'NOVA CLOSES SPECTRUM WITH UPSET OF PITT

January 29, 2009


It was just what Jay Wright's Villanova squad needed last night. With over 17,000 fans packed into the Spectrum, the Wildcats gave the venue a Fond Farewell (phillyburbs.com) as Villanova Beats Pitt for a Signature Win (Philadelphia Inquirer), something that had alluded the No. 21 ranked team to this point.

It was only fitting that in the final basketball game scheduled at the Spectrum, one of Philly's own led the way as Reggie Redding scored a career-high 18 points as Redding Helps Upset Pitt (Times-Herald), 67-57. Dante Cunningham added 15 points for the winners.

The win provided a Nice Parting Gift for the Spectrum (Philly Daily News) and 'Nova improved to 4-3 in the Big East and 16-4 overall on the season.

Pittsburgh, who has played five of their first eight conference games on the road, fell to 6-2 in the Big East and are now 18-2 overall. Poor Shooting and Foul Troubles Doomed Pitt (Tribune-Review) in this one, much like it did in their previous loss to Louisville.

DeJuan Blair was limited to just 20 minutes because of fouls and fellow frontcourt starter Tyrell Biggs played just 17. Pitt led 19-9 with 8:35 left in the 1st half and seemed to be in complete control when Blair picked up his second foul and sat the rest of the half. 'Nova jumped back into the game with a 17-6 run over 6 minutes before a quick six points by Gilbert Brown before halftime allowed Pitt to take a 31-26 lead at the half.

The fouls continued for Pitt in the second half as Biggs and Blair both picked up their third just minutes into the half and Villanova started to take control of the game and once Blair picked up his fourth, a 7-0 'Nova run gave them a 55-48 lead as the game headed to the stretch, where VU iced it from the foul line.

Sam Young led Pitt with 14 points and 9 rebounds and Philly native Brad Wanamaker added 13, before eventually fouling out. The Panthers turned the ball over 17 times.

With Blair on the bench, the Panthers energy seemed to dwindle as the game went along and the Spectrum crowd kept Villanova attacking in the second half and helped pull out the win.

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: SPECTRUM FINALE FEATURES PITT, 'NOVA

January 28, 2009


A match-up of top 25 teams takes place in Philadelphia as Pittsburgh travels across the state to meet Villanova. The game will be the final basketball game played in the historic Spectrum which is scheduled to be razed late next summer.

Villanova is ranked #21 in the country, but they are still looking to get that win that will make pundits believe in their squad. The Wildcats have won three (SHU, USF & SJU) in Big East play and lost three (Marquette, Louisville & UConn). Their best win of the year was against Big 5 rival Temple in the out of conference schedule.

Pittsburgh comes to Philly as the hunted. The Panthers are ranked No. 3 in the country and, much like the Super Bowl participants from their city, rely on a physical style of defense that can intimidate other teams. This Pitt team also has an element of athletic ability offensively that allows them to strike quickly and put up a run of points that leaves the opponent wounded.

Here are some pregame stories and previews from the internet:

’Nova Memories Run the Spectrum (DelCo Times)
Spectrum Hosted Glorious College Games (Philly Daily News)
Villanova, Pitt Ready for Typical Big East Slugfest (Philly Daily News)
Pitt to Face Villanova With a New Twist (Tribune-Review)
Nova to Play in Landmark Spectrum Finale (Philly Inquirer)
Dixon’s Scoring Gives Pitt Shot in the Arm (Observer Reporter)

Pitt will bring a familiar look to the Spectrum that the Wildcats saw earlier this season in a game against Texas at Madison Square Garden. ‘Nova lost to the Longhorns, 67-58, while being hit hard on the boards. Texas outrebounded Jay Wright’s squad 55-38 and those second chance opportunities from the offensive rebounds made the biggest difference in the game.

Villanova will attempt to counter Pitt’s size and strength in the paint by extending their defense and trying to pressure the Panthers. In their lone loss of the season at Louisville, Pitt turned the ball over 20 times and was out of sync as UL wiped out a 10-point Pitt lead with a 19-3 run at the 8 minute mark of the second half.

