Anderson, Redding Key #12 Wildcats Victory at #24 Syracuse's Carrier Dome, 89-86

To the Wildcat faithful-

Senior Dwayne Anderson set a career-high with 22 points, matching his jersey number, and junior Reggie Redding dished out seven assists and added persistent defensive tenacity - half a dozen steals - on Sunday. Redding had one of the best games of his career, as the defensive-minded guard also scored 11 points to go with his stellar 7-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

They made the difference in #12 Villanova's thrilling 89-86 victory over #24 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, in front of a national CBS audience. The Wildcats have now swept Syracuse this season and remain red-hot, triumphing for the eighth time in nine games.

This was Villanova's fourth consecutive victory at the Carrier Dome, an impressive feat by any team. This year also marked the fourth consecutive season that the Wildcats and Orangemen have met twice in the regular season, which is unusual given the now-16-strong conference. It's worth noting that this is the first time that 'Nova has swept two meetings from Syracuse in the regular season since 2006, the first year of this sequence of twice-a-year regular-season meetings. (Last season, in fact, 'Nova faced Syracuse three times, beating the Orange in the NCAA tournament to take two of the three contests.)

It was a marvelously entertaining game today: full of steals, dives, frequent assists and rapid ball motion, dunks in transition, and (for lack of a more ornate phrase) just really exciting basketball. There was a very large crowd on hand to see it: according to CBS, was the third-largest to attend any NCAA game this season (in fairness, there aren't many other venues outside the Carrier Dome that could accommodate a crowd that large, but SU fans are passionate).

The dramatic crescendo in a contest, that was already chock-full of spectacle, was the late charge by Syracuse, after trailing for most of the second half. It culminated in the last-second flurry of fouls and Villanova turnovers, as the 'Cuse nearly stole the game at the end, literally and figuratively. They forced 'Nova miscues and subsequently obtained no fewer than three chances to hit what would have been the tying-triple at the buzzer, as well as missing half a dozen shots with under a minute to play.

However, the orange-clad throngs in the Carrier Dome, although they saw exciting basketball, did not have the opportunity to hear Verne Lundquist and Clark Kellogg do the CBS broadcast: they make a great team, as Lundquist's low-key manner makes a great mix with the analysis of Kellogg, who did his usual fine job of combining high-level substantive analysis with entertaining, unique turns of phrase...

Villanova collapsed its interior defense very effectively on the 'Cuse today, forcing Jim Boeheim to rely on his perimeter shooters. The Orangemen took no fewer than 39 (yes, that's not a typo) three-point attempts, of which they made a dozen.

Andy Rautins came off the bench to take 15 three-point attempts (as many as the entire Wildcat team) and made six of them (one fewer than the Wildcats), finishing with 18 points and five assists before he fouled out in the waning seconds of the game. I was surprised that Rautins committed that foul, as although the foul was necessary, it was not necessary that Rautins himself commit it. As a result undoubtedly went through the minds of the Orangemen, when they missed three three-pointers as the clock ran out, that Rautins might have made one of them, had he still been on the floor. Another bench player with a big impact was the Belgian Kristof Ongenaet, who logged 24 minutes, made all three of his shots, had three assists, two blocked shots, and contributed 11 rebounds. Boeheim ultimately used just seven players.

Eric Devendorf led the way for the 'Cuse, scoring 22 points (firing up 10 three-point attempts and hitting three of them) on 7-14 shooting and adding six assists. Paul Harris had 21 points on 9-16 shooting, six rebounds and three steals. Jonny Flynn did not have as much of an impact as he had in the first game at the Wachovia Center, finishing with a dozen points on 5-17 shooting, but had eight assists.

Some thoughts on the box score:

Villanova had a tremendously well-balanced attack, with no fewer than half a dozen players in double figures. Anderson had the career-high 22 points on 8-14 shooting, including 4-6 from beyond the arc; he established a perimeter threat early by canning his first three triples over the trademark Syracuse 2-3 zone. Fellow senior Shane Clark, although overshadowed by Anderson's heroics, came up big with 15 points and eight boards. Sophomore Corey Fisher came off the bench to add 16 points on 5-6 shooting, and also hit five of his seven free throw attempts.

Senior Dante Cunningham added yet another double-double - a "dozen-dozen", with 12 points and 12 rebounds, the most impressive field goal being a dunk off one of his four offensive rebounds - plus half a dozen assists (a unique statistical combination). Cunningham had a major impact, despite the fact that he did not have a good shooting day from the floor. Cunningham has great accuracy, but Syracuse held him to 5-14 shooting.

Villanova's other most potent offensive weapon, Scottie Reynolds, did not have a particularly good day. Reynolds played just 23 minutes (and he wasn't in foul trouble - he had no fouls, in fact). He made only one of his five three-point attempts, uncharacteristically missed two of his three free throw attempts, and committed five turnovers against two assists. A particularly encouraging lesson to be drawn from this game may be the fact that Villanova was playing a ranked opponent on its home floor, who managed to contain both Reynolds and Cunningham - Villanova's two biggest guns - and the Wildcats won, anyway.

