July 20, 1969 - On 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing, Where Was Villanova Basketball?

To the Villanova Wildcats faithful-

Forty years ago today, the U.S. space program's Eagle landed on the moon and U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon - an incredible accomplishment, that will be remembered forever.

This anniversary dominates today's news coverage. As it certainly should.

Which led me to this idea:

Since we're looking back to July 20, 1969 - what was the state of Villanova basketball, 40 years ago today? (I do not remember it, firsthand, and so all of the following was learned from research.)

In the summer of 1969, a Villanova student who watched the moon landing, had every right to feel excited and optimistic, about the state of the Villanova Wildcats basketball program. Of course, he would have had no way to know that two seasons later, Villanova would reach the NCAA championship game, and give the UCLA dynasty of John Wooden a considerable challenge.

The college basketball landscape differed considerably from today.

Home games were not played at the Pavilion, as there would be no Pavilion, until nearly two decades later. The Wildcats split their time between what we now know as Jake Nevin Fieldhouse, and the Palestra at the University of Pennsylvania. It was a situation roughly parallel with the Pavilion and the Wachovia Center nowadays. A majority of the games were on-campus, with unique games - and of course, all four of Villanova's Big Five games - at the Palestra. (All ten of the City Series games were played there.)

In South Philadelphia, the "old Spectrum", which is now defunct, was at the time state-of-the-art, having just opened in the fall of 1967. It was simply "the Spectrum", and not named after any banks. But Villanova did not play games there. The first game at the Spectrum was years in the future.

(Correction: Please see the comment below by Seamus, who provides more accurate information, as to when the first Villanova game took place at the old Spectrum.)

Of course, there was no cable television, and no ESPN (Dick Vitale was still coaching then, in fact.) Although the rise of cable TV would alter the fortunes of college athletics significantly, the concept of an entire network based entirely on sports, would have been foreseen by very few people at the time. There were only three broadcast networks and a slew of UHF stations.

Villanova's coaching position has always been a long-term situation, and since July 20, 1969, there have only been four coaches. Jack Kraft was the coach when the Eagle landed, and he would be succeeded by Rollie Massimino, Steve Lappas, and Jay Wright. (Wright was seven, at the time of the moon landing.)

There was no Big East Conference - that wasn't created until 1979. And Villanova was an independent, slating its own schedule.

The NCAA tournament was a much smaller event then, in terms of size, revenue, and popular interest. Although declining, the NIT was still a competitor for March attention. Only 25 teams were invited to the NCAA tournament, and no conference was permitted more than one bid.

The Wildcats were one of the 25 teams invited to the tournament, yet to be nicknamed March Madness. The starters for the 1968-69 Wildcats were Frank Gillon, Johnny Johns, Fran O'Hanlon, Sammy Sims, and Howard Porter.

Rounding out the roster were John Fox, Frank McCall, Jim McIntosh, Bob Melchionni, John Schroeder, Clarence Smith, Joe Walter, Harold Watson, and Leon Wojnowski. Porter is honored with a Pavilion banner today. Future NBA player and coach Chris Ford was a freshman, but freshmen were ineligible back then.

Officially, the Wildcats opened the 1968-69 season at the Palestra, defeating DePaul, but since they also have a mid-season victory over DePaul at the Palestra, it would appear that somehow the game was double-listed.

At the Fieldhouse, they bested Princeton and Philadelphia Textile (now Philadelphia University). They returned to the Palestra to defeat Catholic University easily. (As you can see, some opponents have changed, others have not.)

The Wildcats then headed north to Manhattan for the "Holiday Festival" tournament, where they fell to #2 North Carolina, but defeated Holy Cross and Michigan. Making a road trip to upstate New York, they edged St. Bonaventure by a point, and Niagara (where Bilal Benn would transfer, four decades later) by five.

Villanova opened City Series play by walloping St. Joseph's, 87-62, one of the most lopsided margins in the history of the series. Then one of the most bizarre games in Big Five history took place, between Villanova and Penn, on January 15, 1969.

The Wildcats were 8-1 and ranked 10th nationally, with their only loss to #2 North Carolina. Penn coach Dick Harter, a resourceful strategist, instructed the underdog Quakers to play stallball. And Penn eked out a 32-30 victory over the Wildcats. Of course, there was no shot clock then, and no three-point shot. The UPI article about the game, headlined Stall Pays Off As Penn. Tops Villanova, 32-30, states that:

Dick Harter... devised a simple game plan in setting up the stall Wednesday night against 10th-ranked Villanova.

"We told the players to shoot only when they were sure it was going in." That's just what his five players, who went all the way, did as they stunned Villanova...

"Regardless of whether it works, Harter defends the use of the stall. Although some coaches claim the stall should be abolished, Harter says their howls do not bother him.

'We're playing to win and we'd do it in the NCAA finals if we thought it was the way to win.'

Interestingly enough, the final NCAA game without a shot clock took place just over 16 years later, on April 1, 1985. Massimino's Wildcats shocked Georgetown, 66-64, in Lexington, Kentucky, to capture the program's first national championship.

