Recent History: Marquette and Villanova split the season series, with each team winning at home. Since the loss to Nova at the Pavilion on February 10, Marquette won three in row then lost their final four regular season games, all to ranked opponents. Part of the slide had to do with the loss of senior point guard Dominic James. James was a Nova-killer, always having big games against us. The rest of the team has struggled since James' season-ending injury, but they had no problem beating St. John's in the second round of the Big East Tournament today 74-45. The big three of Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews, and Lazar Hayward all scored in double figures. Maurice Acker has replaced James as the starting point guard.
Final Verdict: I think the loss of Dominic James will be too much for the Golden Eagles to overcome, and Nova will win the rubber match and move on to the semifinals. Look for Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher to both have big games. Since Marquette plays small lineups, Jay Wright will likely play Fisher and Reynolds together more often. Fisher had 21 points in both games vs. Marqutte this season, while Reynolds had 15 and 27 points.
The Big East Conference issued postseason honors over the past couple days and Villanova took home some big awards. Here's a rundown of each category...
Co-Players of the Year: Hasheem Thabeet (UConn) and DeJuan Blair (Pitt)
I agree with this decision. These were the best two players on the best two teams of the year, and it would have been tough to pick one over the other. But really I'm just glad Harangody didn't win it.
Rookie of the Year: Greg Monroe (Georgetown)
Mike Rosario had better stats on a worse team and Samardo Samuels had worse stats on a much better team, but I have no problem with Monroe winning. Greg had a good freshmen season, and he'll be even better next year, whether that's at Georgetown or in the NBA. Georgetown had a disappointing season, but I don't think Monroe was to blame. They lost a lot of players, and some of their upperclassmen underachieved.
Coach of the Year: Jay Wright (Villanova)
The general consensus seems to be that Jay Wright surpassed expectations with this team. Maybe it's just my blatant homerism, but this is exactly where I expected Nova to finish. Still, it's easier said than done to live up to high expectations (I'm looking at you Notre Dame and Georgetown). So kudos to Jay, he deserves it.
Defensive Player of the Year: Hasheem Thabeet (UConn)
Easy choice here. 4.5 blocks per game will do it.
Most Improved Player: Dante Cunningham (Villanova)
You can't talk enough about how much Dante has improved since stepping foot on campus. He went from being a role player averaging 2.2 points and 4 rebounds per game to being the leading scorer and rebounder on a great team with 16.4 points and 7.3 boards. Dante's always brought the defense, rebounding, and toughness, but his scoring jumped up a full six points from last year, almost solely because of the mid-range jumper. Despite expanding his offensive repertoire with the jumper, his field goal percentage (.537 ) is basically the same as last season (.544). Congratulations to Dante on his season and entire career. He wore the blue and white proudly.
Sixth Man Award: Corey Fisher (Villanova)
To me, this was no contest. Fisher is the best sixth man in the conference, and he could start on most teams, including his own. I covered his value extensively in this column, so I won't say too much here. Fisher averaged 11.4 points per game in Big East play, shooting 49% from the field.
Sportsmanship Award: Alex Ruoff (West Virginia)
This seems like a b.s. award to me. I don't know what you have to do to win this, but I guess he's a nice guy.
All-Big East First Team: Hasheem Thabeet, Terrance Williams, Jerel McNeal, Luke Harangody, DeJuan Blair, Sam Young
It would have been nice for Dante to make first team, but it's hard to argue with these selections.
All-Big East Second Team: A.J. Price, Wesley Matthews, Johnny Flynn, Dante Cunningham, Da'Sean Butler
With a conference this strong, second team is a great accomplishment. Congrats to Dante! I mean the Big East's second team is better than a lot of conference's first teams.
All-Big East Third Team: Deonta Vaughn, Jeff Adrien, Earl Clark, Levance Fields, Jeremy Hazell
Big East Honorable Mention: Weyinmi Efejuku, Dominique Jones, Scottie Reynolds, Alex Ruoff
Scottie Reynolds may have deserved to make the Third Team over Vaughn or Hazell considering where their respective teams finished. Plus Scottie really picked up his game in Big East play, averaging nearly 17 points per game.