Even though many point to the UL press that brought down the Panthers from their perch of a #1 ranking, it was foul trouble to DeJuan Blair that hurt Pitt the most. With Blair in the game, Pitt was able to score points on second-chance opportunities and they limited the Cards to one-shot, keeping the press from being able to set-up. Blair will be the key tonight, if he can stay on the floor, he can help Pitt control the game. If he is picking up little reach or bump fouls 25+ feet away from the basket and finds himself saddled to the bench with fouls, the dynamic of Pitt’s team changes.

Villanova is very guard-driven on offense, so Jermaine Dixon will be key once again for Pitt and the long and athletic, 6-foot-3 guard will be challenged with stopping Scottie Reynolds. What makes Pitt so tough is that Brad Wanamaker and Gilbert Brown come off the bench and the defensive ability hardly misses a beat. Pitt can also go big with Sam Young as a small forward or slide him to the power forward spot and match-up with the smaller Wildcat line-up, but still hold a size and athletic advantage.

The Panthers are a pretty healthy 3 ½-point favorite on the road. Keeping in mind the Texas game from earlier this season, Pitt is a tough match-up for the Wildcats as they will be able to attack their weaknesses while not giving up an athletic advantage to the ‘Nova backcourt. Even though it is a ‘home’ game and will have a historical value being the final basketball game in the Spectrum, this is far from being the home court for Villanova. Look for Pitt to control this game and put it away with a couple impressive runs as long as DeJuan Blair is able to be on the floor.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Pittsburgh 72
Villanova 65

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: VILLANOVA @ SOUTH FLORIDA

January 24, 2009


Villanova looks to climb back to .500 in conference play when they travel to South Florida for a noon tip-off on Saturday afternoon for a Big East match-up. The Wildcats are coming off a tough loss at Connecticut from earlier this week.

South Florida is 2-4 in conference play after completing a home and home sweep over DePaul. USF has never won more then three Big East games in a season since joining the conference, but will have 12 games left to see if they can find two more victories to surpass that previous mark. Unfortunately, the schedule makers did not give them more cracks at the Blue Demons.

Chris Howard Lights up the Sun Dome for the USF Bulls (St. Pete Times)
Bulls & Villanova Set for Noon on Saturday (gousfbulls.com)
Bulls Basketball Keeps Building Despite Losing (Tampa Tribune)
USF Loses Senior Center Ajayi to Knee Injury (St. Pete Times)

The Bulls have been showing some improvement of late. Although they won just once on a recent three-game conference road trip, an 80-58 demolishing of DePaul, USF hung pretty tough with Pittsburgh before losing 75-62 and made a valiant comeback at West Virginia before coming up short, 62-59. They returned home and finished off a sweep of DePaul with a 70-61 victory. Making the win more impressive was they did it without Jesus Verdejo, their second leading scorer.

USF has been getting consistently big scoring efforts from Dominique Jones. The sophomore shooting guard leads the team on the year in scoring (18.8/game), rebounds (4.9), assists (4.1) and steals (1.6). What is more impressive is in the last four games, Jones has averaged over 26 points a game as well as 5 assists and 7 rebounds. He has also been able to get to the line 39 times in his last three games.

Villanova junior guard Reggie Redding will have the assignment to stop Jones. Redding is a very good defensive player that will play the role of defensive stopper quite well. He will not worry about his own offense and will not let not scoring cause his concentration to lapse on the defensive side of the ball.

Also helping the Bulls show improvement has been the progression of freshman Augustus Gilchrist. The 6-foot-10 F/C is a tough match-up because he is very comfortable shooting from the perimeter. He recorded his first double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds in their last win over DePaul and also had a 22-point outing at Pittsburgh.

Villanova is a very balanced team with seven players averaging at least six points a game, led by senior Dante Cunningham who is averaging a team-high 16.7 points and 7.1 rebounds. Like Jones for USF, Cunningham leads ‘Nova in a variety of categories as he also leads the Wildcats in blocked shots (1.3/game) and steals (1.7). Junior guard Scottie Reynolds adds support offensively to Cunningham, averaging 15.2 points a game and leads the team with 4.1 assists a game. Reynolds is still the player likely to make the clutch shots for Jay Wright’s squad and has shown he is still capable of carrying the scoring load when needed, like his 40-point performance in an OT win at Seton Hall earlier.