The Wildcats shook off the stunning loss to Penn well enough, winning their next six games:

@ Virginia Tech, Detroit at the Palestra, DePaul at the Palestra, @ Toledo, @ Fairfield, and a thrilling overtime victory over St. John's.

The Wildcats dropped their third game of the season to La Salle at the Palestra, but they rebounded to blow out Canisius there. Their fourth loss was @ Duquesne. They returned to campus to defeat Providence, and completed City Series play at 2-2 after topping Temple at the Palestra.

Villanova then ended its regular season, with victories over Xavier and @ Seton Hall. (There was no conference tournament then, of course, being an independent.) Villanova was 21-4, and although they were not automatically invited to the NCAA tournament, they likely felt reasonably optimistic about their chances.

It had been a while since Villanova had gone to the NCAA tournament. Kraft had become head coach in 1961-62, succeeding the founding father of Villanova basketball, Alexander Severance.

This was Kraft's ninth season at the helm, and his Wildcats had gone to the postseason every year. In 1962 and 1964, Villanova had been to the NCAA tournament. The previous four seasons had been NIT years, but it must be remembered that at the time, going to the NIT was considerably more prestigious than it is today. After all, the entire NCAA field was only 25 teams.

And so the Wildcats were one of the seven teams assigned to the East region. This was sufficiently far in the past, that teams were actually assigned to their genuine geographical region. All seven East teams were actually from the East. And there was no official seeding.

The Wildcats were slotted to take on Davidson in the first round, in Raleigh, NC. It would be Wildcats against Wildcats.

This was not a good break, as Davidson - located in North Carolina - had a significant home-court advantage. They also had a fine coach, in Lefty Driesell (pre-Maryland). And the Villanova Wildcats could not overcome it.

Jack Kraft's Villanova squad fell to the Davidson Wildcats, 75-61. Davidson had a good run, defeating St. John's as well, before falling to cross-state rival North Carolina in the Regional Final - the Elite Eight.

UCLA - as usual - ended up winning the tournament, with Lew Alcindor being named Most Outstanding Player. As previously mentioned, two years later, Villanova would take them on in the title game. It would be Villanova's second appearance in the Final Four, and its first since appearing in the inaugural Final Four in 1939.

So, after this look at the past, there will be more on Dante Cunningham, in subsequent posts.

Go Wildcats!

I'll be completing the Senior Farewell series, in which I'll be looking back at the Villanova tenure of Cunningham, this final departing Wildcat. The Dwayne Anderson, Frank Tchuisi, and Shane Clark series are now completed...

There are two ways you can contact Villanova Viewpoint. One is by commenting on this blog. Comments are encouraged, and will always be answered. Also, you can e-mail villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com (Important note: This is a different e-mail address than before. Please use this new one.)

Villanova Holds La Salle to Just 43 Points in City Series Victory at Palestra, Winning by 11

Relying on trademark tenacious defense, Villanova overcame some atrocious outside shooting and got past Philadelphia rival La Salle, 54-43, on Saturday afternoon at the Palestra. Not since FDR was in the White House, has Villanova held the Explorers to fewer points than they did today. The 43 La Salle points were the fewest against the Wildcats, since La Salle won a tight 29-23 contest in March 1935, just the third-ever game in this long, cherished rivalry. It will most assuredly not be included in the annals of the Big Five as a particularly well-played game by either side, let alone a classic contest to savor for years in one's memories. And it wasn't really close or exciting at any point. However, both teams played hard and it was morbidly fun to watch, with a lot of turnovers, mistakes, loose balls, and long rebounds.

Villanova held La Salle to only 43 points, by playing stellar defense from the floor. The Wildcats, who entered the game ranked 4th nationally in field goal percentage defense and 9th nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense, actually IMPROVED their numbers in those departments. The Explorers were held to a measly 29% (11-38) from the floor and a pathetic 1-11 (9%) from beyond the arc. None of Villanova's four opponents have scored more than 53 points this season, and three of them have been held to 50 or fewer. That is a powerful formula for success over the long grind of the winter campaign.

Villanova also crushed the smaller Explorers on the glass and in the paint, outrebounding La Salle 44-25. The Wildcats particularly clobbered La Salle on the offensive boards, pulling down 22 offensive rebounds to 7 for the Explorers. It helped that La Salle's 6-10 Lewis Fadipe played just five minutes and still managed to foul out.

The sole bright spot for La Salle was junior forward Steven Smith. Hailed as arguably the best player in the city, Smith showed why. Despite having virtually no help from his teammates, Smith finished with a game-high 19 points and just missed a double-double with eight rebounds, and also shot a perfect 6-6 from the line (although he also committed nine turnovers, partially because he was defended so intensely). No other Explorer scored more than nine points.

For Villanova, Curtis Sumpter carried the standard with 16 points and also narrowly missed a double-double with nine boards. Allan Ray had a so-so day from the floor (4-9 shooting overall and 1-6 from beyond the arc) but it was good enough for 11 points. But far and away the best news for Villanova fans was the performance of Jason Fraser. Fraser's knee had swelled up after the Monmouth game on Tuesday and he was relegated to coming off the bench today as a result. But Fraser showed no ill effects, having a tremendous game. Fraser played 22 minutes, scoring nine points, grabbing six rebounds and swatting four La Salle shots (the only flaw being a pair of three-second violations). Marcus Austin also played well off the bench, scoring half a dozen points and collecting four rebounds in 19 minutes of action.