Big East All-Rookie Team: Yancy Gates, Kemba Walker, Greg Monroe, Samardo Samuels, Mike Rosario, Devin Ebanks
All great young players. Villanova had no freshmen, except for redshirt Maurice Sutton, but next year Nova could sweep this list when Maalik Wayns, Dom Cheek, Mouph Yarou, and Isaiah Armwood come to town...
Randy Foye suffered a right ankle sprain in last nights game against the Washington Wizards. He landed awkwardly after jumping up to try to catch a high lob pass from Mike Miller. There is no timetable on how long he will be out yet. Foye had 15 points and 6 assists in the game before the injury. He is averaging 16.9 points and 4.5 assists on the season. At 18-45 and now without their top two scorers, Minnesota is moving into "tank mode" to improve thier lottery position; and therefore, they are unlikely to rush Foye back from the injury.
On the bright side, maybe the injury will give him more time to work on the Randy Foye Foundation. Head over to VUHoops for more info on that.
Kyle Lowry helped the Houston Rockets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 93-83 last night in his first against his former team since being traded at the deadline. Lowry just missed a double-double with 8 points and 9 assists.
Last week Lowry faced former Villanova teammate Randy Foye for the first time in a Rockets uniform. Houston won 105-94. Lowry had 11 points and 3 assists, while Foye had 24 points and 4 assists. Lowry followed that by scoring 14 points at Utah. Since the trade, the Rockets are 8-2 and the Grizzlies are 1-7.
Lowry Links:
From Memphis Commercial Appeal: Kyle talks about how it felt weird playing against the Grizzlies. He also says he is glad to have a defined role in Houston, and he talked about the new mindset he needs to play with after going from a lottery-bound team to a playoff-bound team. Overall he says, "I'm glad to be here and glad to have this opportunity."
From Memphis Commercial Appeal: Lowry talks about what he went through at the deadline. He received a phone call from Hakim Warrick and didn't believe him at first. After realizing it was true, he was excited to be going to a contender. He understood why Memphis chose to go with former lottery pick Mike Conley as their full-time point guard, and he was thankful for the time he spent in Memphis.
From The Dream Shake: Houston fans are jumping on the Kyle Lowry bandwagon already. This blogger loves his "Bulldogginess" and his ability to draw fouls.
From Youtube: Highlights from Lowry's career in Memphis.
Player(s) of the Game: Scottie Reynolds - 23 pts, Dwayne Anderson - 19 pts, Dante Cunningham - 19 pts
Recap: Villanova won their 28th straight game in the Pavilion to end the regular season and clinch a double-buy in the Big East Tournament. The game was closer than the final score would indicate, as Nova ran away towards the end of the game by forcing 22 Providence turnovers on 19 steals. Villanova finishes the regular season 25-6, which is exactly how I predicted them to finish before the season began, although I had them going 12-6 in the Big East. Now Nova gets some time to rest before they travel to Madison Square Garden with an opportunity to improve their NCAA seeding.
I predicted big nights from the seniors and Dante and Dwayne delivered. Both had 19 points in their final games at the Pavilion. Cunningham's shot was a little off (8-17 fg, 3-7 ft), but he still had a great night, adding 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Anderson only played 17 minutes because of foul trouble, but he was extremely efficient during that time. He was 7-11 from the field, 3-5 from three, and had 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, and a block. Shane Clark had a less dramatic night, fouling out in 20 minutes, but he still contributed. He hit a 3-pointer and grabbed 5 rebounds and 2 steals. The final senior, Frank Tchuisi, even got onto the stat sheet. He had 1 point and 1 rebound in his final night playing in front of the Pavilion crowd. Word is he will be back as a coach next year.
With all the hype surrounding the seniors, appreciating their achievements and bidding them farewell, kind of lost in the shuffle is Scottie Reynolds. For all we know the junior standout may have played his last game in the Pavilion. Right now I don't think his NBA draft stock is high enough to leave early, but if he leads Villanova to the Final Four averaging something like 20 points and 5 assists, he could propel himself into a first round pick. He had 23 points, 4 assists, and 4 steals in this game, hitting five big 3-pointers.
