NIT: Nova Impeded by Tennessee

The perfect season is over. Villanova suffered it’s first lost of 2010-2011 to Tennessee in the final of the NIT Season Tip-off. At least my pre-season picks are still perfect… and my prediction of Kemba Walker for Big East Player of the Year isn’t looking too bad either. In the 78-68 loss to Tennessee, the dynamic backcourt duo of Corey Fisher and Maalik Wayns shot a combined 0-8 from 3-point range, and they weren’t a whole lot better from inside the arc. As a result, Villanova fell out of the top ten in the polls for the first time this year. So is it time to panic? The short answer is no.

The 82-70 victory over UCLA in the game prior is a win that sounds better than it actually is. UCLA is one of the most prestigious programs in college basketball history, but their perceived value is higher than their actual value; eleven National Championships tend to do that. Ben Howland’s club is still in rebuilding mode after losing a slew of talented players early to the NBA; Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Jrue Holiday, to name a few. I wasn’t overly impressed with anyone on the Bruins, other than Reeves “Two-Face” Nelson, who put up a double-double on Nova. He had 10 points and 13 rebounds, one for each tattoo on his left arm.

Tennessee, on the other hand, looks like a contender, assuming they don’t fall apart during Bruce Pearl’s suspension. They played one of the best defensive games I’ve seen in a while. Villanova may be famous for their point guards, but Tennessee is becoming famous for their long athletic guards. Scotty Hopson (6’7) and Cameron Tatum (6’6) gave the smaller Fisher and Wayns fits on defense, getting in their faces for jump shots and clogging the lane to prevent them from driving to the basket. Perhaps Hopson was trying to capture some of Alonzo Mourning’s defensive prowess with his throwback 1990’s flat-top hair style. Maybe the Vols should have Bruce’s son, Steven Pearl, take over as player-coach during his father’s suspension. I’ve never heard such praise from the announcers during a telecast for a player who only scored two points. Then again I don't watch Indiana Pacers games, so I'm probably missing out on the Tyler Hansborough hyperbole.

The biggest positive to take away from the pre-season NIT is the continued improvement of Mouphtaou Yarou, who was the lone Wildcat named to the All-Tournament Team. Mouph had back-to-back double-doubles against Lafayette (12 and 12) and UCLA (13 and 16), then followed that up with 15 points and 5 rebounds against Tennessee. He seems to get better and better in each game, which means that by the time Nova returns to Madison Square Garden for the Big East Tournament, Mouph will be putting up Kevin Love-esque 30-30 games. Or so we hope.

Nova Rolls Past UCLA to Sweet 16

Final Score: #3 Villanova 89, #6 UCLA 69

Player of the Game: Dante Cunningham - 18 pts, 10 rebounds, 2 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk

Recap: Now that's what I'm talking about! This is the team we were expecting to see show up to the NCAA Tournament. Villanova played it's most complete and balanced game of the season, dominating UCLA with its physical play from start to finish. This was definitely an award-worthy performance...

The John Wooden Award for Best CoachJay Wright and his squad put on a clinic today. Six Wildcat players scored in double figures, and a seventh, Shane Clark, had 8. UCLA, from the Panzy 10 Pac-10, was flabbergasted by Villanova's tough, physical style of play. Everybody on the team did what they're supposed to: Dante and Dwayne had double-doubles, Fisher was swishing and dishing, Stokes (12 pts) was draining threes (4-9), Scottie was scoring (11 pts), Redding did a little bit of everything (13 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals), and even Shane Clark was scoring in the post and rebounding.

The "I Love You Man" Award for Best BromanceAssociate head coach Pat Chambers kissed Dwayne Anderson on the head when returned to the bench. D-Train deserved some love for this performance: 10 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals. Anderson's highlight of the game was when he sprinted down the court, dove towards Darren Collison from behind, stole the ball, then slid across the floor on his stomach. That's just the kind of hustle Dwayne brings to the game, and it seems like he has at least one of those types of plays every game.

The Manu Ginobili "Sixth Man" Award

We all know Corey Fisher won Big East Sixth Man of the Year, but is there a better player coming off the bench in the entire nation? I submit that there is not. Fisher Price has accepted his role and excelled at it. He brings instant energy and scoring into the game, and has a knack for getting to and finishing around the basket that few in the college game can replicate. He had a pretty flawless game today: 13 points (4-7, 1-3, 4-4), 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 0 turnovers.