Of course, it wasn't all good news. Against a very weak opponent, 'Nova managed just 54 points. The Wildcats shot a dreadful 2-18 from three-point range (11%) - but La Salle's 9% was even worse. And La Salle took even worse care of the ball than 'Nova did today; the Wildcats had 17 turnovers, but the Explorers surpassed it with 20 miscues (against just six assists).

Villanova improved to 3-1 overall, 1-1 City Series, and kept their hopes alive for a potential Big Five title. The Explorers fell to 1-5 overall, 0-2 City Series; the Explorers had dropped a decision to Penn last Saturday at the Palestra, prior to Villanova's heartbreaking one-point loss to Temple.

Villanova boosted its razor-thin margin in the all-time series to 28-26. The Explorers have not beaten Villanova, since the 2001-02 season at the Pavilion. Since 1994, Villanova has dominated the series, winning seven of the last nine contests and five of the last six. Also, La Salle hasn't beaten 'Nova at the Palestra since December 17, 1983. Since the full Big Five round-robin was revived for the 1999-2000 season, four of the five Villanova/La Salle contests have been at the ancient arena, after a 15-year respite from 1985-2000. The rivalry with La Salle is one of Villanova's oldest, dating back to March 6, 1934, when 'Nova triumphed in a 25-23 barnburner on the Main Line..La Salle entered the game with a 1-4 record, including losses to James Madison and Penn, but the most galling loss was the most recent, a double-digit defeat against Central Connecticut State on the Explorers' home floor, the Tom Gola Arena. They also have a 20-point loss at Hofstra, where Villanova coach Jay Wright was at the helm prior to coming to the Main Line for the 2001-02 season. Their sole victory came against Southern California at home, and shortly afterward USC's administration took their eyes off football for a moment, in order to dismiss coach Henry Bibby, in a rare early-season firing. Although, obviously, it would not be accurate to cite the loss at La Salle as the primary reason for his ouster, a humiliating loss to a scandal-depleted team did not help Bibby's cause.

Their new coach, Dr. John Giannini, got the job after a rape scandal brought down the regime of his predecessor, Billy Hahn, during the off-season. The crimes decimated La Salle's program, due to the highly deserved firing of Hahn and the equally highly deserved expulsion of the players involved, and an outsider, Giannini, was brought in to put La Salle's once-illustrious house in order. Giannini had a lot of head coaching experience, having been at Maine for eight seasons. Giannini - a Chicago native - also was quite familiar with the Philadelphia region, having coached for seven years at Rowan (formerly Glassboro State) in New Jersey, including a national Division III championship in 1996. Coincidentally, Giannini was also a graduate assistant on the Illinois team which blew a substantial lead to Villanova in the NCAA second round in 1988, one of the most exciting comebacks I've ever seen. The Wildcats went on to reach the Elite Eight that season; no Wildcat squad hassubsequently gone so deep in the tournament. Giannini's doctorate is in kinesiology with a specialization in sports psychology. His background provides quite a contrast to Hahn.

Giannini lost 20 games in each of his first two years at Maine, and that experience with adversity should serve him well at La Salle, where the team he inherited after the Hahn fiasco is going to struggle mightily.

Will Sheridan and Chris Charles started the game, with Ray and Fraser coming off the bench. La Salle led 7-6, briefly, before its offense collapsed completely for over nine minutes, and Villanova launched a 14-0 run. (Sheridan actually was whistled for traveling no fewer than three times in the first five and a half minutes, and that obviously put a damper on Villanova's offense in that span.) It was evidently going to be quite a sloppy afternoon; the teams had already committed seven turnovers each less than eight minutes into the game. Fadibe committed his fourth foul at the 7:35 mark, forcing him to the bench (where he probably should have been after his THIRD foul in the first half). Sumpter made one of two free throws to complete the run, which vaulted Villanova to a 20-7 advantage and included two La Salle timeouts in a futile attempt to stop the momentum. The most impressive play in this span was a dunk by Fraser, on an assist from Foye.

Then Smith singlehandedly got La Salle back into the game. On consecutive possessions, Villanova had two of their many three-point misses of the day - and the ensuing long rebounds permitted Smith to fastbreak and slam them home. La Salle had gone almost ten minutes without a field goal, and suddenly had just scored dramatically on back-to-back possessions. Coach Wright opted for a timeout to discuss this undesirable development.

The teams fenced back and forth for the remainder of the half, with Smith keying the rally, but Fraser basically thwarted the comeback with an outstanding putback at the buzzer. Officials had to review the shot, but they indicated that it counted, and it restored 'Nova's momentum going into the locker room. Villanova now held a comfortable 31-20 lead at intermission.