Villanova did an excellent job taking care of the ball. They had 26 assists and only 7 turnovers. Reggie Redding led the team with a career-high 11 assists and zero turnovers. This is the first time all season that any Wildcat has reached double digits in assists. Corey Fisher dished out six dimes himself, while committing zero turnovers. He broke out of his mini-shooting slump by scoring 13 points off the bench. He also had 4 steals in 27 minutes. Also quietly efficient off the bench were Corey Stokes and Antonio Pena. Stokes hit three triples to score 11 points. Pena scored 6 points in 9 minutes and had a coulple of blocks.
Tonight is Villanova's regular season finale. They host Providence for a rematch of the February 4th meeting at the Dunkin Donuts Center. This time it is at the Pavilion where Nova is riding a 27 game winning streak.
This is a big game for both teams. With Marquette's loss to Pittsburgh last night, Villanova can lock up a top-4 seed and double-bye in the Big East Tournament with a win. Providence is on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, and a win tonight would probably put them in.
Since they last met, Providence has gone 4-3, highlighted by a 81-73 upset win over #1 ranked Pitt. Last time the Friars almost pulled off a remarkable comeback fueled by a barrage of 3-pointers. Nova will have to guard the perimeter tightly tonight because Providence has a few guys that can really shoot it.
I know Senior Night was technically February 19th versus Rutgers, but this is Dante, Shane, Dwayne, and Frank's last game at the Pavilion, and the last thing the winningest class in Villanova history wants to do is go out on a loss in front of the home crowd. Look for all the seniors to have big nights, especially Dante Cunningham. We all know how much he's improved since he stepped on campus, and I'm sure he'll want to cap it off with a great performance.
Player of the Game: Scottie Reynolds - 23 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl
Recap: In my game preview I said Villanova should focus on Kyle McAlarney because Luke Harangody would get his no matter what. Villanova followed that gameplan to perfection, holding McAlarney to 5 points on 2-7 shooting. That left Ryan Ayers open a little too often, as he dropped 25 points on 7-10 from three. Predictably, Harangody got his 18 points and 7 rebounds, but by shutting down McAlarney and knocking down some shots on the other end, Nova was able to run away with the victory.
Scottie Reynolds had a vintage performance. He got hot from behind the arc early and kept it going throughout the game (6-7 3pt) to finish with 23 points. He also did a good job running the show, dishing out 5 assists and committing only 1 turnover. The team as a whole only had 5 turnovers, compared to the 20 they had versus Georgetown.
Luke Harangody got his points and rebounds, but Jay Wright did an excellent job at exploiting his defensive deficiencies. Jay had his forwards attack Gody in the post, and it usually resulted in easy buckets because Notre Dame's big man was afraid of picking up fouls. The beneficiaries of this strategy were Dante Cunningham (18 points, 8 rebounds), Shane Clark (13 points), and Antonio Pena (6 points).
Reggie Redding and Dwayne Anderson spent much of the night guarding McAlarney, so credit is due for their defensive prowess. Redding had a nice line with 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Anderson took some questionable shots (2-9 fg, 0-4 3pt) to finish with just 5 points, but those points came on two emphatic dunks that sucked the life out of the crowd.
If you told me before the game that the two Coreys would combine for only 5 points, I would have thought Villanova had no chance. Both only saw limited time; Fisher because of foul trouble and Stokes because of the coach's decision. Fisher went 0-5 from the field because of some very poor shot selection. He seemed to be forcing the action too much.