The Pennsylvania Lottery Award for Person That's About to Become Very RichIf Dante Cunningham continues to average 20 points and 10 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament, he could find himself on an NBA roster next year. NBAdraft.net has him going 37th overall right now. I thought he might have a little more trouble scoring today, but the Bruins had no answer for Dante's Inferno.

The Club Trillion Award

Walk-on Jason Colenda graduated from "Club Trillion" by hitting two free throws to score the first points of his collegiate career. Leave it to Colenda to do it in the NCAA Tournament, against the most prestigious program in all of college basketball, instead of an early December game against Houston Baptist.

The Austin Powers Award for Best Chest Hair

... Josh Shipp

Villanova will travel to Boston next week to play the winner of #2 Duke/#7 Texas. I am really looking forward to that game, no matter who we play. Duke is a team everybody loves to hate, and I'd love a rematch with Texas after that loss at the Garden back in December.

Round 2: UCLA

Foe: #6 University of California, Los Angeles Bruins (26-8)(13-5)

Recent History: Eric Maynor missed a shot at the buzzer, allowing UCLA to escape with a 65-64 win, setting up this second round matchup. UCLA is the most successful college basketball program of all time, and one of the best of the past few years. They have made 3-straight Final Fours, and like Villanova, this year's senior class its the winningest in school history. Villanova is 1-2 all-time against UCLA. Nova lost to the Bruins in the 1971 NCAA Championship game 68-62. The two schools later met for a home-and-home series in 2001 and 2002. UCLA won 93-65 at the Pauley Pavilion in '01. Then in '02, Jay Wright's first season, Nova upset the Jason Kapono led Bruins 58-57 at Villanova's Pavilion. UCLA lost a big chunk of last year's team to the NBA draft: Russell Westbrook (#4), Kevin Love (#5), and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (#37), and all three players have had impressive rookie seasons. Despite the losses, the Bruins return a good team led by a trio of seniors: shooting guard Josh Shipp (14.4 ppg), point gurad Darren Collison (14.4 ppg, 4.9 apg), and 6'9 F/C Alfred Aboya (9.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg). 6'9 forward Nikola Dragovic is a threat from the perimeter (9.4 ppg, 37.7% 3-PT). They also feature a talented freshman guard and future NBA prospect, Jrue Holiday (8.6 ppg), although his defense is probably better than his offense at this point. Ben Howland's teams always put defense first, and this team is no exception.

Best Win: 85-76 vs. then #19 Washington

Worst Loss: 82-81 vs. Washington State (only loss to a non-NCAA Tournament team)

Famous Alumni: Basketball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Arron Afflalo, Trevor Ariza, Matt Barnes, Baron Davis, Tyus Edney, Jordan Farmar, Dan Gadzuric, Gail Goodrich, Jason Kapono, Kevin Love, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Reggie Miller, Bill Walton, Earl Watson, Russell Westbrook
Other: Sean Astin, Elizabeth Berkley, Jack Black, Francis Ford Coppola, James Dean, James Franco, Heather Locklear, Marilyn Monroe, Tim Robbins, Ben Stiller, George Takei, Jim Morrison, John Williams, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Troy Aikman, Arthur Ashe, Jeff Conine, Troy Glaus, Jimmy Johnson, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Michelle Kwan, Jackie Robinson, Chase Utley


Fun Facts:

• UCLA has a record 11 National Championships: 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, and 1995.

• UCLA won 88 consecutive games from 1971 to 1974.

• Overall, UCLA athletics have won 124 National Championships.

Complimentary Youtube Video:


Final Verdict: This UCLA team has seemingly flown under the radar this year, despite being ranked all season. A team with this much tournament experience should not be taken lightly. Villanova cannot afford to fall behind early to a team that is this good defensively. They need to play 40 minutes of Villanova Basketball to have any chance of winning. Most importantly, Scottie Reynolds needs to bring his 'A' game because Dante Cunningham will have a much tougher time scoring inside.

TV: 1:05 PM on CBS and NCAA.com

Links: Villanova.com, VUH, IBBW, LGN, VBTN, VSB, AP