I Bleed Blue and White

I was always taught to “bet with your head, not with your heart.” As of halftime of the Cincinnati-DePaul game, I should have followed by heart. The winless Blue Demons are giving the Bearcats all they can handle.

Will Walker is pacing DePaul with 10 points, and hasn’t even made a 3 yet. Dar Tucker has barely played because of foul trouble, and Mac Koshwal has yet to get anything going.

For Cinncinnati, the scoring has been very balanced with a plethora of players getting at least a bucket. Star guard Deonta Vaughn is ice cold so far, going just 1-6 in the 1st half.

I’ve got to give the edge to DePaul going into this 2nd half. They’ve gotten absolutely nothing from Koshwal or Tucker, and Cincinnati just can’t seem to make anything. Go Blue Demons! Get that win!

I’m watching the Cincinnati-DePaul game right now, and it doesn’t appear as this will be a highly attended game.

The Garden seats nearly 20,000 people for basketball games. I would be shocked if the actual attendance (not the “paid” attendance) is over 3,000. Not that I thought that this game, or any others today for that matter, were going to sell the place out, but this is going to be some ammo for the crowd that doesn’t think the extra day is a good thing.

My guess is we’ll see some spikes in the numbers for the local teams games as well as some more numbers from the Notre Dame and Georgetown contingents, but this isn’t pretty.

One of the most fun weeks of the year starts at noon today, and 4 more days of hoops madness follow. While Villanova doesn’t officially begin play until Thursday at 2:30, I’ll be watching as many games as I can because I just love this tournament.

(Before I forget, the team bus is leaving at 3:30 from The Pavilion today. If any students/faculty want to go out and wish them well, get out there at 3:15ish.)

Anyways, there are 4 games on tap for Tuesday. Below are the lines for the games, as well as some predictions. “Home Team” is in CAPS.

12:00 p.m. – CINCINNATI -7.5 DePaul

• The more I thought about this game, the more I realized how great it would be if DePaul was able to score a win or two in the Big East Tournament after going winless throughout the regular season. The Bearcats likely have too much for them with Deonta Vaughn and Yancy Gates, but I think this could stay close if Will Walker can knock down some 3’s for the Blue Demons. The first meeting between these two was close (a 4 point Bearcat victory) but Cincinnati is going to win and cover. If that spread were around 10 I’d be tempted to take the points (if I were a gambling man that is).

2:00 p.m. – GEORGETOWN -7 St. John’s

• I think Georgetown is going to crush the hometown Johnnies. I know they just lost to them, and I know they couldn’t even reach the 50’s against DePaul. But I just see no way in hell that a proud program like the Hoyas is going to melt down twice in a couple of weeks against the same terrible team (even though Georgetown is terrible in their own right). Georgetown wins and covers as well. And Greg Monroe might finally show he’s capable of the hype.

7:00 p.m. – NOTRE DAME-10.5 Rutgers

• Another game where I’m torn. ND struggled mightily with the Scarlet Knights a few weeks ago in a 5 point home win. But Rutgers is not good. I’m going to lay my hopes and prayers on Fred Hill’s boys to keep this one close in New York though. Notre Dame doesn’t have anyone that can stop Mike Rosario. And Rutgers doesn’t have anyone that can slow down Luke Harangody unless Greg Echenique magically comes to life. Notre Dame wins big if they shoot well and wins close if they don’t. Tough. I’ll go with the Irish and the cover.

9:00 p.m. -SETON HALL – 5 South Florida

• If the Big East Tournament was in Florida, I’d go with the Bulls. They showed improvement all throughout the season and are definitely a team to watch next year. They can defend well and they have a couple guys who can get hot. In New York though, Seton Hall is going to have the home crowd behind them and Jeremy Hazell will prove to be too much. I like The Hall to win by 10+.

If you aren’t in a local TV market for these games, apparently they can be seen on the Big East website for free. If that’s true (too early to tell) then it’s a +1 for the conference in my book. I was initially disappointed, but understood why the 1st round of games weren’t being televised nationally. But this would make up for it.

What does everyone else think about today’s games? I know I have all the higher seeds winning. Does anyone see an upset coming?

With the season finales taking place in the Big East yesterday, the seeding is finally set for the Big East Tournament, which begins play on Tuesday. Below is the schedule of games.