This win puts Villanova in good position for a top 4 seed in the Big East Tournament. Marquette (12-4) has two tough games left (at Pitt, vs. Syracuse), while Nova (12-5) should be able to take care of Providence at the Pavilion in their regular season finale. If both teams finish 13-5, there is an elaborate tiebreaking system in place. Since Villanova and Marquette tied the head-to-head season series, they move on to their records against the top seeded team in the conference. Both are winless against UConn and Louisville, so Marquette's next game versus current #3 seed Pittsburgh carries a lot of seeding implications. If Marquette loses to Pitt and Nova beats Providence, Nova will get the 4-seed. If Marquette beats Pitt, but loses to Syracuse, things get more complicated. It will be based on Nova and Marquette's records against whoever finishes highest among Providence, Syracuse, and West Virginia.
Recent History: Villanova leads the all-time series 16-14. Last season Notre Dame won in a high scoring game at the Wachovia Center 90-80. The Irish were led by the inside/outside combo of Luke Harangody (25 points, 10 rebounds) and Kyle McAlarney (30 points, 5 assists). Nova was led by Antonio Pena's 17 points and 9 rebounds. Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher scored 13 points each, and Stokes added 11. The only significant player Notre Dame lost from last year is Rob Kurz. Other than that, this is essentially the same team. Tory Jackson runs the point (10.9 ppg, 5.2 apg). They have two sharpshooting wingmen: McAlarney (16.1 ppg, 43% 3pt) and Ryan Ayers (10.9 ppg, 42% 3pt). And finally, Luke Harangody dominants the middle (23.6 ppg, 12.3 rpg).
Best Win: 90-57 vs. #7 Louisville
Worst Loss: 71-65 at St. John's
Famous Alumni: Basketball: Digger Phelps, Troy Murphy, Matt Carroll, Chris Quinn, Rob Kurz Other: Ted Leo, William Mapother (Ethan from "Lost"), George Wendt, Condoleezza Rice, Regis Philbin, Hannah Storm, Steve Bartman, Tim Brown, Joe Montana, Brady Quinn, Ryan Grant, Mike Golic, Joe Theismann
Fun Facts:
Named national champions in 1927 and 1936.
Went to Final Four in 1978.
First Big East team to go undefeated at home two consecutive seasons.
Complimentary Youtube Video:
Final Verdict: Harangody is the leading scorer, rebounder, and one of the best big men in the Big East, but I'm more worried about McAlarney in this game. You know Harangody is going to get his 20 and 10 no matter what, but Villanova can't afford to let McAlarney get hot from 3-point range. I assume Reggie Redding will be assigned to guard McAlarney. Redding will have his hands full, but he has had some success in shutting down perimeter scorers this season. Antonio Pena may be called upon to play a larger role. He had a good game against Notre Dame last year, and Nova will need some big bodies to throw at Harangody.
Notre Dame is very good at home, and the Irish are much better than their 16-12 record would indicate. They are in the same boat as Georgetown, with their backs against the wall, needing to basically win out to have any chance to make the NCAA Tournament. I would have been a lot more worried about this game if Nova beat Georgetown. However, coming off a tough loss like that, I think Villanova is going to come out and play their best basketball, which will be too much for the Fighting Irish.
Player of the Game: Chris Wright - 13 pts, 5 ast, 4 reb
Recap: This was a classic Big East battle; low scoring and dominated by tough defense on both ends. It was a wild back-and-forth affair that saw more turnovers than field goals made. Villanova had 20 turnovers (made 15 field goals), while Georgetown turned it over 23 times (made 22 field goals).
I may have jinxed Corey Fisher with my recent column, praising his play over the 13 games since the Seton Hall win. He had his worst game since then, going 2-8 from the field to score just 6 points. He also had zero assists and 3 turnovers. Corey Stokes was also cold, going 1-7 from the field and 1-5 from downtown, including a forced three with plenty of time still left on the clock to find a better shot.
You would hope that a bad game from Fisher equals a good game from Scottie Reynolds, but that was not the case. Scottie had an even worse shooting day (2-10 fg, 1-6 3-pt). He did finish with 12 points, 4 assists, and 4 steals, but had a dooming 6 turnovers. When Fisher and Reynolds are both cold offensively, it's nearly impossible for Nova to win, but they almost did pull it off.
