last night. Only 11 minutes and it wasn’t the prettiest he’s played.
• Isaiah Armwood and Taylor King really battled on the glass hard. I’d like to see more assertiveness on the offensive end from both, and in King’s case that doesn’t mean launching more 3’s. Get inside where you’ve been surprisingly (to me at least) very effective.
• How much has Corey Fisher improved his jumper? Damn.
• You probably didn’t notice Reggie Redding much, but he had a very solid game I thought. 7 points 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Not bad.

The Cats travel to Georgetown on Saturday where the Hoyas will be looking for revenge. Q&A with our pals at Casual Hoya will be up soon.

Game just ended at 9:09 p.m. ET. Villanova defeats Notre Dame 90-72 to move to 19-1, which is the best start in school history! Villanova overcame a sloppy 1st half where they were constantly letting the Irish stick around to absolutely destroy Mike Brey’s boys in a 2nd half where the Wildcats truly imposed their will.

I’m going to say right now, I didn’t get in until late in the 1st half, so I can’t really comment on what went on (please let me know in the comments), but from what I was hearing from Jay Bilas and Sean McDonough, we played incredibly sloppy and couldn’t slow down Luke Harangody, who had 16 points in the opening 20 minutes.

I will say this about the 2nd half though – it was phenomenal. After a sluggish star to the half the team really turned up the defensive pressure and got back to what they do best – run, and run some more. Notre Dame had no chance once this game plan fell into place. Some more thoughts:

• We ended the game on a 30-something to 15-ish run. It was beautiful to watch.
• The students really wanted Scottie Reynolds to hit 2,000 tonight. They were going nuts at the end when he went on a personal 7-0 run. He finished 7 points shy. On the bright side, he’ll get that in The Pavilion, which I think makes it more special.
• Corey Fisher was outstanding. At one point, he left an ND defender 5 feet behind him with a simple head fake, that drew roars (and laughter) from the crowd, and Jay Bilas.
• Antonio Peña was a friggan beast tonight. A double-double with 14 and 11, and he neutralized Harangody in the 2nd half. One of the best games of his career.
• Wayns, Redding and Stokes were all solid. Stokes is getting his shooting touch back I think. Redding was great defending Harangody and had some “old-man” plays as Bilas described him where he simply out-thought everyone else to get an easy hoop.
• Taylor King hit a couple of deeeeeep 3’s, and played his usual tough defense and drew some great charges on the Irish.
• Ben Hansbrough fouling out early in the 2nd half was huge. Brey is an idiot though. It was a 5 point game and he put him in with 4 fouls. Talk about mismanaging one of your best players. On the bright side for Ben though, I don’t hate him like I did his brother.
• Quiet games from Armwood, Cheek and Yarou. Who knows?

Vilalnova returns to action next Tuesday when they host Seton Hall at The Pavilion. Corey Fisher has a shot at 1,000 points for his career, and Scottie Reynolds looks to make it 2,000 for his sensational career at ‘Nova.

The Game: #3 Villanova (18-1, 7-0) vs. Notre Dame (15-5, 4-3)

Location: The Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

Broadcast: ESPN

Brief Rundown: IBBW was in the building to see Villanova overcome a poor 1st half and put away a pesky St. John’s bunch in Madison Square Garden on Saturday. It was weird, but even when we were down by double-digits, I never really felt we were in danger. I guess that’s the mark of a good team. The fantastic trio of Wayns, Fisher and Reynolds combining for 53 points doesn’t hurt either.

The Fighting Irish are an interesting group, as always. Luke Harangody is one of the best offensive players the conference has had in recent memory, but he plays virtually no defense, so in the grand scheme of things his impact is neutralized every night in my eyes. They scored an impressive home win against West Virginia, but also lost to Loyola-Marymount and Northwestern this season. If they’re shooting it well, they’re dangerous. If not, they probably won’t put up too much of a fight as they are an awful defensive group.

What I Want To See: A complete game and suffocating defense. They don’t have the athletes to run with us, but I don’t want us to win this game in the 80s because they are shooting well. Shut them down from the start and don’t let them and Harangody get going. This is only a dangerous game if we allow it to become one.

…Lets Go Nova!…any thoughts on how many times Luke bitches to the stripes tomorrow night about somebody touching him?…