As a team, Villanova shot well from the floor (52.5%), and won the game down the stretch at the foul line; the Wildcats ultimately finished the game with 18-26 shooting from the line, 69.2%.

Looking at the rotation:

Cunningham fell into foul trouble in the second half, when he picked up his third and fourth fouls on consecutive sets, but that was virtually the only time he wasn't on the floor - he still played 34 minutes, despite missing a critical stretch of the second half. Corey Stokes received 13 minutes and had three points and three rebounds. Antonio Pena got just four minutes today, with one rebound and one shot. Senior Frank Tchuisi made an unexpected cameo appearance at the end of the first half, coming in for the last 3.9 seconds for defense after a Villanova free throw, to ensure that Cunningham did not pick up a bad foul on the last set (a great move by Wright that we might see in the future).

The game action:

After the score opened at 7-7, the Wildcats made a run off some Syracuse turnovers, launching a 13-2 run to take a 20-9 lead. They were able to maintain that lead, and still led 32-20 at the 7:46 mark. The Orangemen countered with a 12-4 run, capped off with a traditional three-point play from Ongenaet, and pulled to within 36-32 with 4:34 to play in the half. 'Nova maintained its lead for the rest of the half and led 45-40 at intermission; Anderson was already in double figures with 11 at this point.

After 'Nova started the half with five quick points to boost the lead to 50-40, Syracuse was able to rally and take a 59-57 lead with 12:58 to play on a triple by Rautins, the first time the Orangemen had led since holding a 5-2 in the early going. The very large crowd started to engage, and the Wildcats seemed vulnerable. However, they responded with the most electrifying sequence of the contest, scoring 11 unanswered points and taking the lead for good. After retying the game at 59, Anderson hit a triple on an assist from Redding, and Boeheim opted for a timeout at the 11:22 mark. Clark put in a layup to boost the lead to 64-59. On the ensuing possession, Redding stole the ball from Flynn, and got it to Anderson in transition; Anderson missed the layup but Cunninghaml, trailing behind, dunked it off the rebound. Flynn then turned it over again to Redding, who got it to Anderson again - and this time Anderson didn't miss, dunking it. With the score now 68-59 and with all of the momentum 'Nova's way, Boeheim had to use another timeout at the 10:39 mark; he ended up with only one timeout down the stretch and it probably helped 'Nova's efforts to protect its lead.

Villanova still led 80-71, as late as the 2:49 mark, and 86-79 with 47 seconds to play, and the Wildcats were looking to salt away the win. It seemed that Syracuse was out of it, but they were able to make it unpleasantly exciting in those 47 seconds. Syracuse reduced the lead to 88-84 with 32 seconds to play, and after a 'Nova timeout, forced Reynolds into travelling. Devendorf scored on a layup to make it a one-possession game with 21 seconds to play. Trailing by two on the next possession, Rautins committed the necessary foul on Redding with 16 seconds to play, but it didn't have to be him - Syracuse was only down two, and it benefitted the Wildcats to get him off the floor. Redding made one of two to boost the lead to 89-86. Flynn missed a three-pointer on the next possession but Syracuse got the ball out of bounds off the rebound. On their final possession, Devendorf's three was blocked by Stokes; Harris rebounded for Syracuse and missed a three, and Flynn had yet another shot to tie it at the buzzer, but when his shot clanged off the rim, that was the end for Syracuse. The three Syracuse misses on the last possession were the coda on a memorable game, with lots of highlight-reel-worthy plays...

The Wildcats soared to 10-4 Big East, 22-5 overall, and can expect their national standing to increase slightly when the new Top 25 polls emerge on Monday. The Orangemen fell to 7-7 Big East, 19-8 overall. Despite its #24 ranking and wins over prominent opponents, Syracuse has not yet definitively locked up a NCAA bid, having lost six of its last eight games; a victory over #12 Villanova would have gone a long way toward security on Selection Sunday.

Villanova will now enjoy a considerable breather as it heads to Chicago to take on struggling DePaul on Wednesday. The Blue Demons are locked in the hell of a winless Big East season, and are trying to avoid becoming the first BE team to go through an entire conference slate without a victory since the 1994 Miami team went winless (credit Ryan Fannon on the radio post-game show for that fact).

Various Viewpoints

Go get the full roundup from the other Villanova sites:

Pete at Let's Go 'Nova

Chris at I Bleed Blue and White has his wrapup in postGame: Villanova 89, Syracuse 86, as well as Highlights from Villanova-Syracuse and Video: Jay Wright Discusses the Win...

greyCat at Villanova By the Numbers

VUHoops.com - Nova Sweeps Syracuse in a Nail Biter...

Tim at Nova News has Nova Sweeps Syracuse...

And for the view from a Syracuse perspective-

The always-entertaining Troy Nunes Is A Magician: Covering Syracuse For the Good of The People - story

Go Wildcats!

There are two ways you can contact Villanova Viewpoint. One is by commenting on this blog. Comments are encouraged, welcomed, 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.)