FYI: Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher played a total of 14 minutes together. The only extended stretch they were on the court at the same time was for 8 minutes early in the second half, a span during which Villanova outscored Georgetown 12-10. After the nine and a half minute mark in the second half, Fisher and Reynolds played a total of ten seconds together. How the team's two best guards can't see more than ten seconds together during the most important nine and a half minutes of the game, I cannot understand. I also don't understand why Jay chose Anderson and Redding over Fisher for Nova's crucial possession with 35 seconds left. I know Fish wasn't having the best game, but you need your best shooters and playmakers in that situation, not your best defenders.
Dante Cunningham had the defensive play of the year with a block from behind on a Chris Wright breakaway layup. I thought that would have been a game-changing moment, but Nova was unable to capture the lead afterwards. Dante had a pretty good game, just missing a double-double with 13 points and 9 rebounds. I thought Nova could have gone to their leading scorer more often in this game, as he only had seven field goal attempts.
Reggie Redding and Dwayne Anderson played great. They did everything they were supposed to; aggressive defensive and rebounding, and chipping in offensively when open. They combined for 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists. Villanova's bread and butter is the combination of the swarming defense of Anderson and Redding and the scoring punch of Reynolds, Fisher, and Stokes. However, only one element of the formula was working on this day.
Part of the credit for Nova's poor shooting goes to Georgetown's defense, but there was more to it than just that. The Hoyas executed better down the stretch, and with their NCAA Tournament hopes on the line, they seemed like they wanted it more.Hopefully this game serves as a wakeup call for Villanova to finish the season strong because they still have an outside chance for a top-4 seed in the Big East Tournament. Assuming they take care of St. John's and DePaul, I think this win should put Georgetown into the Big Dance. They'd be finishing with an under .500 conference record, but they played a brutal schedule and beat some marquis teams without losing to any horrible ones.
Recent History: Villanova and Georgetown have a storied history, highlighted by "The Perfect Upset" in the 1985 NCAA Championship game. Georgetown leads the all-time series 38-27. Jay Wright is 5-6 vs. Georgetown, but the Hoyas are currently riding a four game winning streak against Nova. Last season Georgetown played Nova once in the regular season and once in the Big East tournament, with Nova losing both times. The regular season game at Georgetown ended on the controversial foul call on Corey Stokes, 55-53. Scottie Reynolds had a game-high 24 points, while Georgetown was led by Roy Hibbert and Jonathan Wallace. The Big East Tournament game was a 82-63 blowout, fueled by seventeen 3-pointers made by the Hoyas. Georgetown lost Hibbert and Wallace to graduation, but added the highly talented 6'11 freshman, Greg Monroe. This year's team is balanced with four players averaging double figures in scoring: DaJuan Summers (13.6), Greg Monroe (12.9), Chris Wright (12.9), Austin Freeman (12.3). Senior guard Jessie Sapp is also a player to watch. He's only averaging 6.6 points per game, but he had 23 points against us last year in the BET on 6-9 shooting from downtown. Best Win: 74-63 at UConn Worst Loss: 65-60 at Seton Hall
Famous Alumni: Basketball: Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson, Alonzo Mourning, DikembeMutumbo, Sleepy Floyd, Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert Other: Bill Clinton, Jim Gaffigan, Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight), a lot of politicians
Fun Facts:
5 Final Fours, 1 National Championship (1984)
7 Big East Tournament titles, 4 Big East regular season titles
Nickname is derived from the Greek and Latin chant, "HoyaSaxa", which translates to "What rocks".
Complimentary Youtube Video:
Final Verdict: This has been a surprising and disappointing season for Georgetown. They were ranked seven spots ahead of Villanova in the preseason coaches poll at #18. I criticized that ranking at the time, and because of the losses of Roy Hibbert, Jonathan Wallace, Patrick Ewing Jr., Jeremiah Rivers, I wasn't as high on this team as most of the rest of the national media. Ironically, now after they have struggled through the Big East season, I am not as down on Georgetown as most of the national media is. They really don't have any horrible losses, and they do have some signature wins (#2 UConn, #8 Syracuse, #15 Memphis). Georgetown has the #1 toughest strength of schedule, which needs to be taken into consideration. Memphis is considered a lock for the tournament right now, and not only did Georgetown beat them, but I doubt Memphis would do much better than 5-10 playing Georgetown's Big East schedule. And there are plenty of other "Memphis's" out there being considered over Georgetown. Villanova's next opponent, Notre Dame is in the same situation. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but if Georgetown can win a couple more games, I think they deserve an at large bid. This all makes Saturday's meeting a very important game for Georgetown. I think Jay Wright and his players understand Georgetown's situation, and therefore will not overlook this game. I say Nova wins in a close game.
