#12 Villanova Says Farewell to Seniors Cunningham, Clark, Anderson, and Tchuisi By Slaying Scarlet Knights, 82-72, on Senior Night at the Pavilion

To the Wildcat faithful-

#12 Villanova said farewell to departing seniors Dante Cunningham, Shane Clark, Dwayne Anderson, and Frank Tchuisi on Thursday night, February 19, at the Pavilion. Fortunately, the Wildcats were able to send them off with a victory over lowly Rutgers, in a surprisingly hard-fought 82-72 battle. And, fortunately, the Scarlet Knights became the 27th consecutive opponent which Villanova has defeated at the cozy on-campus venue. Villanova is now 7-1 all-time against RU at the Pavilion.

Ironically, Fred Hill - at Jay Wright's side for five years as an assistant and associate head coach - was making his second Senior Night appearance at the Pavilion, during his three years with his Rutgers squad. Previously, on February 27, 2007, 'Nova crushed Rutgers, 74-51, on Senior Day. (You can read my recap of that game here - "Condon, Chivalry, Seniors Reign, As 'Nova Has No Trouble Routing Scarlet Knights on Senior Day at Pavilion, Sending Senior Foursome Off In Style.")

Tonight's Senior Night ceremonies were held because the students will be on Spring Break during the final Pavilion game against Providence on March 5, and the program wanted the students to be on hand for the event.

Villanova improved its record to 9-4 Big East, 20-5 overall, and has won seven of its last eight. Rutgers continued its dreadful campaign, falling to 1-12 Big East and 10-16 overall. (Their only win is against DePaul, the only BE team with no wins.) In the last three years combined, Rutgers has seven BE wins. Unfortunately, last season, Rutgers obtained one of those several wins against Villanova, by upsetting the 'Cats at the RAC, 80-68. Accordingly, it was imperative that there be no repeat of this upset.

The Scarlet Knights emerged on the floor as a collective misnomer, wearing black jerseys. RU had announced that no current Scarlet Knight had appeared in the black jerseys yet, but it did not change their luck.

The bright spots for RU were freshman Mike Rosario, with 19 points, six rebounds, and five assists (plus five turnovers), Anthony Farmer with 17 points, and Corey Chandler, off the bench for 13 points. (These VU/RU games are the rare BE ones where there are three Coreys in the box score...) What destroyed Rutgers in this game were turnovers - 20, to be exact (VU had only half as many, 10). RU shot well from the floor (52.1%), very well from three-point range (45.5%), and tremendously from the line (85.7%), but still suffered a decisive defeat, primarily for that reason.

Villanova benefitted from a well-balanced attack, as four Wildcats finished in double figures. Scottie Reynolds had a game-high 21 points on 5-11 shooting, including an outstanding 10-11 from the line. Both Coreys came off the bench and powered the offense: Stokes had 17 points on 6-9 shooting, including a sizzling 5-7 from beyond the arc; he did it in just 22 minutes of action and also had five rebounds. Most importantly, Stokes had 14 of his 17 points after halftime, as they keyed Villanova's surge to take control of the contest.

As for Fisher, he added 14 points on 4-5 shooting, plus three assists and no turnovers in only 19 minutes. Finally, the departing senior Cunningham finished with a dozen points and half a dozen rebounds.

All four seniors were properly given the honor of starting, as Cunningham, Clark, Anderson, and Tchuisi were all in the lineup against the black-clad Scarlet Knights at tip-off. Tchuisi - fluent in five languages - committed two fouls in the single minute he played at the beginning, which was entirely understandable. (I was glad to see him get involved in the action.) He would return, amidst chants of "We Want Frank", for the waning seconds of the second half..

The most noteworthy play in the first half was a sensational dunk by Clark at the 17:49 mark, giving 'Nova a 4-3 lead... for a picture of it, go to 'Nova News...

In a nice bit of statistical symmetry, the three seniors who played significantly - Cunningham, Clark and Anderson - all had four points at halftime. Some other noteworthy halftime numbers:

Reynolds led 'Nova with 11 points. Villanova's largest lead was half a dozen points, although there were nine lead changes in the first half, indicating the see-saw battle. 'Nova took a 37-31 lead into the locker room, but RU was far from out of the game, as events early in the second half would make clear.