La Salle had been held to just 30% from the floor, but 'Nova was only a little better at 38%. And the teams had combined to shoot 2-16 from beyond the arc, with one basket apiece, while also combining for 20 turnovers (11 La Salle, 9 'Nova). But the big issue was rebounding; led by eight from Sumpter alone, Villanova held a huge 25-10 advantage there.

La Salle seemed to putting its act together early in the second half, but a dunk from Fraser at the 15:30 mark made it 35-26 and halted its momentum. Some hope then seemed to be sparked by the fact that 'Nova was sinking into a morass of foul trouble, with a short bench and an ostensibly less-than-100% Fraser; Foye and Sheridan picked up their respective third fouls on consecutive series around the 14:00 mark. In a comical moment immediately after, Fadipe checked back in for the first time after his four-foul performance in the first half - and was in the game for literally six seconds, before fouling out defending Jason Fraser in the paint. He played about four minutes in the first half and six seconds in the second. (In fairness to Fadipe, it was a marginal call - he was really just playing good defense, but w/ four fouls you can't take the chance.)

La Salle's last real hope came when Wright was whistled for a technical after complaining vociferously about a non-foul call on Austin driving to the lane. The two free throws cut it to 40-32, and despite horrendous play, La Salle was still in it with 10:48 to play. But it didn't matter, as Giannini was teed up less than a minute later. Suddenly it was 49-32, a 9-0 Villanova run had resulted in just three minutes, and the last eight minutes or so was garbage time. As it had in the first half, La Salle had now gone over nine minutes without a field goal. La Salle never drew closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

An important factor was the bench, as the Wildcat bench outscored the Explorers' reserves by an astounding 26-3 margin (albeit a bit inflated by Ray and Fraser coming off it). Also worth noting: It would be cool if Mike Nardi could regain his outside shot; the sophomore is just 1-21 from beyond the arc on the season.

Ray Watch: Allan Ray entered this afternoon's game, 37 points shy of the 1,000-point mark for his Villanova career. He finished with 11, putting him 26 points away. If he has a fantastic game, he has a slim chance of reaching the mark on Tuesday against Fordham, but it's far more likely that it will come against Albany on Dec. 22 at the Pavilion.

Villanova will return to the Pavilion to take on yet another Atlantic 10 squad, Fordham, on Tuesday night. It will be the first meeting of the two schools in over 33 years, since the 1971 NCAA tournament, and the first regular-season meeting since December 1961. Three of Villanova's first five opponents this year have been Atlantic 10 members, and Villanova will also take on defending A-10 regular-season champion St. Joseph's at the Palestra in February.

Temple Tops Villanova in Palestra Heartbreaker, 53-52

Villanova saw its City Series opener slip away in heartrending fashion on Saturday, as Temple fans stormed the court to celebrate a 53-52 victory in the 4th Annual Big Five Classic at the Palestra. Temple's Dustin Salisbery drained a three-pointer with 1:06 to play, providing what would ultimately prove to be the winning margin. Jason Fraser's slam was unfortunately rejected by Temple's Mardy Collins at crunch time. However, Temple's Antwyane Robinson missed the front end of a one-and-one, providing Villanova with a golden opportunity to take the contest. The Wildcats tried to win it in the waning seconds, but Curtis Sumpter's shot at the buzzer did not drop.

Temple broke the all-time series deadlock in its favor, and the Owls now lead the 'Cats, 40-39. Villanova fell to 0-1 City Series, 1-1 overall in the young season. Temple improved to 1-0 Big Five, 2-3 overall. Today's tripleheader, in which Penn battled La Salle and St. Joseph's took on Drexel, marked the beginning of the year-long celebrationoftheBigFive's50thanniversary.

Sumpter recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 boards, enough to lead 'Nova in both categories, and was a perfect 6-6 from the foul line. However, he struggled from the floor, making just 4 of 12 shots. Fraser had a monster game on the defensive end, swatting five Temple shots and grabbing six rebounds. Allan Ray scuffled to a highly disappointing 4-15 from the floor, although he did finish in double figures with 11 points, while contributing five rebounds. Randy Foye also reached double figures with 10 points, adding a pair of assists and steals as well as four rebounds. Mike Nardi had a tremendously frustrating afternoon, making just 2 of his 12 field goal attempts (including 1-8 from beyond the arc) and committing five turnovers against three assists.

For Temple, Salisbery led the way with 15 points, with Collins and Mark Tyndale each chipping in 11. Collins also dealt six assists against four turnovers. Keith Butler had seven points and ten boards before fouling out, playing just 26 minutes.

Villanova overall was dreadful from the floor, a not uncommon fate for Temple opponents. The 'Cats shot a horrific 31% from the floor and an even worse 19% from three-point range: numbers which against virtually any other opponent, would have indicated a blowout loss. However, with Temple as the opponent, they were still very much in the game. Temple was almost as bad, making just 36% of its shots and 25% from three-point range- but those slightly better numbers spelled the difference between a one-point victory and a one-point defeat. It also didn't help that Temple's bench thrashed the 'Nova bench, with the reserve Owls outscoring the bench 'Cats 16-4. Coach Jay Wright opted to use just seven players, and even the two reserves were used sparingly: Will Sheridan played just 20 minutes and Chris Charles played nine. Sheridan had a strong game on defense, with four rebounds and three blocks in his limited action.