A lot of fans, myself included, have been petitioning for Corey Fisher to receive more playing time. Listed at only 6'1, Fisher can be liability on defense when paired with the generously listed 6'2 Scottie Reynolds. For that reason I could see why Jay Wright favors the bigger and better defenders, and I agree with that decision to a certain extent. A lot of fans would like to see more Fisher at the expense of Reggie Redding, Dwayne Anderson, and Shane Clark because Fisher's offensive game is superior to those players in every aspect, and the numbers prove it. I won't talk about them because defense is difficult to measure statistically. However, when I dug deeper into the statistics, I discovered something a bit surprising. Since the January 6th overtime win at Seton Hall, when Reynolds dropped 40 points and Fisher dropped zero, Corey Fisher has actually been better than his fellow point guard.
Here's a look at their per game numbers over the 13 games since Seton Hall:
Fisher: 56/96 FG (58%), 12/28 3PT (43%), 40/54 FT (74%), 12.6 pts, 2 reb, 2.5 ast, 2.0 to, 22.6 min
Reynolds: 54/135 FG (40%), 20/69 3PT (29%), 63/78 FT (81%), 14.7 pts, 2.5 reb, 3 ast, 2.8 to, 29.5 min
As you can see, Fisher has made more field goals, despite taking 39 less attempts than Reynolds. Fisher is shooting 18% better from the field and 14% better from 3-point land, an area that most consider Reynolds to be far superior. Fisher has a better assist to turnover ratio and a similar rebound rate. The most alarming stat is the 7 minutes per game less that Fisher has averaged over that span. If you adjust Fisher's stats to the same number of minutes as Reynolds, his scoring would jump past Reynolds to about 17 points per game. The only area Scottie has a big advantage is free throw shooting, where he gets to the line more often and shoots a better percentage than Fisher.
Another highlight of Reynolds' game is his "clutch" factor, or ability to take over at the end of games. Scottie displayed his aptitude in this area most recently in the DePaul game. However, if you saw Corey Fisher go head to head with Johnny Flynn towards the end of the Syracuse game, you know that he's capable of filling that role as well. The final difference is experience. As a junior, Reynolds had the edge there, but as we're winding down towards the end of his sophomore season, Fisher is basically an upperclassman now. He understands his role now and it's reflective in his improved statistics.
So what does this all mean? It's certainly not a knock on Scottie Reynolds. Defenses focus much more of their effort on him than they do Fisher, which could explain some of the disparity in their shooting percentages. I don't necessarily believe that Fisher should get more time at the expense of Reynolds because frankly, they are the two best guards on the team. Neither do I believe it is imperative for Fisher to start because he is valuable as a sixth man. What I am simply saying is Fisher should be getting more playing time, period. At the expense of who? Well, that's for Jay Wright to decide. Finally, the team has won nine of its last ten, so change isn't a priority. The bottom line is Corey Fisher is too good to be sitting on the bench for 12+ minutes a game.
Player of the Game: Scottie Reynolds - 18 pts, 6 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl
Recap: Villanova escaped Chicago with a win over DePaul in a game that was a lot closer than anyone predicted. The scoring was a bit erratic, with DePaul jumping out to 7 point lead, then Nova coming back to take a 5 point advantage, and DePaul closing out the first half up by 8 points, 33-25. Nova appeared to have their act together in the second half, coming back to take a 12 point lead, but a late DePaul charge pulled the Demons to within 2, until Scottie Reynolds took over and helped seal the deal.
