Nova Sweeps Syracuse

Final Score: #14 Villanova 89, #25 Syracuse 86

Player of the Game: Dwayne Anderson - 22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal

Recap: Nova survived a late collapse to complete the season series sweep of Syracuse. (Whoa, that was a lot of S's.)

Oscars Edition

Best Picture:This picture of Dwayne Anderson best captures the emotions of Nova's win. Just a few days after I praised him for being the unheralded guy who does all the dirty work, Dwayne comes out and scores a career-high 22 points. He was hot early, hitting 4 of 6 from downtown. When Anderson gives you that kind of offense, Villanova is tough to beat.

Best Actor: Shane Clark
Shane Clark's career is similar to Mickey Rourke's in The Wrestler. Rourke played a struggling washed up wrestler who tries to make a comeback in the ring. Clark has struggled with injuries most of his career at Villanova, and it seemed like he wouldn't be a factor this season. Shane proved the doubters wrong with another great game: 15 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists. With his extra-long arms, he is proving to be the team's best offensive rebounder. He had 5 in this game, and 42 of his 93 rebounds this season have come on the offensive end.

Best Supporting Actor: Corey Fisher
Just like Heath Ledger stole the show with his portrayal as the Joker in The Dark Knight, Corey Fisher stole the show when he came off the bench in this game. Fisher had a very efficient 16 points (5-6 fg, 1-1 3pt, 5-7 ft) and added 2 assists, a steal, and only 1 turnover. He went head to head with Johnny Flynn, who was caught dropping f-bombs on TV, and Fisher Price came out on top.


Other Notes
Dante Cunningham flirted with a triple-double (12 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists), and he might have gotten it if he didn't have to sit out for a few minutes after picking up his fourth foul. This was his eighth double-double of the season.

Reggie Redding did just about everything you can expect from him. He had 11 points, a career-high 7 assists, and the defensive specialist had 6 steals, also a career-high.

Scottie Reynolds had 10 points and 2 assists, but he almost cost Villanova the game. He had 5 turnovers, several of which came in the final minutes when he carelessly dribbled into trouble and traveled trying to break Syracuse's press. Syracuse had a couple good looks to tie the game, but luckily Scottie's mistakes didn't come back to haunt Nova.