Tuesday March 10

• 12:00 p.m. – #9 Cincinnati vs. #16 DePaul
• 2:00 p.m. – #12 Georgetown vs. #13 St. John’s
• 7:00 p.m. – #10 Notre Dame vs. #15 Rutgers
• 9:00 p.m. – #11 Seton Hall vs. #14 South Florida

Wednesday March 11

• 12:00 p.m. on ESPN – #8 Providence vs. Cincinnati/DePaul
• 2:00 p.m. on  ESPN – #5 Marquette vs. Georgetown/St. John’s
• 7:00 p.m. on ESPN – #7 West Virginia vs. Notre Dame/Rutgers
• 9:00 p.m. on ESPN – #6 Syracuse vs. Seton Hall/South Florida

Thursday March 12

• 12:00 p.m. on ESPN – #1 Louisville vs. Providence/Cincinnati/DePaul
• 2:00 p.m. on ESPN – #4 Villanova vs. Marquette/Georgetown/St. John’s
• 7:00 p.m. on ESPN – #2 Pittsburgh vs. West Virginia/ND/Rutgers
• 9:00 p.m. on ESPN – #3 UConn vs. Syracuse/Seton Hall/USF

Friday March 13

• 7:00 p.m. on ESPN – Semifinal #1
• 9:00 p.m. on ESPN – Semifinal #2

Saturday March 14

• 9:00 p.m. on ESPN – Big East Championship Game

You can also go to VUHoops if you want to see the bracket.

…It’s just amazing that this is now a 5 day tournament…and I can’t help but laugh when I see Notre Dame and Georgetown seeded that low…who would have thought?…

…Anyways, I like our draw…I’d bank on Georgetown beating St. John’s after they just lost to them…that won’t happen twice…Georgetown-Marquette should be a pretty good game…and then I like our matchup with either a wounded and reeling Marquette or a revenge matchup with the Hoyas…

…Also like a potential revenge game with Louisville, gosh we should have won that game!…

Everyone make it through the night? Are we officially off heart attack alert? Good. If you can bring yourself to relive last night, here’s some highlights from the game, courtesy of ESPN.

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If you missed the game, here is the recap and the box score.

Sometimes you just have to sit back, take a deep breath, and thank whatever God you answer to. Villanova escaped DePaul tonight, winning by 2 after being down 33-25 at the half. The opening 20 minutes was probably the worst half of basketball that Villanova has played in years. There was almost nothing positive to take from it, except for the play of Corey Fisher, who has continued his stellar play.

The defense wasn't there tonight.

Scottie Reynolds suffered through another rough shooting night (especially the 1st half), but rebounded a bit in the 2nd and hit some clutch free throws down the stretch to close out the win. He finished with 18 points and 6 rebounds.

Reggie Redding just missed a double-double with 9 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. He continues to play well. Antonio Pena had an awful 1st half, but showed life in the 2nd half with a tough and 1 down low as well as a beautiful backdoor pass to Redding for a layup.

In the 1st half, Dante Cunningham took himself out of the game with foul trouble (he is good for a few head-scratching fouls every game it seems). The lack of Cunningham’s presence allowed DePaul big man Mac Koshwal to record a double-double by halftime, but Cunningham’s resurgence in the 2nd half seemed to take Koshwal out of his groove a bit. Cunningham finished with 18 and 6 as well, on a decent 7-14 effort.

Make no mistake though, this one was ugly early on. It was really hard to watch. Villanova, specifically Dwayne Anderson and Corey Stokes, did a phenomenal job on sharpshooter Will Walker early on, not giving him an inch of space. That changed down the stretch of the 1st half when ‘Nova continued to leave him open, and he continued to make 3’s. Villanova’s D wasn’t much better on him in the 2nd period and Walker finished with 23 points on 6-11 shooting from beyond the arc. Villanova’s continued lack of effort in defending beyond the arc needs to be addressed.

Villanova began to build a lead in the 2nd half, sparked by sophomores Fisher (12 points) and Stokes (10 points), but failed to put the Blue Demons away as the game began to end. It wasn’t so much Villanova’s struggles on offense (even though they missed layup after layup and couldn’t hit a jumper to save their life), but their defensive effort tonight that was concerning.

Everyone knew that Dar Tucker, Koshwal and Walker were the only threats DePaul had. And Villanova let Koshwal dominate the glass, left Walker open for the only shot he has in his arsenal, and continuously let Tucker get into the lane. It was frustrating to watch. It was clear to me that despite what happened to Pittsburgh last night, and the fact that DePaul beat ‘Nova last year, that the Cats were not ready to play tonight.

