VILLANOVA REACHES SWEET 16 AGAIN

March 21, 2009

In the day's first game in he Wachovia Center, Villanova took on 6th-seed UCLA, who had a streak of three consecutive NCAA Final Fours on the line.


The Wildcats made sure there would not be a fourth consecutive trip as they waxed the Bruins 89-69 to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 2nd consecutive season and fourth time in the last five years.

"I just think our guys really just were aggressive for 40 minutes," Villanova coach jay wright said of his team's performance on Saturday. "Our defense, for us that was good defense. That was really good defense. And we played it for 40 minutes."

Villanova used a balanced attack, placing six players in double figures, led by senior Dante Cunningham's double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Dwayne Anderson also posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds as the Wildcats out-rebounded Ben Howland's club 41-28 in the game.

"I think our defense and our offensive rebounding probably was the difference," said Wright.

Also in double figures for 'Nova was Reggie Redding and Corey Fisher with 13, Corey Stokes with 12 and Scottie Reynolds added 11.

By forcing 18 turnovers and dominating the boards, Villanova gave themselves 20 more shot opportunities, which translated into the difference in the game.

"I thought that Villanova played great today and really handled us," said UCLA coach Ben Howland. "They out boarded us. We had too many turnovers."

Next up for Villanova is a trip to Boston where they will meet Duke in the East Regional semifinals. The Blue Devils escaped a tussle in Greensboro Saturday night against Texas.