#12 Villanova @ #24 Syracuse - VU/SU Rivalry History

To the Wildcat faithful-

Looking back at the first game, here's a summary:

It took 63 meetings – but on Saturday, February 07, 2009, #17 Villanova reached the century mark for the first time ever against Syracuse, and did so in a memorable way. The Wildcats walloped a very good, then-ranked #20 Orangemen squad, 102-85, at the Wachovia Center.

There were a surprising number of empty seats at the beginning, at least in view of the ESPN cameras, but some of that was probably attributable to the early, noon tip-time.

Dante Cunningham tied his career-high by scoring 31 points, leading the way for the Wildcats, who never trailed in the contest. The senior nearly attained yet another double-double, finishing with nine rebounds, while shooting a torrid 12-15 from the floor.

The game was witnessed, as all Syracuse visits are, by former Orangeman football (and basketball) star Donovan McNabb, the long-time quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles, sitting at courtside.

The Wildcats improved to 7-3 Big East, 19-4 overall, winning their fifth straight contest. Syracuse dropped to 6-5 Big East, 18-6 overall.

One key element - in the first game, Jonny Flynn filled up the box score, although he did not have a good afternoon from the floor, making only five of his 14 attempts and one out of four from three-point range. Of course, Flynn scored 22 points (going 11-13 from the line) eight rebounds, and five assists, so he certainly did a great deal to further his team's cause, but they'll be looking for a better shooting day at the Carrier Dome.

Despite the Big East's inflated size, this will be the fourth consecutive season that the Wildcats and Orangemen are meeting twice in the regular season. The Wildcats will be seeking to defeat Syracuse twice in one regular season for the first time since 2006; they also will be seeking their third straight victory at the Carrier Dome. Last season, the Wildcats won there, 81-71, although Syracuse triumphed at the Wachovia Center. The Wildcats won the third meeting in the Big East tournament.

Given the long and intense rivalry between these two Big East powers, I thought that it might be of some value to look back at some of the more memorable aspects of their entwined history. And of course, this year is an opportunity for nostalgia, for those who remember when Big East rivals faced each other twice every year (and sometimes three times in the Big East tournament or as in 1985, in the NCAA tournament)... Villanova and Syracuse revive their home-and-home series on Sunday at the Carrier Dome...

Prior to the formation of the Big East three decades or so ago, Villanova and Syracuse had rarely faced each other. This was understandable, given that the schools are not particularly close together geographically. There were only four pre-Big East meetings, in 1946, 1966, 1974, and 1980, all won by Syracuse, the final game of which was in the NCAA tournament. However, Villanova joined the Big East in its second year of existence, 1980-81, and began to play the Orangemen regularly. All-time, Syracuse leads 34-29; as members of the Big East, they lead just slightly, at 30-29. Villanova can even it at 30 each with a victory on Sunday. The Wildcats have also won four of the last five meetings.

In regular-season Big East contests, VU leads 25-22; in Big East tournament play, Syracuse holds a decided 8-4 advantage. However, in last season's BE tournament, the Wildcats crushed the 'Cuse, 82-63, at Madison Square Garden, in a game which undoubtedly preserved Villanova's hopes of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, which they eventually received as one of the final teams in, as a #12 seed.

Given Syracuse' long-time status as a power, it's interesting that Villanova actually won five of the first six contests. However, the single loss ranks among the most heartbreaking in Villanova history: a triple-OT loss at the Carrier Dome in Villanova's first-ever Big East tournament on March 12, 1981. (This was only the second Big East tournament; it wasn't even played at Madison Square Garden yet.) I have no doubt that it was a very thrilling game but undoubtedly depressing for 'Nova fans.

Villanova also has had remarkable success at the Carrier Dome, the site of Sunday's game. The Wildcats are 12-13 there, which must rank among the strongest records for any visiting team, given that Syracuse has been a perennial titan for nearly the conference's entire existence and also captured two national championships. In particular, the Steve Lappas-era teams of the 1990s had a great three-year run at the Carrier Dome during their three consecutive NCAA tournament seasons from 1995 to 1997, the teams featuring Kerry Kittles, Jason Lawson, Alvin Williams, Jonathan Haynes, Chuck Kornegay, Eric Eberz, and Zeffy Penn, at various stages...

On Valentine's Day, 1995, 'Nova won in overtime, 89-87; the following year, on January 29, 1996, they repeated the overtime feat @ Syracuse, triumphing 72-69. On February 1, 1997, they did not require overtime to beat Syracuse in a down year for them, winning 70-60. In doing so, the Wildcats avenged a narrow 62-60 loss at the then-CoreStates Center a month earlier, in Syracuse's first trip to the newly-opened building.

In Jay Wright's first season of 2001-02, he defeated Syracuse twice, once at the then-First Union Center and then in Madison Square Garden.

Although it is highly unlikely that Villanova would ever host Syracuse at the Palestra again, they did so five times from 1981 through 1985, sweeping all five contests. (Syracuse did win at the Palestra prior to the formation of the Big East, however.) In the Connelly Center on campus, in fact, there is a photograph of one of those games.

There are two ways you can contact Villanova Viewpoint. One is by commenting on this blog. Comments are encouraged, welcomed, 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.)