They sleptwalked into this one, and frankly, are lucky to be escaping with the win. At the end though, that is all we wanted. With UConn’s victory of Marquette tonight, Villanova is just 1 game back in the loss column of both Pitt and Marquette, so the 4 seed is becoming more of a reality.

Be happy we got the win tonight. Granted, it was DePaul and it shouldn’t have been that close, but we got out alive. That is what is important. Villanova has avoided the “bad” loss this year. There aren’t many teams that can say that.

Breathe with me everyone…

The Game: #10 Villanova (22-5, 10-4) at DePaul (8-19, 0-14)

Location: Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL

Time: 8:00 p.m. ET

Broadcast: WPHL in Philadelphia

Brief Rundown: Villanova are coming off a season sweep of Syracuse, a hard fought game that came down to the wire. A trip to the winless Blue Demons would seem to be a nice break before clashes with the desperate Georgetown Hoyas and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but Villanova has to be careful not to sleepwalk through this one, because DePaul knocked them off last year.

Nothing has gone right for DePaul. They’ve played a few teams tough (USF, Marquette, Cincinnati) but have been able to secure a win. Other than that, it’s been blowout after blowout in the Big East, including a 19 point loss to fellow doormat Rutgers.

Villanova and DePaul split their seasons series last year, with each team taking the win at home.

3 Keys To Victory:

1. Control Tucker and Koshwal - Dar Tucker and Mac Koshwal are the two stars, outside and inside respectively, for DePaul. They can both score and Koshwal is averaging nearly 10 points a game and has shown the ability to control the paint. Villanova can’t let these two make an early impact on the game and give DePaul a fighting chance.
2. No foul trouble for Dante - When Dante Cunningham has been plagued by fouls, Villanova has suffered. They lose any presence they have on the inside and the other teams know it and extend their defense. This might be a good time to get Antonio Pena going by letting him challenge Koshwal and bang him around a bit.
3. Play your game – As we discussed yesterday, this is one of those games that doesn’t do Villanova any good by winning big. So don’t go for the flashy plays and don’t try to do too much. It might be close for a while on the road, but don’t panic. Stick to the game plan and get the victory. People might remember it as an ugly win for a day, but they would remember a loss for the rest of the season.

Links:

• Nova News
• VUHoops
• Associated Press

…Lets Go Nova…what does everyone think about the game tonight?…discuss below…

Just win baby.

I hate to quote The Sea Monster, but the reality of tomorrow’s clash with DePaul is that the only thing that matters is getting in, getting the win, and getting out. It doesn’t matter how pretty it is, because honestly, nobody is going to care. When you play a team who is winless in the conference, no good can come of it. If you win big, it was expected of you, and if you win a tight one, people wonder why it was so close. And I’m not even going to go into the possibility of losing.

So really, just win and get home healthy. All that Villanova needs to do to win this game is to play ‘Villanova Basketball.’ While we’d all like to see a 30 point blowout and multiple highlight reel plays, the truth is we don’t need them. Show up, play your game, and move on. At 10-4 in the conference, Villanova is a virtual lock for a Top 5 finish in the Big East. But they have put themselves in a position to get a Top 4 seed and a double-bye in the Big East Tournament.

True, they need help from other teams. But it is possible, and they would be throwing the chance to get there by losing tomorrow. Now that I’ve made playing DePaul sound like playing St. Mary’s School for the Blind, we do need to address some concerns that the Blue Demons will bring.

Dar Tucker and Mac Koshwal are just sophomores, but they are the stars and future of the program. At 6′5″, Tucker possesses great size for a guard and great scoring ability, piling up 18.3 points per game. Koshwal on the other hand gets his damage done inside. He also possesses plus size at 6′10″ 255, and is averaging almost a double-double at 13.3 points per game and 9.8 rebounds per game. Past that, there isn’t much, but if there is anyone else who could really hurt ‘Nova it is junior guard Will Walker who is scoring 12.8 points per game.

Last year, Villanova traveled to Allstate Arena and fell 84-76 in their Big East opener. 2 weeks later they got revenge on DePaul at The Pavilion, winning 76-69. To me, this only helps Villanova’s cause. Jay Wright won’t let the team forget the shocker that the Blue Demons pulled on them last year. Furthermore, star guards Draelon Burns and Cliff Clinkscales (find me a better name than that!) are gone.

Still though, it’s a year later, and while most of Villanova’s team is back, there will be big differences in this game. Antonio Pena averaged 12.5 points in the two meetings last year, but can barely find the court these days. Dwayne Anderson was hardly a factor in either game last year, and is now one of ‘Nova’s headlining players.