It was an exciting contest, marked by a dozen lead changes and nine ties. Temple shot out to a short-lived 5-0 lead, before the game began seesawing between the two schools. The Owls appeared on the verge of pulling away when they gained a 22-15 lead, following layups from Butler and Wayne Marshall at the 2:35 mark. Villanova rallied, though, finishing the half on a 8-2 run, ending when Sumpter laid it in with 13 seconds to play. Temple held a narrow one-point advantage at intermission.

Other than the horrendous shooting, the halftime numbers looked reasonably okay for 'Nova. Six different players had scored, and the 'Cats had won the battle on the glass by two, 23-21. Ray had six points to lead 'Nova, while Salisbery had seven for Temple.

Temple would gain its largest lead of the second half, when Tyndale nailed a triple with 14:46 to go. The three-pointer put Temple up 33-27, and the Owls get particularly tough when they have a lead to protect and their slow, deliberative pace can have its full impact. Villanova responded with its finest stretch of the contest, ripping off nine straight points to recapture the momentum. Fraser came up with a block and then dunked to deadlock the game at 33, and Sumpter then hit a three to give 'Nova a 36-33 advantage. The Villanova lead peaked at four, when Will Sheridan converted a jumper with 8:40 to play, putting 'Nova up 40-36. The Wildcats' last lead would come at the 2:37 mark, after a layup by Randy Foye made it 49-48. Unfortunately, Villanova scored just three points the rest of the way. Temple successfully clung to its lead, not scoring for the final 1:07, and it was just enough. Villanova's 15 turnovers, and the 17 points which directly resulted, also hampered the cause.

Entering the game, in a remarkable coincidence, the all-time series overall, as well as those played at the Palestra, and John Chaney's personal record against 'Nova, were all deadlocked. Each team had won 39 games overall, 16 apiece at the storied venue on Penn's campus, and 10 each in games in which Chaney had coached. Villanova had enjoyed a lot of success at Temple's expense in recent years: 'Nova had won four of the last five meetings, especially the 73-48 shocking opener to last year's midnight season opener at the Liacouras Center. The teams also met in the inaugural Big Five Classic, in December 2001, with Villanova triumphing. Villanova had also done quite well at the Palestra over the last couple of years: the Wildcats had won eight of their last 10 games there.

The Wildcats will try to rebound from the disappointing loss, when Monmouth travels to the Pavilion on Tuesday night. They will then return to the Palestra for another try, when they meet City Series foe La Salle on Saturday afternoon.

Villanova Leads Big Five With Win over Penn at Palestra, 75-65

To the Villanova Wildcats faithful-

Villanova continued a remarkable run in City Series play, soaring to a 3-0 start in the Big Five after downing a scrappy but overmatched Penn team, 73-63, on Tuesday night at the Palestra. Coach Jay Wright has now beaten all City Series opponents, notching his first victory over the Quakers in three attempts. Mike Nardi led all scorers with 20 points, while three other Wildcats reached 13 or more points in an extraordinarily balanced attack. Curtis Sumpter had 18 points, while Randy Foye had 16 and Allan Ray 13.

For Penn, Adam Chubb led with 17 points prior to fouling out just before regulation ended (he played just 28 minutes), and Jeff Schiffner also had 13 points. Villanova improved to 5-2 overall, 3-0 City Series; Penn fell to 2-4 overall, 0-2 City Series. Villanova now leads Penn in the overall series, 34-17, and defeated the Quakers for the sixth time in eight tries. Penn won in 2002 and 2003; had the Quakers rallied and won tonight, it would have marked the first three-game Penn winning streak against 'Nova since defeating the Wildcats five straight times in the early 1970s (when Penn was a national powerhouse).

Only St. Joseph's now stands between 'Nova sweeping the City Series for the first time since the 2000-01 season. (I wrote before the season started that it "was plausible that Villanova could lose ALL of the City Series games." I did not - in marked contrast - believe that it was plausible for 'Nova to WIN all of the City Series games - although I'm very pleased to be wrong). Although that final game - that's going to be a huge boulder. The Hawks made short work of nefarious Boston College earlier that day at the Palestra.

Having just watched Penn live three days earlier, on the same floor, my initial thoughts were confirmed:

1) They are REALLY young.
2) They will get better.

On paper, like many Villanova/Penn matchups through the years, it was a game the Wildcats should have won, playing at full strength. But equally like many Villanova/Penn matchups through the years, it was a game that Penn came surprisingly close to winning, especially on its home floor. Two years ago, it actually pulled it off, taking 'Nova in overtime at the Palestra. And an exception: Penn walloped 'Nova at the First Union Center last year, in one of the least entertaining Big Five games ever played. The Quakers were the better team.

Unfortunately for the 2003-04 Quaker faithful, Penn lost most of its nucleus after last season and will need some time to retool for life after (the departed) Andy Toole. This team won't cut through the Ivies like a hot knife through butter, the way some of its recent predecessors have. But they'll be competitive. They might even take the automatic NCAA bid from the Ivy.