There was a sequence, early in the second half, which permitted Villanova to establish some initial momentum. First was Gregory Echenique's 3rd foul (he is RU's best rebounder); he was immediately yanked by Fred Hill, but then reinserted in an effort to halt the blue-and-white tide. The second was a fantastic play by Reynolds at the top of the key; he sighted Anderson all alone underneath the basket, fed him a perfect bounce pass, and the senior finished it with a dunk...

Rutgers responded well, though, with some help - ironically - from Cunningham. The senior came up with what appeared to be a clean block on Rosario's layup. However, it was ruled as goaltending and rendered the score 49-43 with 13:32 to play.

This goaltending call seemed to be the spark that gave Rutgers some life. They had been trailing 49-41 at the 14:17 mark, VU's largest lead up until that point. The Scarlet Knights went on a tear - a 13-3 run which vaulted them into a brief lead at 54-52, and again at 56-54, the latter coming at the 10:18 mark on a fadeaway jump shot by Coburn. (At the 13:05 mark, with Villanova still holding a 49-46 lead, Wright opted to use the first called timeout in the second half to try to halt the momentum. As by rule, this becomes a full timeout, and so the game was a bit choppy, with the under-12 timeout coming up so soon.)

Perhaps recognizing that a loss to 1-10 Rutgers at the Pavilion on Senior Night was too terrible to contemplate, Villanova responded to the Rutgers challenge. That 56-54 lead was RU's last of the game. Suddenly it was 66-56, VU - a 12-0 run that put 'Nova in control for good.

Worth noting : Villanova had just two team fouls at the 12:22 mark, against 5 for RU. At the 8:10 mark, the 7th team foul on RU sent Fisher to the line for a 1+1 opportunity, which he converted to make it 63-56. This was followed by an offensive foul on Mike Coburn, yet another Rutgers turnover. It was now a 9-0 run, with 7:56 to go, Villanova now had a seven-point lead at the under-8. Coincidentally, Reynolds and Fisher each had 14 points, one rebound, and two assists at this point.

In an interesting move, less than a minute later, and with the score now 66-58, Wright opted for a quick timeout as the pep band played a few bars of Beyonce's 2003 hit "Crazy in Love". He appeared displeased by a relatively easy layup made by Chandler...

Villanova swiftly resumed the onslaught after this timeout, blasting Rutgers out of contention and zooming to a 76-61 lead at the under-4 timeout at the 3:59 mark. It was now a 22-5 run for Villanova. Rutgers' lack of depth and the hostile environment meant that the Scarlet Knights were essentially ground down...

The most satisfying play during this run, was a Stokes two-handed dunk off a steal from Reynolds, on a fast break, with 3:05 to play. This dunk boosted the Wildcat lead to a virtually insurmountable 78-63 lead and was the exclamation point on the victory. Hill went down fighting, as he called his last timeout with 2:50 to go, trailing 80-67, but RU never got any closer than the ten-point final margin of 82-72. Another spectacular play happened at the1:16 mark, as Cunningham fed a bounce pass to Reynolds on a textbook backdoor cut, to make it 82-69...

"We Want Frank" chants began late in the second half, and they were rewarded as he re-entered the contest with 27.4 seconds to play.... although Villanova did not run a play and so he had no opportunity to shoot. For more on the game action, check out CBS Sports' GameCenter, for all of the details on the contest...

The game was actually shorter than some recent games, given the fact that it was not especially close at the end; it ended at 11:05 PM, after a late 9 PM tip-off; Senior Night ceremonies began at 8:40...

Looking at the big picture, this was the 32nd meeting all-time between VU and RU. The Wildcats are now 24-8 against Rutgers all-time. This season represents another chapter in the long drought for RU basketball fans. RU has only six NCAA appearances, with its last appearance in 1991, 18 years ago. It hasn't won a NCAA game in 26 years... RU has never appeared in the NCAA tournament, since it joined the Big East in 1995-96...