The latest college basketball odds show Villanova to be a 6 1/2-point road favorite. It is a game to watch carefully, as it sits right in between UConn and Pitt for the Wildcats.


NBE Blogger Prediction:

Villanova 68
South Florida 64

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VILLANOVA FALLS TO 2-3 IN BIG EAST

Villanova had opportunities to earn that first statement win of the season, however a hot-shooting first half only allowed the Wildcats to keep pace with Connecticut. The hot-shooting would not last and in the end UConn's AJ Price Scores Career-High 29 Points to beat 'Nova (NY Daily News), 89-83, on Wednesday night.

Price's 29-point effort came on the heels of his 23-point outing in a win Sunday over Seton Hall. It was the first time this season that Price put back-to-back strong offensive outings, showing more signs that AJ is Just What UConn Kneeds (New Haven Register) as we head towards the midway point of conference play.

Price scored 20 of his 29 in the first half as both teams scored at will, going into halftime knotted at 48-all. The Wildcats hung even with UConn by shooting 56% in the first half.

Jerome Dyson added 19 points for the winners and his four-point play after being shoved from behind by an intentional foul committed by Corey Stokes gave UConn momentum to make a run to finally put some distance between then and 'Nova as the Huskies Push Back (TheDay.com) to win their sixth straight.

With Hasheem Thabeet limited to just 17 minutes because of foul trouble, Jeff Adrien picked up the slack inside with another double-double (12 points, 14 rebounds) as 'Nova's Rally Falls Short (Philadelphia Inquirer) as the Wildcats only connected on 34% of their shots in the second half.

Villanova was able to put five players in double figures, led by Dwayne Anderson's 15 points, but Villanova Falls Short Against UConn (Philly Daily News) and their strength as the Huskies fixed their foul shooting woes (just 8-18 on Sunday) by connecting on 31 of 39 attempts as the Huskies Hold Off 'Nova (Norwich Bulletin).

Scottie Reynolds scored 14, five coming in the last minute. Corey Stokes, Reggie Redding and Antonio Pena scored 12 points each.

Nova's leading rebounder and scorer, Dante Cunningham, scored just six points with only 3 rebounds as he was limited to 14 minutes of action before fouling out.

Notes:

-UConn held a 37-32 advantage on the boards and both teams turned the ball over 14 times in the contest.

-'Nova committed 26 fouls, leading to the Huskies outscoring the Wildcats 31-18 from the foul line.


-Villanova dips to 2-3 in conference play. They travel to play South Florida at noon on Saturday.

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: VILLANOVA VISITS UCONN

January 21, 2009


Just another night in the Big East when a pair of ranked teams go head to head as 20th-ranked Villanova makes the trek to Hartford to take on No. 3 UConn.

The recurring theme when this game is analyzed is the need for Villanova to make a statement. The Wildcats have played three ranked teams, losing to all three (Texas, Marquette and Louisville) and we are 17 games into the season and their two best wins have been against local Big 5 rivals Temple and St. Joe's.

For UConn, they have something weighing on their mind as well, a three-game losing streak to jay Wright's squad.

Here are some pregame stories and previews found on the internet this morning:

No Break for UConn (TheDay.com)
'Nova Looks for Respect vs. UConn (Evening Bulletin)
Easy Times May Be Over for Villanova (Philly Inquirer)
Villanova Looks to Make Statement (Philly Daily News)
Taken for Granted, Adrien Becomes UConn's Leader (Rep-Am)
Huskies Hope to Shake Wildcats (Norwich Bulletin)
UConn Trying to Keep Momentum Rolling (Rep-Am)
Versatile Villanova to Test UConn (Hartford Courant)

The match-up between UConn and 'Nova is concentrated on by looking at the size and NBA frontline of the Huskies and the traditionaly strong guard play of the Wildcats. While Dante Cunningham is enjoying a strong senior season and has given the 'Nova frontcourt new life, they just can not match-up withthe size and strength of a line-up that will start Hasheem Thabeet, Jeff Adrien and Stanley Robinson and also bring Gavin Edwards off the bench.

