BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Villanova @ West Virginia

January 3, 2006


West Virginia looks to continue their winning ways at home when they host the Villanova Wildcats tonight in a Big East conference match-up. The Mountaineers are coming off an 81-71 win over Connecticut and look to go 2-0 already in the Big East. This will be the first Big East game of the year for Villanova and marks the return to Big East action for 5th-year senior Curtis Sumpter. Here are the preview articles from around the internet:

Big East Season Starts for Villanova (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Nova Takes Show on the Road (DelCo Times)
Sumpter Back and Strong for 'Nova (Charleston Gazette)
Cats out of the Bag: Big East's Forgotten Team (Covers Canada)
WVU Seeks 7th Win in a Row Tonight (Register-Herald)

On Saturday, a charged-up crowd led to an intimidating atmosphere are West Virginia rode the wave of energy to defeat Connecticut 81-71. The experience was very new to the young UConn team, that is something that should not impact tonight's guest in Morgantown: Villanova. The Wildcats have three senior starters with Mike Nardi (15 PPG and 4.5 assists/game), Will Sheridan (7 PPG, 5 rebounds) and 5th-yr senior Curtis Sumpter (19.7 PPG and 6.7 rebounds) leading a much more experienced group to Morgantown. Villanova also shoots over 78% from the foul line as a team and 38% from 3-pt range. They do not turn the ball over very much and are a solid rebounding team.

The young Mountaineers are going to have to deal with getting ready to play at a high level again after the emotional high of their win against Connecticut. They will not be catching the Wildcats by surprise tonight as the word is out that WVU is quite good. Villanova (according to the RPI) has played a pre-conference schedule that is rated the 21st toughest in the country, compared to WVU's that is rated 313th. WVU is led by senior Frank Young, who is averaging 14 PPG and is coming off a season-high 22-pt performance against Connecticut. Sophomore Joe Alexander, who will have the tough match-up of going against Curtis Sumpter, averages 12.6 PPG and 5 rebounds and uses his length and athleticism to create match-up problems in his own right. The Mountaineers will still look to launch close to 30 shots from beyond the arc and will rely on turnovers and poor shots from their opponent to make up for their lack of rebounding. The problem is, I do not see this Villanova team engaging WVU with many ill-advised shots and poor ball-handling with thier expereinced point guard, compared to UConn on Saturday.

The vegas line currently is sitting at -2 in favor of West Virginia and the Pomeroy ratings show WVU to be a 6-pt winner. I think we have an upset here as WVU comes out a little flat and it is Villanova looking to make their statement that they are the forgotten team in the mix.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Villanova 75 West Virginia 70


What do you think?