Some brief thoughts on Senior Night:

It is always a great occasion, to think back to when these players were freshmen. Clark and Cunningham were judiciously used by Wright as off-the-benc defensive specialists on the 2005-06 team that made an Elite Eight run in the NCAA tournament. In many ways, it's hard to believe that they're seniors already. And it's great for a player like Tchuisi, who makes a valuable contribution in practice and is a great representative for the program, to receive some recognition. Wright instituted the practice of introducing the players through the student section, and at no time is the introduction more memorable than during Senior Night.

This class will certainly break the school record for wins by a class. Currently, it is held by the class of '97, fueled by Alvin Williams, Jason Lawson, and Chuck Kornegay, who finished their careers with 95 wins during the Steve Lappas era (1993-2001). Tonight's victory was the 93rd for the class of '09, with five regular season games, the Big East tournament, and the NCAA tournament still ahead of them. It's a remarkable accomplishment, and congratulations to them.

Villanova returns to action on Sunday afternoon at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. The Wildcats crushed Syracuse by 17 points at their first meeting this season, at the Wachovia Center, and will be going for a season sweep.... A full preview will be forthcoming...

Thoughts are welcome...

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.)

Rutgers @ #12 Villanova Preview (Fred Hill Edition)

To the Wildcat faithful-

With Rutgers coming to town, it seemed to be a good opportunity to look back at the early days of the Jay Wright regime at Villanova, and the role that Fred Hill was widely perceived to have played within it. (I say "widely perceived" because I don't know how much of it was perception and how much was accurate; it may have been a mixture of both.) I recognize that there are students and young alumni, of course, who do not remember the circumstances under which Fred Hill was an assistant here, and so perhaps this might be of particular interest to them...

Although this was coincidental, there was a Philadelphia Daily News article by Sam Donnellon in which Jay Wright was philosophical about his tenure at 'Nova. Pete over at Let's Go 'Nova had some thought-provoking commentary on the piece, and it dovetails very well with Hill's return to the Main Line as the head coach of a different Big East team.

Back in the early part of this decade, Jay Wright arrived at Villanova in the spring of 2001, to universal acclaim. One of the new assistants he brought with him was Fred Hill, who has very deep ties to the North Jersey/NYC sphere of influence within the basketball community.

The first Wright-recruited class was the nucleus of his first NCAA teams: Allan Ray, Randy Foye, Curtis Sumpter, and Jason Fraser - the academic class of 2006.

(Footnote: the first Wright-recruited player was Chris Charles, who signed with Villanova shortly after Wright took over in the spring of 2001. The other player in that class was Marcus Austin, one of three players who had been signed by Wright's predecessor, Steve Lappas, in the fall of 2000. The other two players whom Lappas had signed, Brennan Martin and Kyle Wilson, decided to follow Lappas to Massachusetts; Austin decided to stay anyway and play for Wright.)

That having been said, the Fab Four, who arrived for the 2002-03 season, were the first all-Wright class. They did not all graduate collectively, because of Sumpter's knee injury, which led to him taking a redshirt year. At the time, the class was widely viewed as among the top three in the country. All four of them were from New York/North Jersey, and Hill was given a large share of the credit for their being signed by Villanova. However, Wright was certainly quite familiar with New York/North Jersey players. He had been the head coach at Hofstra, on Long Island, and we can't escape the central fact that Wright was the head coach and Hill the assistant.

In retrospect, the twists and turns (both literally and figuratively), of the trajectories of all of the players and coaches involved from that time, could not have been foreseen. To cite one example, Jason Fraser was a McDonald's All-American and widely believed to be the top post player, nationally, in that class. Unfortunately, a string of injuries never permitted him to blossom as a dominant post player.

As it turned out, the players from that class of 2006 did usher in a new golden age on the Main Line, as the stellar 2005 and 2006 teams excelled in the NCAA tournament. However, their freshman year was very difficult, with sky-high expectations. Wright's first team, in 2001-02, had surprised many by nearly reaching the NCAA tournament. All significant players from that team were returning, with the Fab Four being added. Unfortunately, the team never gelled and ended up missing the NCAA tournament completely. There was also the added indignity of a phone-access-code scandal marring the end of the season and forcing the Wildcats to compete with a skeleton team. (Ironically, that skeleton team nearly upset nationally ranked Pitt in the season finale, before heading into the NIT for the fourth consecutive year.) After the season, Hill was promoted from assistant coach to associate head coach.