Fortunately, Villanova did not really encounter a major scare, throughout the course of the game. The Quakers bolted out to a quick 7-2 lead in the early going, but Villanova recovered nicely. The Wildcats embarked on a 19-5 run, taking a 21-12 lead and holding Penn scoreless for roughly six minutes. The Quakers never really seemed to have the moxie to take control of the game, although they hung around the whole game and made a late charge at the end. Penn really struggled with its outside shooting, which it had used to stay in the game against SJU on Saturday. Against the Hawks, Penn made 13 triples; against 'Nova, the Quakers made five, and converted only 25% of its attempts.

At the 15:36 mark, Foye scored on a layup, fed by Nardi, which made the score 38-29. There was some rippling cheering going through the large (especially for exam week) number of Villanova students who had made the trip down to the Palestra. On the next possession, Bloch drew a charge, and it looked as if the 'Cats would cruise to victory.

Six minutes later, 'Nova still led, 50-37, when Penn's Ibrahim Jaaber got an "and-one" opportunity. Penn's crowd (which was naturally, the majority) started to get into the game as Jaaber went to the line; it's rare that a missed free throw can really take the life out of a crowd, but in this case it did. 'Nova maintained its steady lead, and when Nardi hit two free throws to make it 60-47 with 4:19 to go. Villanova had all of the momentum, and the crowd began to orderly file out. But Penn got up off the floor and launched a 13-5 run, pulling dangerously close and giving some hope to their fans. The big play in this span was at the 1:53 mark: a massive rejection by a new Quaker, Eric Heil (a transfer from Lehigh) on a Villanova shot (I believe by Sumpter although I didn't have a good angle to see exactly who was the recipient). The Penn crowd was thrilled by the rejection, and although it didn't put any points on the scoreboard directly, it seemed to inspire them to keep fighting. An extremely drawn out endgame began during this process, with frequent fouls and timeouts. The high-water mark for the Quakers was when Charlie Copp converted a layup, rendering the lead just 65-60 with 1:14 to play.

Villanova didn't fully secure the game until a few seconds later, at the 57.4 seconds mark, when Charles adeptly took a charge from Chubb, who fouled out. The score was 67-60; had the call gone the other way, Chubb stays in, they get two points and possibly three. Now, they had nothing. It took the wind out of their sails. They never drew any closer than six points for the remainder of the game. Villanova padded its lead at the foul line, down the stretch - the 'Cats wound up making eight straight at one point and finished the game at a very strong 20-28 (71%) from the line. It helped make the difference. Penn's crowd was starting to feel its numerical strength, and had 'Nova missed a couple of free throws here and there, they could have crawled to within one possession VERY easily. Instead, every swish from the line was a rally killer.

Nardi's strong offensive performance made his turnover lapses pale in comparison; I was surprised that he had "only" five turnovers, as it seemed as if he was committing a lot more. At one point, Coach Wright took a couple of steps onto the floor and indicated how upset he was with Nardi - this took place with about 6:05 to play, after Nardi missed Chris Charles with a pass, turning the ball over. But Nardi atoned for it, after Penn failed to score on the ensuing possession, by scoring. Earlier in the second half, Nardi had thrown a pass to someone (I think it was Foye) who wasn't expecting it AT ALL (his back was turned), leading to an easy steal for Penn. Late in the game, at crunch time, Nardi failed to remain stationary while inbounding the ball after Penn had turned it over (the rule is that you can run up and down the baseline after a made basket or free throw, but not after ordinary whistles). This mistake led to another turnover which helped fuel Penn's comeback.

Unfortunately, the heroics of Andreas Bloch did not carry over from Saturday's virtuoso performance against La Salle, in which he banked a dozen points. I had been hoping it was due to some kind of Palestra magic. However, Bloch did contribute significantly to the victory. Although he didn't have his shooting touch from Saturday, Bloch had a pair of points, assists and rebounds, and he played 22 minutes (an unusual number of 2s in his box score line). He was annoying the Penn fans; I overheard one say, pointing at Bloch: "That guy must be, like, 40 years old. He must have held a position with the EAST German government." (For the record, at least officially, Bloch doesn't turn 22 till 2004.) Never did I dream the day would come when opponents would protest (or ever have a need to) the mere PRESENCE of Bloch on the Wildcat squad). He also had a new accomplishment: he fouled out for the first time EVER in his career, with 2:00 to go, trying to take a charge. (Bloch had never had more than three fouls in a single game.) The odds of Bloch ever fouling out of a game were pretty low, given that he was never likely to accumulate enough playing time to have a CHANCE of fouling out. So he's back in Coach Wright's good graces, clearly.

Rollouts and other signs were abundant at the Palestra. Most Penn signs focused on the phone-access-code scandal. "AT&T: the Unofficial Sponsor of Villanova Scandals." Someone on the 'Nova side brought something referring to Bishop Loughlin High, the alma mater of one Curtis Sumpter, but I was sitting too far away (and the sign's authors didn't contrast the colors effectively!) so I couldn't read the text.

