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!

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…

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.