While Scottie Reynolds leads a strong Villanova backcourt line-up, it is probably pretty accurate to say that the UConn backcourt should be, at least, the equal to their counterparts tonight. If AJ Price can build some momentum from his hot-shooting in the weekend win over Seton Hall (although, do not expect the same number of open shots tonight) and the speed infusion that Kemba Walker brings and Jerome Dyson's ability to play both ends of the court, this is a pretty good backcourt in its own right, even if they are overlooked because of their frontline.

We are still waiting on proof of how good Villanova is. They will certainly have motivation to make a statement, but UConn might as well with the bright lights of the ESPN cameras on their home floor against a previous nemesis. As a 9 1/2-point favorite, we like UConn to start flexing a little more muscle and knock down some free throws tonight.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Connecticut 74
Villanova 62

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: ST. JOHN'S @ VILLANOVA

January 18, 2009



Villanova (1-2) looks to climb back to .500 in Big East play on Sunday afternoon when they welcome St. John’s to the City of Brotherly Love for a big East match-up. The Redstorm are 1-3 in Big East play so far this year.

With much of the city of Philadelphia fixated on the NFL Odds of the Eagles reaching the Super Bowl later this afternoon, there is a little hoops appetizer to start their sports day.

Villanova will look to shake off the rust of not playing in eight days, when they lost to Louisville 61-60 at home. The Wildcats made a late run to take the lead, but a Terrence Williams basket with seven seconds put UL up by one. In the final seconds, ‘Nova missed two free throws and a couple point blank shots and ended up with a disappointing loss.

St. John’s played both Pittsburgh and Connecticut tough for about a half this past week, but ended up falling to both as they just did not have enough depth to compete the full forty minutes. Still, Jay Wright understands that Norm Roberts’ team will come after the Wildcats on the defensive side of the ball.

“I love their team’s toughness,” Wright said this week during the coach’s conference call. “They have four guys in double figures. They’re very well balanced. They play great team defense. I love their team defense.”

Against the Panthers, DJ Kennedy scored 18 points. It was Kenendy who was the catalyst for SJU’s upset win over Notre Dame earlier this season. Against UConn, Paris Horne scored 24, however, they will need to fin more than just one guy stepping up, they need a team effort, like they got against ND.

Injuries are also a problem for the Redstorm. They already lost Anthony Mason Jr for the season to injury and will likely be without starting point guard Malik Boothe once again. Justin Burrell has been playing with a mask after breaking facial bones in practice back in December, he has not seemed to be at his best since the injury. Adding to the injury list is Rob Thomas, the redshirt sophomore who has a long history of injury problems (among others) that have kept him off the floor. Thomas pulled a groin and did not play in the second half versus UConn on Thursday.

Villanova’s leading scorer this year is Dante Cunningham, who is averaging over 17 points and nearly 8 rebounds a game. Junior Scottie Reynolds is still capable of carrying the offensive load, too. For evidence of that, you need not look much further than his 40-point outburst in an OT win at Seton Hall which accounted for the Wildcats’ lone conference win to this point.

Look for Villanova to extend the defensive pressure in the half court to make it difficult for SJU to run their offense with freshman Quincy Roberts handling the point guard duties with Boothe out. This is where VU is at their best and should lead them to victory as 14 ½ point favorites.

Here are some pregame stories and previews found on the web:

St. John’s Sees Light After Brutal Stretch (NY Times)

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Villanova 70
St. John’s 60

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: LOUISVILLE @ VILLANOVA

January 10, 2009

The Big East wastes no time putting a top match-up on the court on Saturday with Louisville travelling to Villanova for a high-noon showdown.

