I Bleed Blue and White

The Game: #3 Villanova (28-7, 13-5) vs. #2 Duke (30-6, 11-5)

Location: TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, MA

Time: 9:57 p.m. ET

Broadcast: CBS (regional coverage)

Brief Rundown: After struggling with American in the opening round, Villanova slaughtered UCLA en route to a headlining victory. Seniors Dante Cunningham and Dwayne Anderson have displayed the ‘refuse to lose’ attitude that we’re accustomed to as fans.

Duke blew out Binghamton before surviving vs. Texas in the 2nd round. The Blue Devils have been carried by Gerald Henderson, but don’t think he’s their only option. They are well coached and they play hard.

Many players from both ‘Nova and Duke know each other from high school. This should be a brawl.

3 Keys to Victory:

1. Guard the 3 – Outside of Henderson, Duke isn’t loaded with offensive talent who can get to the rim and score. They run a drive and kick offense, and ‘Nova needs to be alert. They have the shooters that can knock down open jumpers. Being lackadaisical at the 3-point line isn’t going to suffice.
2. Drive, but with caution – ‘Nova should have a distinct advantage with their guard play of getting to the hoop. Duke doesn’t have the defenders to match up with 1 on 1, but they are taught to step in and take charges. The refs will have a lot to do with this, but the ‘Nova guards need to be careful and stay in control.
3. Believe – Stealing a line here, but WE need to believe. The team needs to believe, and we as fans need to believe. ‘Nova fans will be there in the thousands tomorrow, I have no doubt about that. But we as a unit need to get it done. No excuses.

Links:

• Nova News
• VUHoops
• Villanova By The Numbers

…Lets Go Nova…let’s hear what you think about the game below…

I’ll never doubt my hometown people again. I was a fool and went completely off the alumni association info (there was no information available at the time) and told everyone that there was no gathering in the area.

Well, I was wrong. And I feel like an ass now. So Fairfield/Westchester alumni, here’s me apologizing to you.

The alumni in Fairfield County and Westchester County will be gathering at Sports Page in White Plains, NY for tomorrow’s game. I urge you to go if you are in the area.

Again, I’m sorry to the alums. When I checked the alumni page there was no information available. I’ll never doubt you guys again!

As I continue my battle with Liz on going to the game, I just received an email from the Alumni Association on gamewatch events. In case I’m not able to convince her that it’s absolutely worth it to leave Florida and spend $250 on tickets, I would have to consider these alternatives.

In addition to these, the usual locations of Kelly’s and Flip & Bailey’s are in effect for this weekend if you are in the Villanova area.

Boston -  preGame festivites at The Greatest Bar. You can register here for the preParty. Information on the gamewatch is available here.

Atlanta – Gamewatch at TJ’s in Alpharetta, GA. Information is available here.

Chicago – Gamewatch at Sedgwick’s. Information available here.

Fairfield County, CT/Westchester County, NY - They apparently are completely lame (and this is my hometown!) or they’re diehards and are driving up to Beantown. Let’s hope for the latter.

Washington D.C. - Gamewatch at Penn Quarter Sports Tavern. Information available here.

Greater Philadelphia - Gamewatch at Mad River Manayunk. Information available here.

Manhattan, NY – Gamewatch’s at The Australian and SideBar. Information available here.

Mounmouth/Ocean, NJ – Gamewatch at Boathouse Bar & Grill. Information available here.

Southern California – Gamewatchs at Silky Sullivans in Fountain Valley, CA and Beaches in Manhattan Beach, CA. Information available here.

Villanova’s biggest strength heading into their game with Duke is their guard play. ‘Nova attacked the rim with disdain against UCLA, and with great success. Against the slower Dukies, one would figure that the dribble-drive would again figure prominently into the game plan.

But could it hurt Villanova? With the way that Coach K teaches the flop, it could. Duke is widely known for their questionable flops that only Kristof Ongenaet has been able to rival so far this season. When Corey Fisher, Scottie Reynolds, Reggie Redding and Dwayne Anderson attack the rim, they are going to need to be mindful that there is a flop waiting to happen.

And more importantly, Dante Cunningham is going to need to be very careful. He likes to throw his muscle around a bit in the post, but he’s going to need to be careful that he doesn’t give the refs anything to call.

With any luck, the game will be called the right way and flops, such as the one by newly discovered junk-lover Greg Paulus, will not be called.

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.2265165&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

Jensen Reed, you’re in the Hall of Fame. Forever.

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.2263047&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

Awful Announcing has the news on what broadcast teams will be calling the Sweet Sixteen games, and you’re going to be happy (at least I think you will). Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery have been assigned to the East Regionals, and will call Villanova’s clash with Duke on Thursday night.

For what it’s worth, Dick Enberg and Jay Bilas (who announced ‘Novas first games) will be in the West.

…I don’t know what is is, but it seems that year after year Gus Johnson gets the short end of the stick…I was almost certain that if he didn’t get the East (by far the most intriguing set of games) that he’d get to do Gonzaga…you know since it feels like he’s called all of their games…

…Anyways all I have to say to this news is ONIONS!…

Game recap and box score in case you couldn’t see the game.

“UCLA came to the Philly playgrounds, where men play.” – Jay Bilas

Yep, that probably sums up the way most of us feel after today.

