Preview - Big East Tournament Semifinal - #4 Villanova vs. #1 Louisville - Triskaidekaphobia Revisited?

To the Wildcat faithful-

A concise preview of tonight's game with the top seed, Louisville...

It is highly unlikely that tonight's game will feature any of the euphoria-inducing drama that yesterday's buzzer-beater victory over Marquette provided... let alone the stunning, epic clash between perennial powers Syracuse and Connecticut that lasted until the wee hours of the morning, featuring no fewer than six overtimes... so this opening of tonight's doubleheader will probably be anticlimactic... So here we go...

Before we begin, I'd like to recommend Mike Rutherford's Card Chronicle as a great site for all things Louisville - check out his latest post for this evening's rematch, titled For some reason, it's a lot less scary when you watch it now, where he has linked the video of the final six minutes from the regular-season loss to Louisville... he has multiple posts up... There's another post titled Cards and Cats tomorrow night at 7 P.M... there's a extraordinarily rich level of content on Louisville on this site...

Key facts for Villanova history in the Big East tournament

Villanova will be seeking to reach the championship game for the first time in a dozen years; the Wildcats' last appearance was in 1997, when they lost to Boston College in the title game...

Villanova will be trying for consecutive tournament victories for the first time since 2006...

This is Villanova's fourth appearance in the semifinals in the last six seasons...

Last night's Syracuse/Villanova battle provided the ESPN crew ample opportunity to discuss the previous Big East tournament record for length of game, the triple overtime Villanova loss to Syraucse in the 1981 tournament at the Carrier Dome, during Villanova's first season of Big East membership and the second in conference history... they even brought out the archived video footage featuring Leo Rautins, the father of Andy Rautins, who played for Syracuse last night...

In addition, Villanova also lost a second distinction in the Big East tournament annals - that of the highest-scoring game ever... on March 4, 1998, in probably the most thrilling ending to any Villanova conference tournament game, Howard Brown hit a triple in transition at the end of the second overtime to knock out then-dreadful Pittsburgh, 96-93, in the opening round... Of course, last night, which last four overtimes beyond the relatively brief1998 game, shattered the record as Syracuse ultimately prevailed, 127-117... I would be surprised if that new record of 244 combined points will ever be broken..

Series History with Louisville

Louisville leads the series, 7-5, but Villanova leads as members of the Big East, 3-2. As the low number of games indicates, the teams rarely met prior to Louisville's joining of the Big East in 2005-06... Villanova won the first three meetings after Louisville joined, but the Cardinals have won the last two, including the heartbreaking 61-60 loss at the Wachovia Center back on January 10, in the teams' only game this season... they have never faced each other in the Big East tournament...

The series dates back to the early 1950s. The teams first met when Louisville visited the Palestra on January 28, 1950, and won 78-68 (which was very high scoring for the time). The Cardinals returned the following season, with the host Wildcats winning 79-69. The games must have been popular, as during the 1951-52 season they actually had a home-and-home series, with the Wildcats narrowly winning at the Palestra and Louisville easily winning its home game. But after the 1953-54 season, when Villanova travelled to Louisville and lost, the series lay dormant for over three decades.

On November 26, 1989, the teams played on a neutral court for the first time in nearly 35 years, with Denny Crum's Cardinals prevailing. Five years later, in November 1994, the eventual Big East tournament champion Wildcats edged Louisville on another neutral court, 82-81...

In the 1996 NCAA tournament, the Wildcats, who entered the game as the #3 seed, lost to #6 Louisville in the second round, in a game in which Wildcats sharpshooter Eric Eberz was unfortunately unable to connect on any three-pointers...

And that was the last meeting until 2005-06...

Triskaidekaphobia Revisited?

Triskaidekaphobia is the Greek word used to refer to the fear of the number 13. This is Villanova's second Friday-the-13th game this season. There is, of course, the well-known superstitition about the number 13, as it is traditionally viewed as unlucky, and the confluence of Friday and the 13th is viewed as doubly so. Whatever the explanation, the Wildcats will certainly be hoping to avoid the fate that befell them at West Virginia on Friday, February 13, when the Mountaineers flattened the Wildcats in what was arguably the team's worst game of the season... In fact, there was actually a triple element of triskaidekaphobia that day, as Villanova also - coincidentally - was ranked #13 in the AP poll heading into the game. The Wildcats have subsequently advanced in the poll, removing that third element. (While we're on the subject of numbers - as it turned out, the #13 seed, St. John's, was ousted by #5 Marquette on Wednesday and so lacked the opportunity to play on Friday the 13th...)

Here's my recap of Villanova's unlucky Friday-the-13th in Triskaidekaphobia Strikes #13 Wildcats on Friday the 13th, as " '(E)ers (S)hock (P)hilly's (N)ova", According to WVU Fan...

Various Viewpoints

Go get the good stuff from the other Villanova blogs...

IBBW
Villanova by the Numbers - Louisville Preview #02....
Nova News
VUHoops
Lets Go Nova

I'll have a full recap after the game...

Go Wildcats!

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