The Wildcats evened their Big East record at 1-1 with an 89-85 overtime win over Seton Hall at the Prudential Center 9n Newark (NJ) earlier this week. Star junior guard Scottie Reynolds carried ‘Nova to the win, matching a career-high with 40 points in the victory. His performance was needed, every single point, as highly regarded sophomores Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher, both former New Jersey high school stars, both went scoreless.

Louisville finally opened their conference schedule this week as the Cards travelled to Tampa and came out of the sunshine state with a win over South Florida, 71-57. Earl Clark was the star of the show with 22 points and 9 rebounds as UL won in their first true road game of the season.

Here are some game previews and stories found on the ‘net this morning:

Cards Start Tough Stretch (Louisville Courier-Journal)
Cardinals Prepping for Speedy Villanova (SportingNews.com)

This will be another test for the Louisville guard corps of Edgar Sosa, Andre McGee, Jerry Smith and Preston Knowles as the Wildcats are always guard heavy. Jay Wright will try and extend the defense to push the UL offense away from the basket to neutralize the size advantage the Cards enjoy with Samardo Samuels and Earl Clark in the frontcourt. The ball-handling and passing of Terrence Williams could be a big key in this one.

Villanova is coming off an OT win at Seton Hall, but they are going to need Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes to provide MUCH more offense to win against the better teams of the Big East. Stokes is bumped and bruised, so they need him healthy as his perimeter shooting ability opens it up for the other guards to get to the rim and take the pressure of Scotty Reynolds.

Inside, Dante Cunningham is going to have his hands full with Samuels and Clark on the boards. VU will need Antonio Pena and Shane Clark to play big to keep the opportunistic Cards off the boards.

The early morning college basketball betting odds have Villanova as a 2 ½ point favorite to defend their home court. Winning at home is essential in college basketball and the importance is only multiplied in the Big East. This is a great opportunity to see what both UL and ‘Nova are made off this season. Expect a close, tight game with the Wildcat guards fending off Louisville in a nail biter.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Villanova 66
Louisville 65

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VILLANOVA GETS PAST SETON HALL

January 7, 2009


by Ray Floriani



NEWARK, NJ – This is going to be the norm in the Big East this winter. Seton Hall, 0-2 after being handled convincingly by Syracuse and West Virginia, takes eighteenth ranked Villanova to the wire before losing in overtime. The visiting Wildcats, who lost at Marquette on NewYear’sDay, earned their first conference win of the season with an 89-85 overtime victory at the Prudential Center.

Three keys to the victory….
• In a shootout between Scottie Reynolds of Villanova and the Hall’s Jeremy Hazell, the former got the edge. Reynolds tied his career high with a 40 point effort. He was effective getting in the lane and on the perimeter(5 of 8 from three)and especially in the stretch as he hit a succession of free throws to seal the verdict. Hazell led the Hall with 26 points but took 24 (9 of 24) shots in the process.

• Defense. Outside of banking in a trey to tie the game with eight seconds to play in regulation, Hazell did most of his damage the first half. He finished with 19 of Seton Hall’s 37 points at the break and was 5 of 10 from three. The second half, Reggie Redding was assigned to Hazell defensively and did a nice of of limiting him and not letting him get into a groove.

• Nova led by eight with four minutes to go and proceeded to score one field goal, Antonio Pena in the lane, the remainder of regulation. Again , overcoming a situation like that on the roads and pulling out the win is very significant.

Finally…
• Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez was encouraged by John Garcia’s 12 board night, but ‘Nova’s Dante Cunningham had another sterling performance with 21 points 13 rebounds, and a number of them coming in crucial junctures. Another sign of encouragement for the Hall was freshman guard Jordan Theodore’s 9 points in eighteen minutes. “Tonight Theodore came of age,” said Gonzalez.

• Matchups. “They are guard oriented,” Gonzalez said of Villanova. “They are a good matchup for us in terms of size. They don’t have that size of a Pitt or Georgetown.”