So tomorrow, we’ll all feel confident. But the thing to remember is to not take anything for granted. DePaul played us tough twice last year (and if I’m not mistaken may have been the last team to win at The Pavilion). They have some good players, and we can’t sleepwalk through the game. Go out there and win, and then get back to the Main Line and prepare for Georgetown.

As you can tell, I wasn’t able to locate a DePaul blogger to talk to, but make sure you visit the official home of DePaul basketball.

With DePaul on tap for tomorrow, I’m not sure what there really is to talk about. I must confess I haven’t watched them once this year. I don’t subject myself to teams that play that poorly (that I’m not a fan of). Since the Blue Demons have yet to win a Big East game, I guess the motto is “For the love of all that is good and pure, don’t lose.”

Cheek is raising his game down the stretch.

Anyways, here’s some links to keep you busy while I try to research what went so wrong for DePaul this year.

• According to Jason Bernstein at NJ.com, Dominic Cheek’s knee troubles seem to be behind them, and it’s coming at the right time.
• The Philly Inquirer reports that Neumann-Goretti took down Roman Catholic 86-53 last night in the Philadelphia Catholic League final at The Palestra, but Maalik Wayns sat out again rehabbing his knee. He’s been cleared to start running.
• The Examiner runs their own version of ‘Bracketology’ for the Big 5 schools. Rough year all around, but Temple is still fighting for a spot in the NCAA’s as they look towards a huge matchup with Dayton. As for Villanova, they believe a #3 or #4 seed is likely.
• Orange:44 checks in with some postgame thoughts. They too, echo the rest of the ‘Cuse faithful by accepting the reality that Villanova has had the Orange’s number lately. Look for our postgame chat later today.
• Lets Go Nova has chimed in on some thoughts on the Syracuse win, as well as Villanova’s chances at being sent to Philly for the early rounds of the NCAA’s.
• Keith Pompey of the Philly Inquirer talks about candidates for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Player of the Year Award. Maalik Wayns makes his cut, and as he says “even at 80%, the playmaker is better than most.”

That’s all for right now. I’m going to do a little digging into DePaul and figure out what’s going on there. Or at least try to find out where Jerry Wainwright is hiding the comprising photos of the Board of Trustees.

Man, I really hate these long layoffs. I love watching college hoops, don’t get me wrong. I can sit down and watch just about any game, but having not watched ‘Nova since last Friday is starting to get old. Thursday night, please come quickly. As for last night, things didn’t go as we hoped, but you can’t win them all.

Tuesday night recap:

#13 Clemson 93, Maryland 64 – I watched this game and Maryland scrapped with Clemson for most of the 1st half, but Clemson just demolished them after the break. Trevor Booker had 14 and 11, but it felt more like 25 and 22. He was all over the place. Clemson is a dangerous team. They shoot it well and they are fast and athletic. The 2nd half showed just how good Clemson can be, but their performances still vary too much from night to night.

#11 Marquette 79, Seton Hall 67 - This game was close and Seton Hall was actually winning at the half, but they couldn’t stop Marquette in the 2nd half. They did a nice job containing Jerel McNeal, but Wesley Matthews and Lazar Hayward burned them at opportune times. This would have been a nice upset that would have really helped Villanova.

Games to watch for Wednesday:

Providence at #7 Louisville (7:30, ESPN2) – Louisville rebounded nicely from the whooping that Notre Dame handed them last week by blowing out lowly DePaul by 45, but now comes another threat. Providence has now won two in a row and is searching for a quality win. A win at Freedom Hall would almost certainly get the Friars into the NCAA Tournament come Selection Sunday. The Friars will struggle against Louisville’s frontcourt, however, so their best chance is to win a shootout.

Georgia Tech at #8 Wake Forest (7:30) – Georgia Tech is in last place in the ACC with a 1-10 record. It’s an embarrassing season for them, but their lone victory was over the Demon Deacons. Wake is struggling to find consistency and will look to avenge their awful loss to Tech earlier this year. They are in a battle for the 2nd place spot in the ACC, and cannot afford another bad loss.

…Between me and everyone who reads this, I really don’t think that Providence or Georgia Tech have a prayer to win tomorrow…of the two, I think Providence is more likely, and I’ll spend some time watching that game…Louisville’s guards aren’t terribly special and the Friar guards have an advantage there but I don’t see anyone on PC that can match up with Samuels, Clark or Williams…

…As for Tech, they already did the unthinkable once this year…don’t count on it happening twice…