I Bleed Blue and White

Adam Zagoria, creator of ZagsBlog, reported a few Big East occurrences today.  First, Daryl “Truck” Bryant, a very good sophomore from West Virginia, has been reinstated by head coach Bob Huggins.  Bryant was suspended this past July due to a traffic incident.  According to Huggins,

Darryl has done everything that has been asked of him on all fronts.  I believe he has earned the opportunity to be reinstated to our team.

No one should be surprised about this move.  We all know Huggins would get one of his top studs back before the season started. 

Second, Marquette has lost freshman Junior Cadougan to a torn ACL he suffered during conditioning drills.  This may not seem all that important, but for a team that lost a bunch of really good seniors, any significant injury definitely impacts the team in a negative way.

ESPN writer Dana O’Neil and Scouts Inc. John Stovall analyzed the A-10 conference today.  Of the 10 non-conference games that O’Neil “can’t wait to see,” 4 are A-10-Big East matchups.  Coming in at #2 on the list is the St. Joseph’s Hawks vs. the Villanova Wildcats on December 9th at the infamous Palestra.  O’Neil, regarding this contest:

Even though this is a transition year for the Hawks and the Wildcats ought to be a top-10 team, nothing is guaranteed when the Holy War is played at the Palestra.  This is the sort of game that ‘Nova coach Jay Wright dreads.

Touche.  In Big 5 games, especially at the Palestra, especially St. Joe’s vs. Villanova, records and rankings can be thrown out the window.  While Villanova will be the heavy heavy favorite, you just never know, because this rivalry is one of the best in the nation.  Other A-10-Big East games that O’Neil discusses are Xavier vs. Marquette (November 26th), Pittsburgh at Duquesne (December 2nd), and Temple at Georgetown (November 17th).

As the summer rapidly progresses along, we draw closer and closer to the college basketball season.  Today, Villanova learned their Big East home and away opponents for the upcoming season.  Also of note, Villanova will play West Virginia, Marquette, and Georgetown twice, both home and away. 

Without a doubt, Villanova has one of the toughest schedules in the Big East, and Andy Katz agrees with this assessment.  He says,

Already you can see Villanova will have the toughest slate in the Big East if the predictions hold up.

Additionally, Katz breaks down some of the early tournaments, such as the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, which Villanova will participate in.  Another ESPN writer, Pat Forde, ranked his most recent top ten rivalries.  Villanova-Pittsburgh comes in at #5 on Forde’s list.  Forde, on why the rivalry is hot now,

If you saw that memorable East Regional final last spring, you know why. Scottie Reynolds snatched away Pitt’s first Final Four in eons with a last-second drive, giving Nova a leg up in the Pennsylvania hoops hierarchy. It also gives the Wildcats a leg up in what many people believe will be the Big East rivalry of the next decade as Jay Wright and Jamie Dixon turn down other jobs and become even more entrenched. Nova could be the favorite to win the league this season, with Reynolds pulling out of the draft and returning to potentially haunt Pitt again. And even after losing the guts of a great team, you cannot discount the perennially competitive Panthers.

The rivalry will continue to heat up as the Wildcats have to travel to Pittsburgh this year to face the Panthers.  Pitt always plays well at home, as the atmosphere is always great for college basketball, but tough for road teams to play in.  We are curious to hear your thoughts on Villanova’s Big East opponents or the Villanova-Pitt rivalry.

Not Villanova-related, but some news worth sharing. Marquette guard Dominic James has been cleared to play today for the Golden Eagles second-round game with Missouri. James, who suffered a broken foot vs. UConn late in the season, was thought to be done for the year, ending his career.

The article suggets he will be limited, but this could provide a huge emotional lift for Marquette.

…Good for James, I’ll never wish injury on a player and what happened to him was awful…hopefully he does well today and beyond…

Jay Wright talked to WFAN’s Mike Francesa, who did the radio color for Villanova’s win over Marquette after the game was over. The interview can be heard here.

In the interview, Wright talks about Marquette’s hot 3-point shooting at the end, Corey Stokes‘ big game, Dante Cunningham’s big defensive play at the end, and the “New York kids” stepping up yesterday.

Francesa says the officiating bordered on “the absurd” in the last 6 minutes, especially the traveling call on Stokes. Personally, I thought it was ridiculous (for both teams) for the full 40 minutes.

Towards the end of the interview, they discuss Louisville’s explosiveness and how ‘Nova will approach them.

…It’s sometimes hard for me hearing Francesa’s non-stop Yankees commentary, but I love how he adores Villanova…you can tell he was really into this game yesterday…thanks to Brian for the link…

Some highlights from Villanova’s quarterfinal win over Marquette in the Big East Tournament, courtesy of ESPN.

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Game recap and box score before we get started.

We’re going to get to the game in a second. But first I want to reflect on the day that I just had. It had its up and downs, but in the end it was brilliant.

AP/Frank Franklin II

I woke up at about 8:15 this morning, showered up, took out the trash and go on the road by 9. I drove up to a friend’s in New Jersey where a group of my friends spent the night in anticipation of the game. On my way up my ear was glued to WFAN, and surprisingly there wasn’t much chatter about the game. The guys on the FAN thought ‘Nova would win, and kind of dismissed the game. That worried me.

I got to my friends and we drove off into the city, and struggled to find parking. We didn’t get to Tir Na Nog until about 12:30, but it was still all good. We had a couple of drinks, talked about the game with some other ‘Nova alums and eventually headed off to the game.