• Quotes : “Everyone here who follows the Big East is not surprised. People around the country were but with nine ranked teams they follow the conference closer and are beginning to understand St.John’s beating a Notre Dame, these things happen all the time in this league. Hey, it’s fun and you never have to worry about getting up for a game.” – Villanova coach Jay Wright

• “In the Big East matchups and scheduling are important. Georgetown wins at UCONN and now they are 1-2. I’m not happy we are 0-3but a lot of it has to do with matchups and scheduling. Everyone in this conference will lose games.” – Bobby Gonzalez

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: VILLANOVA @ SETON HALL

January 6, 2009


Seton Hall returns to action on their home curt, just three days after being blasted by West Virginia, 92-66, at the Prudential Center. In two Big East games, the defenseless Pirates have yielded an average of 96 points a game while being outscored by a combined 50 points in losses to WVU and Syracuse.

Villanova opened their conference slate on the road on New Year's Day and fell to Marquette in the Bradley Center in a competitive and entertaining game. The Wildcats will look to even their conference record at 1-1 when they take on the Pirates tonight.

Here are some pregame stories and previews found on the web today:

Villanova at Seton Hall (Sports Network)


Villanova makes the short trek from Philly to Newark (NJ) for a Big East conference match-up against the Seton Hall Pirates. Villanova lost at Marquette in Thursday's conference opener as they shot just 41% from the floor and hit ony six of 20 from three-point range in the 79-72 loss. If your offense is ailing, a game with SHU is likely to fix that.

In Big East play (2 games) opponents are shooting 55% from the field in a mix of dunks, lay-ups and open three-point shots (20-40) against SHU. sure, maybe they ran into a couple of hot-shooting teams, but the Pirates try to force tempo without numbers and the results have been a lot of easy baskets for the opposition.

Offensively, SHU is just four of 36 in two games from three-point range. Jeremy Hazell is averaging 26 points a game in the first two league games, but nobody else has been a consistent offensive threat.

A healthy John Garcia provides a big lift for the Pirates and the 'Nova post players do not have anyone with his bulk to match-up. However, the injured knee limits Garcia's effectiveness and the style of play the Pirates lean to also cancels out the effectiveness of Garcia in the paint. Quicker post players like Antonio Pena and Dante Cunningham could pose problems for Garcia and the thin SHU frontcourt.

The Villanova gaurds have not been shooting the ball very well, so it will be interesting if Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher are able to find the mark. The Pirates will try to keep Corey Stokes from getting any open looks, but if the game starts to open up, look for the sophomore shooting specialist to find his spots and dial in from long rage tonight.

The Pirates need to improve their offensive effeciency and not just work on volume in the Big East. Their shots are due to start to fall for others other than Hazell, but will they have enough inside to take advantage of Villanova's small line-up? Probably not...

With Villanova a 6 and a half point favorite according to the latest college basketball odds, the Wildcats are a good bet to even that conference record with a road win.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Villanova 78
Seton Hall 70

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: VILLANOVA @ MARQUETTE

January 1, 2009


Marquette hopes to host a New Year's party at the expense of Villanova when the two teams meet New Year's Day at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The latest college basketball odds list the Golden Eagles as the three-point favorite to start off 2009 with a win.

This is a match-up of two teams with excellent guard play, but neither would be considered to have a strong frontcourt. We would give the edge in the backcourt in this one to Marquette, while the Wildcats, led by Dante Cunningham, will be expected to have the edge up front.

Here are a couple pre-game stories from the web:

Villanova to Test Big East Waters (Philly Inquirer)
Familiar Setting as Villanova Opens Big East Play (Philly Daily News)
MU Has Big Task in Conference (Milwaukee Journal-sentinel)

Marquette is led by the senior guard trio of Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Mathews, all having strong starts this year under new coach Buzz Williams. Lazar Hayward provides most of the scoring and rebounding for an undersized and undermanned front line.

Villanova always has strong guard play under coach Jay Wright. Scottie Reynolds returns to lead the troops, but the emergence of senior Dante Cunningham as a highly productive post player on both ends makes the Wildcats very dangerous.

In this one, look for the home crowd to help energize Marquette to push and attack the 'Nova defense. It should be a good game, with the senior trio in the MU backcourt pulling out the win.

Prediction:

Marquette 69
Villanova 63

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