AP/Michael Perez

UCLA officially now stands for “U Can Leave Anytime” (I can’t take credit for that, but I laughed hard when I heard it). Villanova looked as good as they have all year today. From Rollie Massimino in the stands to the walk-ons at the end of hte bench, the Wildcats were firing on all cylinders today.

Dante Cunningham led 6 Cats in double figures with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Dwayne Anderson recorded a double-double of his own with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes were both brilliant off the bench. Fisher ignited the team and finished with 13 points and 5 assists. Stokes had 12 points, and was actively looking for his shot all day, which was great to see.

The Wildcats played as a team for a full game today, something that was refreshing for the packed house of ‘Nova fans. But Fisher put it best with a quote that sums up the entire game.

“We kind of jumped on them and set the tone early,” Fisher said. “That was huge. We always say it’s about 40 minutes of basketball. We didn’t want to let up when we got a lead. I don’t think we did. We had a lot of intensity from the start of the game to the end.”

UCLA couldn’t get anything going all day. The Wildcat defense was suffocating, and held stars Darren Collison and Josh Shipp to a what felt like a quiet 15 and 18 points, respectively. Jrue Holiday was held in check all day, finishing with just 4 points. Credit to Reggie Redding for his usual defensive prowess, but really the entire Wildcat team, who truly looked like a national title contender today.

It was the last “home” game for me as I’ll be graduating this spring, and it sure was a memorable one. I couldn’t ask for a better game to go out on. I thought everyone was near perfection today, and even if I wanted to, I couldn’t nitpick about anything.

Villanova will play next week in Boston vs. the winner of Duke and Texas.

Enjoy this one Wildcat fans.

The Game: #3 Villanova (27-7, 13-5) vs. #6 UCLA (26-8, 13-5)

Location: The Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA

Time: 1:05 p.m. ET

Broadcast: CBS (regional coverage)

Brief Rundown: Villanova struggled in the 1st half against American before finally taking control of the game and imposing their will. The second half performance is what Wildcat fans hope to see more of this Saturday, but they’ll face a much stiffer test.

UCLA had the game of the day with VCU, with VCU missing the final shot that would have given them the win. Josh Shipp led 5 Bruins in double digits. UCLA is a great defensive team, led by a great head coach in Ben Howland.

3 Keys to Victory:

1. Take care of the ball – ‘Nova continually coughed up the ball last night in the 1st half, enabling American to have extra possessions which they turned into points. UCLA is a much tougher and athletic team, and takes pride in it’s defense. Villanova will have to take great care of the ball.
2. Guard the perimeter – UCLA is one of the best shooting teams in the country by FG%. Josh Shipp, Darren Collison and Jrue Holiday can all stroke it from outside. The Bruins aren’t as imposing up front as they have been the past few years, so Villanova shouldn’t feel the need to play too much help defense down low.
3. Crowd needs to show up – What’s the point of having home court advantage if the fans are quiet? That was pretty much the story last night, as the ‘Nova fans were drowned out until late in the 2nd half. The ‘Nova faithful need to do their part. The players can say all they want about how it doesn’t matter to them, but trust me, it does.

Jay Wright was a guest on The Midday Show with Evan Roberts and Joe Benigno today. Wright talked to the duo about Villanova’s victory last night over American, as well as what lays ahead for the Wildcats.

You can listen to the interview here.

Game recap and box score if you missed the game

Phew! That was an ugly one for about 25 minutes. At the end though, Villanova brought it home by a final score of 80-67. Villanova realized that it’s a good team and decided implement what we like to call “a gameplan.” In the first half, Garrison Carr absolutely torched the Villanova defense and led his American squad to a 10 point halftime lead.

AP Photo/Mel Evans

And even out of the break, the Eagles raced to a couple of quick buckets and had a 14 point lead. At that point, I’m not ashamed to admit, I screamed out “f’ing Old Dominion all over again.” I thought we were dead. But somehow, some way, Villanova found some life.

Scottie Reynolds was terrible for 40 minutes, but no matter. He saved his worst for the first half, but had some timely points in the final frame. Corey Fisher was just as bad in the opening 20, but rallied in the 2nd half and finished with 11 points.

But the real stars of the game, and the saviors for that matter, were Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunningham. Both finished with 25 points and were the lone reason why Villanova won this game.

Anderson started out early, draining 3’s before eventually being sidelined with foul trouble. Cunningham, when he got the ball, dominated inside and taught the American forwards a thing or two about big-time basketball.

So what happened? Jay Wright’s philosophy of “deny the 2, let them have the 3″ was exploited. Listen, I agree that under normal circumstances, let teams have jumpers and deny them layups. But when you have 2 guards under 6 feet that can’t finish at the hoop, don’t let them have open shots all day!

Jay finally conceded and changed the gameplan at halftime, and what do you know? Villanova storms back. I love Coach Wright, but that game wasn’t that hard to figure out. In fact, I’d better kids all across campus would have been better on the bench the first half than Wright was.

At the end of the day though, the name of the game is survive and advance, which Villanova did. They’ll face UCLA at 1:05 p.m. ET on Saturday.

…Bottom line…we had more in the tank than American…it’s tough on these underdogs because they ride on so much adrenaline for the first half, but then they can’t close down the stretch..nevertheless, I expected a game from them, but I didn’t expect to be down by 10 at the half…so hats off to those guys, they really made me sweat…