Nova vs. USF: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Final Score: Villanova 72, South Florida 59

Player of the Game: Shane Clark 15 pts, 7 reb

Recap:
The Good

• SHANE CLARK IS BACK! Shane had his best game in a long time, scoring in double figures for the first time since December. He had 15 points on 7-11 shooting, 7 rebounds, an assist, and he even knocked down a three. He also had one of the sickest dunks of the season; a one-handed put-back slam off of a Malcolm Grant missed three. It's great to see Shane back in form.

• An extremely rare Scottie Reynolds dunk. He set the tone early with a one-handed slam on a break-away. He had 9 points for the game.

• Dwayne Anderson's effort. The play where he went diving into the stands to save a loose ball says it all. He gives 100% all game long and will dive after any loose ball. He had 7 points and 10 rebounds. He also made a nice play where he faked the pass then went up for a one-handed slam.

• Villanova's team defense. They held USF to 31.5% from the field and 17.4% from 3-point range.

• Reggie Redding's defense. He had 2 blocks and 2 steals in only 16 minutes of play. He only had 3 points, but had 3 assists and no turnovers.

• A Frank Tchuisi sighting. The Cameroonian made his first free throw of the season for his only point of the night.

The Bad

• Corey Stokes' 3-point shooting. He was 0-5 from long-range. The team as a whole wasn't much better at 18.8% (3-16). I'm sure Stokes will shake this night off and shoot better next game.

• Corey Fisher's continued shooting woes. He was 1-5 from three and 2-6 from the field for 6 points total. He has never really recovered from his 1-16 FG night against Georgetown. Fish is 2 for his last 20 from behind the arc.

• Casiem Drummond's foul trouble. Cas fouled out with 6:37 left in the second half, despite only playing 12 minutes. It's a shame because he was effective while on the court. He had 6 points, 7 boards, and a block in his short time on the floor. If Drummond can stay out of foul trouble it will significantly help Nova make a run in the Big East Tournament.

• Dante Cunningham got two quick fouls that kept him on the bench for most of the first half. He was a perfect 4-4 from the field to score 8 points.

• Villanova gave up 29 points to USF freshman Dominique Jones, although he did take 21 shots to do it.

The Ugly

• Villanova's play in the the final 3 minutes. Sloppy passes, turnovers, fouls, and quick shots when they should have been running the clock down. Malcolm Grant in particular was playing out of control in the final minutes and looked like he was trying to do too much. Luckily Villanova had a big enough cushion of a lead that it didn't matter.

• Villanova's sloppy play in the middle of the second half. USF cut the lead to 6, before Nova was able to pull away and go up by as many as 23.

• Shane Clark missed three dunks. The first was forgivable because it was a difficult one-handed tomahawk that would've been one of the best dunks of the season. The last was unacceptable: a two-handed dunk right under the basket.

• USF's intentional foul on Antonio Pena. A USF player pushed Pena in the back right under the basket, but Tone still made the the lay-up. Pena finished with 10 points.

• The Wavecam. It's more like the "Blair Witch cam". It's not a bad idea, but the camera moved around too much, and the ball got cut off the screen a few times.

Next Game: Sat. Mar. 8, 7:30 pm, at Providence