If you missed the game, here is the recap and the box score.
It was the tale of two halves inside The Pavilion on Super Bowl Sunday. Villanova emerged victorious by a wide margin, but at halftime, this looked like it was going to be a battle to the final whistle.
Stifling defense was the key to victory today.
Villanova came out half asleep, and it was a sloppy game from the opening tip. At one point, the Wildcats turned it over 5 times in 6 possessions as both teams struggled to find the hoop early on.
Late in the first half, Villanova turned it up a notch defensively and the Bearcats simply could not handle the pressure. They turned it over time and time again, leading to a series of ‘Nova buckets that turned this game into a blowout.
The Cats held Deonta Vaughn to 8 points on 3-14 shooting, which was one of our keys to the game. You could tell Vaughn was frustrated throughout the game with the variety of looks that Villanova threw at him. He couldn’t get anything going, and neither could any of the other Bearcats.
Dante Cunningham was the star today, finishing with 21 points and 8 rebounds. He even had one of those rare ‘Nova alley-oops that we go so crazy for (Liz absolutely loved that).
Corey Stokes, and Corey Fisher especially, were both outstanding. The early experience last year is really paying off now. Stokes even began to show off some inside game, which is going to really change the face of this team if he can do it consistently.
Scottie Reynolds, Shane Clark, Reggie Redding and Dwayne Anderson all chipped in one way or another. The only down side was Antonio Pena suffered through his 2nd consecutive poor performance, but really, who’s to complain with a win like this?
An admirable aspect of this win is the way the team responded when things weren’t going well. This was a game we had marked as one that could potentially present some trouble. Early start time, coming off a huge win, dangerous team — all things that could lead to a loss. And for a while in the 1st half, it kind of felt that way.
Whatever it was, something woke the team up and they just dominated to the finish line. It was a very impressive win, and one that has me much more confident about their trip to Providence on Wednesday.
Most importantly, with the win Villanova has provided just a little space for themselves on a weekend when several other teams with similar records lost. Villanova has done a great job of winning the games that they should. Providence will be a tougher test, but let’s hope the trend of winning continues.