Wright's third team, in 2003-04, also did not reach the NCAA tournament. These were all decent teams, it should be noted; they ended up with winning records against very difficult schedules (which is why they received NIT bids); they just hadn't gotten into the Dance. Fortunately, the team broke through in 2004-05, not only reaching the NCAA tournament but getting to the Sweet 16 before losing a heartbreaker to North Carolina, the eventual winner. (It was a great game, although still painful to recall.)

In 2005, the off-season brought some unexpected news - Fred Hill was leaving for Rutgers. The fact that Hill was leaving, per se, wasn't surprising. Ever since the Fab Four had arrived at Villanova in 2002, Hill had been widely rumored to be leaving to become a head coach elsewhere. What was surprising were these anomalous facts:

Hill was leaving Villanova, not to become the head coach at Rutgers, but the associate head coach (i.e., a lateral move). Rutgers also had a beleaguered head coach in Gary Waters. And it was at not only another Big East program, but one with whom Villanova would be battling for recruits geographically. And generally, it's unusual to ask a head coach to accept an outside assistant whom the school wants to groom to succeed him. But these were unusual circumstances. Rutgers had a VU grad as AD, Bob Mulcahy, and Hill's father was also the baseball coach at RU. And Waters wasn't really in a position to say no, unless Rutgers really improved quickly.

Unfortunately for Waters (although fortunately for Hill), Rutgers fired him at the end of the 2005-06 season. Subsequently, Hill was formally named head coach on March 27, 2006. (Waters ended up at Cleveland State - ironically, one of his predecessors was former VU coach Rollie Massimino.) This NY Times article - "It's Second-And-Long for Rutgers in the Hill Era" - from Hill's first season, is a good capsule.

This was the first time that Hill was serving as head coach, after a quarter-century odyssey as an assistant at a variety of programs. This NY Times article - "Sure He's a Good Coach, But Can He Recruit?" sums up the situation best, as a snapshot of the environment Hill was entering in Piscataway, NJ.

Anyhow, it's been four years now since Hill left VU - he's now been at Rutgers for three years as head coach, plus his grooming year as Waters' associate head coach.

So, hopefully some food for thought...

Thoughts are welcome...

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.)

Pete's West Virginia Grades From Let's Go 'Nova Blog

Pete has issued his grades for individual Wildcats over at Let's Go 'Nova for the West Virginia game.... Here are my thoughts on his grades... note that he also explains the reasoning for all of his grades over on his site, in considerable detail, so check them out...

Hello, Pete-

My recap for WVU is up now...

My thoughts on your grades...

Fisher A-

Agreed.

Clark D-

I strongly disagree here. Clark played reasonably well in a game that the two stars did not. He ended up with seven points, five boards and one turnover in 29 minutes, on 2-5 shooting, making the only triple he attempted. I don't think that's a D-. I would go as far as to give him a C+, C at the lowest. He's a role player, and he played his role competently.

That having been said, I recognize that not everything shows up in the box score. Defense isn't measured very well, because it only shows up in steals, blocks, and rebounds, and there's no way where you can tell whether someone gives up open jumpers (or how many). I think that your criticisms of him are very well thought-out and intelligent, even if I don't agree with them.

Stokes - B

Agreed. I might have gone B+, but think that either is fair.

Reynolds - D+

Agreed.

Cunningham - C-

Agreed. I think that the higher grade for him is justified b/c ultimately, DC stayed in the game (he ended up w/ only 3 PFs, ironically, after getting two in the opening minutes), and his shooting wasn't bad, and he rebounded. For 'Nova to win, he has to rack up some more points and boards, and not turn the ball over so much; this could be a C...

Anderson - B-

I'd go with a B+ here. Anderson was injured and played pretty well (I singled him out for praise in my post)….He brought what he had to the table.