Another Villanova fan, not willing to take a chance as to what network had the game, brought a sign which read on one side: Every viSit to PenN = A Win" for ESPN, and something for CSN on the back.

The game had a decent, respectable crowd, but was not sold out, despite a game involving Penn on its own campus. Exams for both schools probably had something to do with it, as did possibly the Big Five tripleheader (which had overshadowed this game, which now felt anticlimactic).

The 'Cats return to the Main Line for the first time this season, after such a long and bizarre odyssey. The home opener will come after three Big Five games and eight games overall. They will take on Northeastern at the Pavilion on Friday night in what hopefully should be an easy victory.

Mama Said Bloch You Out- Villanova KO's La Salle at Historic Palestra, 74-61

To the Villanova Wildcats faithful-

In the finale of the 3rd Annual Big Five Classic, Villanova held off a scrappy La Salle squad, 74-61, at the Palestra on Saturday night, helped by a banner day from senior Andreas Bloch. The German forward, making his season debut due to his phone-code suspension, stunned everyone by setting a career-high in minutes (30) and exploding for 12 points, the second-best game of his career and his best since the 2000-01 season. Three other Wildcats reached double figures, including Randy Foye, who went scoreless in the first half but revived in the second half, pouring in 19 to lead the 'Cats.... Meanwhile, La Salle's Gary Neal led all scorers with a magnificent 32 points.

Villanova improved to 4-2 overall, and 2-0 in City Series play, while struggling La Salle fell to 1-5 overall, 0-1 Big Five. In earlier action at the Palestra, Temple knocked off a gallant Drexel team in the opener, while St. Joseph's stopped Penn in the middle contest.

Bloch once scored 51 points (and grabbed 16 rebounds to boot!) in a German game, one which he cited when asked to describe "his best game ever". While the chances are exceptionally low that he'll ever pour in 51 points as a Wildcat in a single game, coach Jay Wright would likely be thrilled to have half a dozen pts/game from the enigmatic senior, let alone an even dozen. The native of Wurmlingen, Germany, has played sparingly in his three years, scoring only 72 points (and only 24 in the last two seasons, after Wright took over from Steve Lappas). And he hasn't played a minute this season, before tonight, due to his phone-code suspension.

So needless to say, it was a bit surprising when Bloch turned out to be Wright's secret weapon tonight, coming out of nowhere to score 12 off the bench. La Salle never knew what hit them. (How could they? He's not on much film.) Bloch hit four out of six field goal attempts, including three triples, and delighted the Villanova side of the gym every time he did so (he is a crowd favorite). He played 30 minutes tonight; he had never played more than 18 before. (You may remember his other out-of-the-blue performance, as a freshman in 2000-01. Bloch came off the bench to nail four triples at the then-First Union Center to spur the Wildcats to a 74-60 victory over Connecticut on February 10, 2001.)

While the dynamic duo of Foye and Allan Ray led the charge with 19 and 17 points respectively, you EXPECT them to do that. You don't expect a dozen out of Bloch - and so he was clearly the difference between a solid victory and either defeat or a razor-thin one (depending on one's level of optimism regarding 'Nova's pulling out a tight one at the wire).

Not that the Wildcats didn't play well as a team. Aside from their usual troubles in taking care of the ball (20 turnovers, a bad number even by Villanova standards), the Wildcats led La Salle in all but one statistical category (La Salle had 10 steals to 'Nova's 6). Villanova shot well (51%) and La Salle was awful (34%). 'Nova outrebounded the Explorers 36-34, and shot 75% from the foul line, compared to La Salle's 62%. The game was also punctuated by nine Villanova blocked shots, three coming from freshman Will Sheridan.

Also, it was kind of nice for a change, to not have either a loss to La Salle or a nailbiter victory (although Villanova hasn't enjoyed a truly decisive victory over the Explorers, since Kerry Kittles and Co. annihilated them 90-50 on Feb. 12, 1996.) Villanova/La Salle contests have traditionally been close - and so it seems only fitting that Villanova now holds, by the slimmest possible margin, a 27-26 lead in the all-time series. Villanova won for the sixth time in the last eight tries against La Salle and its third straight over the Explorers at the Palestra.

It wasn't always easy, though - the final score is deceptive, as the game was considerably more competitive than it would indicate. La Salle actually led 33-29 at intermission, 36-29 after a three by Steven Smith, and 43-39 as late as the 14:17 mark, on a layup by Mike St. John. 'Nova won the last 14:17 by an impressive 35-18 margin, making it look as if the 'Cats had won going away.

The Wildcats got off to a strong start, beginning the game on a 10-4 run. It culminated in a dunk from Chris Charles, sparking some enthusiasm from the Villanova partisans. And this was in spite of Randy Foye heading to the bench, less than three minutes into the game. He had picked up two quick fouls by the 17:56 mark. La Salle fought back with a 10-3 run of its own, capped with a basket from Smith off a steal from Mike Cleaves. This gave the Explorers their first lead at 14-13. Villanova quickly retook the lead, however, and didn't relinquish it until the 2:06 mark. Cleaves's basket made it 27-26, brought joy to the La Salle half (which was only half-full, unfortunately), and turned the Villanova stands sullen. La Salle had intermittently applied various levels of pressure, and they turned it up a couple of notches as the first half drew to a close. In a three-minute span near the end of the half, Villanova had four turnovers (by four different Wildcats), and La Salle climbed back into the game (with Neal scoring six straight points for La Salle at one point). It didn't help that one of the turnovers was an offensive foul on Mike Nardi, his third of the game. La Salle's lead ranged from two to five points, but remained solid at the first-half buzzer.