And I need to mention, through all of this my amazing girlfriend Liz was constantly texting me from Naples where she’s vacationing. She’s a ‘Nova alum, and I could tell she wasn’t too happy about missing this game. She’s as die-hard a ‘Nova fan as me, and I love watching the games with her. More on her influence on this game later.

Once your inside Mecca, there’s no place you’d rather be. There’s just something magical about The Garden, especially if you grew up around it.

Villanova raced out to a 16 point halftime lead. Sitting up in the 400’s, we were laughing and joking and talking about our matchup with Louisville. Bad idea.

I stopped in the bathroom at halftime as we moved down to the 300’s to get a better view. I thought to myself, this isn’t over, and we better come out to play.

Marquette slowly battled back in the 2nd half. It felt like a slow death. 12 points, then 10.

Dante Cunningham takes throws down an alley-oop. Before I can even say anything I get the “DUNK” text from Liz. She’s fired up. Do we have momentum? It feels like it.

Marquette keeps battling back though. The lead id down to 5. Our section was screaming. What was happening? Dominic James could all of a sudden jump up and down. It felt like a bad dream. I tell Liz I can’t talk anymore. I’m too nervous.

Then the unthinkable happened. Lazar Hayward drained a 3 to take a one point lead. My stomach dropped. Scottie Reynolds came back down and missed a shot. Marquette’s ball with 40 seconds left.

“It’s over.” That’s what a dad says to his son next to me. To his credit, the boy says no it’s not.

Jerel McNeal drives the lane hard. Cunningham takes him, and gives him NOTHING. Shane Clark rebounds it. We’re out of timeouts. The place is going friggan bonkers. I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack.

Reggie Redding can’t get the ball to Reynolds. We’re screaming. 5 seconds left. It’s all up to him. He’s going to drive.

And he threads the needle to a wide open Dwayne Anderson under the hoop. He goes up to lay it in. The ball is on the rim for an eternity.

And it drops through. Ecstasy.

Would you have it any other way?

And because this article from ESPN’s Dana O’Neil nearly brought tears to my eyes, you need to read it.

The Game: #10 Villanova (25-6, 13-5) vs. #21 Marquette (24-8, 12-6)

Location: Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

Time: 2:00 p.m. ET (or 20 minutes after Louisville-Providence concludes)

Broadcast: ESPN and ESPNHD

Brief Rundown: Villanova enters the game after a 6 day layoff and are very well rested. But will rust come into play? They ended the season scorching hot, blowing out both Notre Dame and Providence. In their loss to Marquette, they couldn’t slow down the Marquette guards. In their win, they used an explosive offense to run them out of the building.

Marquette lost Dominic James for the year and proceeded to lose their last 4 regular season games. They rebounded with a win over lowly St. John’s, but Maurice Acker has not stepped up in James’ absence. The trio of Wesley Matthews, Jerel McNeal and Lazar Hayward will be counted on to carry the Golden Eagles to a win.

3 Keys to Victory:

1. Up the tempo – At the beginning of the year I never thought I would say to push the pace vs. these guys, but times have changed. Marquette is dangerously thin now, and Maurice Acker is nowhere near the quality of Dominic James. Villanova likes to run, so do it and force some turnovers and tire Marquette out.
2. Don’t stress early on – The common theme in the BET so far has been teams struggling to score early. The games have typically been low scoring and the dimly lit Garden with notoriously tight rims has been unforgiving to everyone thus far. If the shots aren’t falling early, the team just needs to relax and let the game come to them.
3. Beware of Matthews/McNeal – The two seniors have been far less dangerous without James, but they are still two of the best players in the conference, and they are fighters. They are going to want to prove that the loss of James isn’t going to stop them. They aren’t going to give up and they will fight til the end. Villanova needs to focus their defensive efforts around these two, and deny them the opportunity to go off.

Links:

• VUHoops
• Nova News
• Cracked Sidewalks

…Lets Go Nova…anybody going up to Mecca?…let’s hear some thoughts on the game…

St. John’s actually made 15 shots in the 2nd half, so good for them. But they never had a chance after being down by 28 at the half. They eventually lost 74-45. They avoided the 30 point beatdown, so I guess that’s another positive.

Tough to really judge Marquette based on the game. I mean, was their defense really that good or are the Johnnies that bad? I’m leaning towards the latter. They pretty much coasted through this entire game, and should be well rested tomorrow.

Jerel McNeal barely broke a sweat, finishing with 11 points. Wesley Matthews led everyone with 20 and 9.

With the win, the Golden Eagles move on to face Villanova tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Villanova won the last matchup, while Marquette took the first meeting, which was also the Big East opener for both schools. I’ll hopefully be heading up for the game tomorrow, but I’ll make sure to have some commentary on the game before I leave.

Well, put this one in the books. This has gotten out of control. Marquette is up 38-10 on St. John’s at the half. The Johnnies managed to make just 3 shots over the first 20 minutes, while shooting 13.6% from the field.

The Red Storm have no ability to finish when they drive and they are turning the ball over a ton. Wesley Matthews has 11 for Marquette while Lazar Hayward has 10. Jerel McNeal has been pretty quiet thus far with just 3 points.

This is the worst possible situation for Villanova. I didn’t think St. John’s would win, but I was hoping that they would wear down Marquette a little bit for us. The way this game is going, McNeal, Matthews and Hayward are going to play the 1st 10 minutes of the 2nd half and then hit the showers.

Pathetic showing by St. John’s.