Redding - C-

I would have gone with C+ (as you can see, I'm a more generous grader across the board). But he fouled out in a game where the two stars were in foul trouble and one player was injured, and he needed to stay on the floor. So I can see that C-.

Pena - D

I'd probably say C-, for his 4-4 from the line, the fact that he didn't foul out, and he only had one turnover. I agree completely that for a role player who role is to rebound, he has to get some rebounds if he's on the floor for 18 minutes, especially with DC on the bench for as long as he was.

Tchuisi/Colenda - incompletes

Agreed.

Thoughts are welcome...

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.)

Triskaidekaphobia Strikes #13 Wildcats on Friday the 13th, as " '(E)ers (S)hock (P)hilly's (N)ova", According to WVU Fan

On Friday, I observed that on the question of what the Greeks called triskaidekophobia:

The #13 Villanova Wildcats must take on West Virginia on Friday night, February 13 - a date which, for superstitious reasons, has been perceived as unlucky. The confluence of a pair of 13s could be viewed as a bad omen.

Ironically, though, the Wildcats will be gunning for the exact opposite- i.e., a traditionally lucky number. Seven, to be precise - a victory would mean their seventh straight triumph. #13 Villanova will be taking its 8-3 Big East, 20-4 overall record to one of the most difficult homecourts in all of college basketball, the Coliseum in Morgantown.

Luck in sports, by definition, is double-edged. For the most part, good luck for one side is bad luck for the other. Regrettably, playing on Friday the 13th - while being ranked #13, no less - turned out to be extremely unlucky for the Wildcats. (Conversely, it turned out to be extraordinarily lucky for the Mountaineers. Perhaps it was because they weren't ranked #13, as well as having to play on the date.) All of the justifiable (and non-superstititious) fears about the Morgantown Coliseum - those fears turned out to be extremely well-founded. The #13 Wildcats were annihilated, 93-72, in a game in which they were never genuinely competitive.

One silver lining might be that it was a good idea to get rid of all of the bad luck in one game, particularly one in a highly adverse home court, especially when Villanova really didn't need the win all that much. In contrast, West Virginia needed it very badly. The Mountaineers are on the NCAA bubble and wins over ranked teams - particularly on their home floor - are badly needed to improve their case for the Selection Committee.

The Wildcats fell to 8-4 Big East, 20-5 overall. However, their luck this weekend hasn't been all bad, despite the experience in Morgantown. Although they had to wait till today to find out, they actually improved their standing in the AP poll. They advanced from #13 to the less-unlucky #12, despite - just three days earlier - having been thrashed by 21 points on national television to an unranked (albeit, solid and talented) opponent. Perhaps their luck will be better, ranked #12. (There's nowhere to go but up, after Friday.)

Just kidding, of course. The justification for 'Nova's improved standing in the AP poll was their equally decisive defeat of #10 Marquette at the Pavilion earlier in the week, not their dreadful performance at Morgantown on Friday.

There is, of course, the solace that the defeat was not due to bad luck. The Mountaineers simply played far more proficiently than 'Nova. In particular, there was a night for the record books for WVU's Da'Sean Butler, who put up 43 points. Butler's outburst ranks among the highest single-game scoring outputs in the quarter-century-plus of the Big East's existence. West Virginia evened its Big East record at 6-6, and 17-8 overall. In doing so, WVU also immeasurably increased its chances at an NCAA at-large bid.

The two star Wildcats both had disastrous games on the same night (which, as noted earlier, could be viewed as either serendipitous or unfortunate). Scottie Reynolds had one of the worst games of his career on Friday. He finished with a dozen points, but did it on 3-11 shooting. He committed five turnovers (against one assist, one rebound, and no steals), and played only 28 minutes due to foul trouble. Even worse, Reynolds fouled out on an extremely foolish play. He committed a reach-around in pursuit of the Mountaineer who had just picked his pocket for his fifth - and final - turnover of the evening.

Dante Cunningham also was saddled with foul trouble, as he picked up two quick fouls in the beginning of the game and went to the bench till the second half. West Virginia's 52-34 halftime wasn't entirely due to Cunningham's absence, but it certainly was a factor. Although he ended up with just three fouls, Cunningham logged just 25 minutes, finishing with seven points and six boards. He also was just 1-5 from the foul line and committed four turnovers.