A win's a win, and I'll take it, especially on the road in the Big East. However, almost losing to a winless Big East team is alarming. Nova had trouble with DePaul's 6'10, 255 lb. center, Mac Koshwal. He had a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, and he caused Cunningham and Clark to get into some foul trouble. He exposed one of Villanova's greatest weaknesses, their undersized and undermanned frontcourt. Their other weakness is perimeter defense, which Will Walker exploited in this game, hitting 6 of 11 threes to score 23 points. Although, Nova did a better job containing DePaul's other perimeter threats, Dar Tucker and Jeremiah Kelly, holding both to poor shooting percentages (3-18 3PT combined). Nova needs to sharpen up in those areas quickly because talented big men (Greg Monroe, Luke Harangody) and sharpshooters (DaJuan Summers, Kyle McAlarney) are lurking on the horizon.
Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham co-led the team with 18 points. The two Coreys had good games off the bench (Fisher-12 points, Stokes-10), but both could have seen more time on the court. (More on that later...) Reggie Redding had another solid all-around game: 9 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists. Reggie's not a big scorer, but his good rebounding and assist rates probably make him Nova's player with the best chance to record a triple-double. Starters Shane Clark and Dwayne Anderson both struggled, scoring 2 points each. Anderson may have been riding too high off of his 22 point outburst; he was 0-6 from downtown in this one. Clark, the offensive rebounding specialist, had zero o. boards. Villanova's starting 3-man frontcourt was actually out-rebounded by the starting 2-man backcourt, 15-13. Antonio Pena rounded out the rotation with a decent 3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists in 14 minutes off the bench.
Recent History: Last season Villanova lost its Big East opener at DePaul 84-76, but they avenged that with a 76-69 win at the Pavilion to split the 2007-2008 season series. Corey Fisher led Nova with 23 points in the loss, while Scottie Reynolds had 21 in the win. Draelon Burns killed Nova in both games, but DePaul lost him to graduation. Sophomore Dar Tucker is the clear leader of this year's squad, averaging 18.4 points per game. Center Mac Koshwal averages around a double-double at 13.3 and 9.8, and Will Walker chips in about 13 points a game.
Famous Alumni: Basketball: George Mikan, Mark Aguirre, Rod Strickland, Dave Corzine, Terry Cummings, Tyrone Corbin, Kevin Edwards, Quentin Richardson, Bobby Simmons, Steven Hunter, Andre Brown, Wilson Chandler
Other: Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy), Ray Manzarek (The Doors), John C. Reilly
Fun Facts:
The University is named after St. Vincent de Paul, a 17th century French priest.
With 24,300 students, DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the U.S.
Won NIT in 1945
Went to Final Four in 1979
From Wikipedia: "In 1900, when the first athletic team to represent DePaul University was organized, the monogram "D" was selected for the uniforms. From this originated the nickname "D-men" which evolved into "Demons.""
Complimentary Youtube Video: I hate that it happened against Nova, but this is probably the sickest dunk I've seen live in the Pavilion...
Final Verdict: DePaul is having a rough season. They're still looking for their first Big East victory. They're not just losing games, they're losing by 20 points at home to teams like Seton Hall. I doubt many fans will show up to see an 0-14 team, so the crowd shouldn't affect Nova too much, especially since they were able to overcome the Dome crowd. The only thing I'm remotely worried about is if Dar Tucker goes off, similar to what Da'Sean Butler did for West Virginia. But WVU's team is miles ahead of DePaul, so I really don't see any way Villanova loses this game.
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.
Last season Nova and Cuse split the regular season series with a rare away team sweep. This year I wouldn't be surprised if they split again, but this time with the more conventional home team wins. Since they last met, Syracuse lost at UConn 63-49 and beat Georgetown at home in overtime 98-94. The Dome is always a tough place to play, but considering how well Nova played them last time, I like our chances. Look for Corey & Corey to have another big game.