At halftime, no numbers especially stood out, with the possible exception of the foul totals for both teams (11 for 'Nova and 10 for La Salle, both high for a first half). One big problem throughout the contest was the aforementioned foul trouble for Nardi. With Derrick Snowden out with a knee injury, Nardi is THE point guy - and he was on the bench for a lot of the night. The freshman played only 21 minutes before fouling out with 1:22 to go (although the game was already in hand for 'Nova at that point).

When play resumed, La Salle's lead momentarily hit its zenith at seven, but then the Wildcats began to reassert themselves, led by Foye and Bloch. For a seven minute-plus span, from the 15:53 mark (when Curtis Sumpter had a dunk) to the 8:32 mark (when Sumpter - once again - added a bucket), ALL of Villanova's points came from those two. In that period, the pair converted a 37-34 deficit into a 53-48 lead, outscoring La Salle 19-11 by themselves (including 11 straight from Foye at one point). Right after the final three in that run, when Foye nailed a triple to make it 53-48 at the 9:59 mark, the Villanova crowd grew very exhilarated and started making a lot of noise, and you could definitely tell the momentum had shifted the 'Cats' way.

La Salle kept countering, though, but the real psychological blow was Bloch hammering down another three at the 6:27 mark, making it 60-54, Villanova. It once again brought the Wildcats' fans to their feet, screaming for Bloch, and the 'Nova bench bounced off their chairs to congratulate him. That play - although the game was obviously still well within La Salle's reach - seemed to finish them off. They never drew any closer than four and were generally listless.

Whether by accident or design, at this critical moment in the game, some of the traditional Big Five/Palestra rollouts began to emerge. First, Villanova demanded that La Salle "Go Exploring for a Win Somewhere Else..." but La Salle replied with, "Next Time Dial Down the Center" (the mantra of Carrot Top).

Villanova began to pad its lead, hitting double-digits for the first time at 66-56 at the 3:40 mark, and never letting it dip below eight for the rest of the game. The biggest lead of the game, 15 points, came after Sumpter drained a free throw to make it 74-59. At the 29.8 second mark, Bloch and Allan Ray were removed, with the Villanova fans giving Bloch a tremendous and well-deserved ovation. The game's final points came fittingly when Neal scored his 31st and 32nd points on a fast-break with 22 seconds to go, rendering the final score: 74-61, 'Nova.

'Nova generally played in a far more spirited way, hustling after more balls and playing more aggressive defense. This can reasonably be attributed to the fact that this was the first time all season that Wright has had the opportunity to play with anything remotely resembling a full complement of players. The phone-code suspensions have nearly run their course at this point; Marcus Austin and Snowden are the only Wildcats remaining who have to atone for their role in it. Austin didn't play tonight, and Snowden is still hurt (and his suspension can't be served until he recovers). So, basically, Wright was missing (at least due to suspensions) only Austin tonight, a bench player. The 'Cats also didn't seem to show much rust, given that they hadn't played since the day before Thanksgiving (the loss to Ohio State in Maui).

Despite the snow, the third go-around of the Big Five Classic was quite a success. The rotation of teams, opponents and start times seems equitable. Villanova had the night game two years ago against Temple in the inaugural event, the middle game against La Salle last year, and the night game again tonight versus the Explorers. Due to the substantial snowfall which hit Philadelphia and its environs, there was concern about a possible postponement, but the games went off as scheduled. I think that it would have required a truly massive snowstorm, such as the one that walloped us last year, to postpone this event. First, you have six different teams' schedules to juggle. It would be extremely unlikely that you'd be able to accommodate everyone on another date. Second, everyone is local and thus already in town. Often, postponements occur because one team can't get to the game, but that wouldn't be a problem in this case.

The crowds were larger than I had expected, in light of the weather. The Temple/Drexel crowd was sparse, but ticketholders showed up en masse by the second half of the doubleheader, SJU vs. Penn; the building was packed. I would estimate that in terms of bodies in the seats (the "official" attendance was announced at 6,325) that for 'Nova/La Salle about 65-70% of the place was filled, with the bulk of the empty seats in the La Salle half of the building.

Although certainly not one of the legendary throngs that used to genuinely rock the Palestra, it was certainly a large enough crowd to make the majestic old palace feel lively and ebullient. All in all, it was quite an enjoyable show of college hoops, in the greatest building that the sport has ever built (or ever will build!)

Villanova will try to sustain its impressive run through the City Series, when it returns to the Palestra on Tuesday. The Wildcats, having vanquished Temple and La Salle already, will try to do the same to the Penn Quakers that night.

Go Wildcats!