Randy Foye scored a career high 36 points last night in a 112-105 loss vs. the Indiana Pacers. Here's a look at his stats from the game: 38 minutes, 13-23 FG, 5-8 3PT, 5-7 FT, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 5 turnovers, 36 points. His previous career high was 33, which he set just ten days ago. Randy has been averaging 20 points a game for the past two months since moving to the shooting guard position, with Sebastian Telfair at the point. Foye has bumped his season averages up to 16.6 points per game and 4.6 assists per game. With Al Jefferson out for the season, Randy Foye is now the focal point of the offense, so you can expect to see more scoring outbursts like this over the next couple months.
In other NBA news, Kyle Lowry had 6 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists in 15 minutes in his Houston debut. He also had 4 turnovers, but that's to be expected in his first game in a new system with new teammates. As you can see in the picture, Lowry has chosen 7 as his new jersey number. He wore #13 his freshman year at Villanova, then switched to #1 for his sophomore season, and he continued to wear #1 in Memphis for two and a half seasons.
Player of the Game: Scottie Reynolds - 21 pts, 6 ast, 2 stl
Recap: This was one of those sloppy games where you kept waiting for Villanova to pull away, but it didn’t happen until late in the second half. Now for a special NBA All Star Weekend edition of post-game awards.
The Michael Rapaport in the Celebrity Game Award for Excessive Fouling
Frank Tchuisi got the first start of his career on senior night and responded by committing 2 fouls in 40 seconds. It's understandable, he was probably a little nervous. But anyway, thanks to Frank for his four years committed to the program. He never played much, but from what I hear he always works hard in practice and his positive attitude helps his teammates.
P.S. Rapaport was whistled for 8 fouls in that game.
The Kobe and Shaq Award for Co-MVPs of the Game
... Goes to Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham. This inside/outside combo have been the MVPs all season long and this game was no different. Scottie had a game-high 21 points and 6 assists. He did most of his work at the free throw line where he was 10-11. Dante had an uncharacteristically poor shooting night (5-17 FG), but he still had 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block. You really can't say enough about the progess he's made during his career at Nova, and it was nice to honor him and his classmates' achievements on Senior Night.
The Kevin Durant Award for H-O-R-S-E Champion
If this team played H-O-R-S-E, I would put my money on Fisher Price. He's one of the most creative finishers around the basket I've ever seen, and he has a solid outside shot. Corey put all of his skills on display in this game to score 14 points, using teardrops, double-clutchers, and 3-pointers. He only missed one shot the entire night (4-5 fg, 2-3 3pt, 4-4 ft). His assist to turnover ratio has really improved the past few games; it was 3 ast/0 t.o. last night.
The Daequan Cook Award for 3-Point Shooting
Corey Stokes was in a groove hitting 5 of 7 shots from downtown to score 17 points. His five longballs were the most he's had in a game since December 4 vs. Houston Baptist. He added 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist. His only other basket came on a breakaway dunk.
The KryptoNate Robinson Award for Slam Dunk Champion
Shane Clark had a sick left-handed put-back dunk early in the game. He surprised me with one of these a few games ago, but maybe I shouldn't be so surprised anymore. He seems to have regained his athleticism and is finally fully healthy. It's just a shame it had to come at the end of his career here. He had 6 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist on Senior Night.
The Dwayne Anderson Award for Being Dwayne Anderson
I can't forget about our fourth and final senior, Dwayne Anderson, on senior night. He might have tried to do a little too much to make this night special by taking some extra shots (3-11 fg, 0-4 3pt), but that's okay, he desrves to be a little selfish. He's been the unheralded guy all four years at Villanova, willing to do all the little things to help the team win. He sacraficed his offense to focus on defense and rebounding, and last season, when Jay Wright called on him to be a starter, he delivered. Despite being a thin 6'6, he has battled in the post with power forwards and usually comes out with the rebound. His stats are rarley eye-popping (8 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal last night), but attitude and toughness usually doesn't show up in a box score. Hopefully our younger players and recruits are watching and learning from Dwayne because there'e a lot more to being a great player than just scoring points.
Foe: Marquette Golden Eagles (24-8)(12-6)
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