In the absence of Cunningham and Reynolds, the two Corys fueled 'Nova's offense, finishing as the top two scorers. Fisher played 31 minutes, scoring 17 points on 6-10 shooting, while adding three rebounds and three assists against just one turnover. Stokes logged 29 minutes, scoring 15 points on 5-10 shooting, including 3-6 from beyond the arc, and also pulled down five rebounds. Antonio Pena played 18 minutes, but had no field goals, no rebounds, and no blocks. (He did go 4-4 from the line and committed only one turnover, in fairness.)

Ironically, the one Wildcat who was questionable at game time, turned out to have one of the best performances. After considerable speculation as to whether he'd play at all, Dwayne Anderson played 19 minutes, finishing with half a dozen points, half a dozen rebounds and a pair of steals, committing only one turnover.

As a team, perhaps the most telling statistic was the fact that 'Nova had 22 field goals - but only five assists. (And 16 turnovers.)

I'll issue my standard criticism of Wright for failing to put Jason Colenda and Frank Tchuisi into a lopsided game prior to the final minute. At garbage time, both Reynolds and Reggie Redding had already fouled out, Anderson was banged up, and West Virginia had an insurmountable lead. It would have been a perfect opportunity for the two practice players to play two or three minutes. Instead, they came in with less than a minute to play and once more, did not even have a chance to take a shot.

One of the most entertaining aspects of the game were the various student signs; the headline of this post came from one student who held up a sign stating:

' (E)ers (S)hock (P)hilly's '(N)ova '

Fortunately, the Wildcats have several days to forget their case of triskaidekophobia, as they will be taking on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Thursday at the Pavilion, prior to which the Senior Night festivities will be observed, since the students will be on spring break during the actual final home game in March.

A full preview for the game will be coming up. In the meantime, take a look at what the other talented Villanova bloggers had to say about the Friday the 13th disaster:

Various Viewpoints: Other VU Sites' Recaps of the Villanova/West Virginia Game

Pete at Let's Go 'Nova - " 'Nova Fails Road Test at WVU"

Chris at I Bleed Blue and White - "Post-Game: West Virginia 93, Villanova 72"

greyCat at Villanova By the Numbers - "West Virginia Post-Game - Ouch!"

VUHoops.com - 'The Butler Did It - Mountaineers Top 'Nova"

Tim at 'Nova News - "Unlucky Night for #13 'Nova on Friday the 13th"

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.)

On Friday the 13th, #13 Villanova @ West Virginia Preview, and Various Viewpoints

The #13 Villanova Wildcats must take on West Virginia on Friday night, February 13 - a date which, for superstitious reasons, has been perceived as unlucky. The confluence of a pair of 13s could be viewed as a bad omen.

Ironically, though, the Wildcats will be gunning for the exact opposite- i.e., a traditionally lucky number. Seven, to be precise - a victory would mean their seventh straight triumph. #13 Villanova will be taking its 8-3 Big East, 20-4 overall record to one of the most difficult homecourts in all of college basketball, the Coliseum in Morgantown.

Fortunately, 'Nova doesn't have to make this trip too often, thanks to the swollen size of the current Big East. This is only Villanova's second trip to the unfriendly confines in the last five seasons.

The late tip-time of 9 PM is to accommodate ESPN's Rivalry Week promotion. It is somewhat puzzling that Villanova's two Rivalry Week opponents this season, Marquette and West Virginia, are relative newcomers to the Big East. Nonetheless, tonight will be the 38th time that Villanova has played West Virginia, with the Wildcats leading the series 20-17.

Exactly half - 19 - of those games were played prior to the formation of the Big East. The first meeting was all the way back on January 18, 1938, with WVU winning 44-38 over the visiting Wildcats. The teams met consistently in the late 1950s and early 1960s. But the schools did not play again for over a decade, until the formation of the Eastern Eight, the Big East's direct ancestor. Villanova and West Virginia were rivals in the Eastern Eight, and thus, the teams once again faced each other regularly from 1973-1980.

The rivalry would lay dormant for 16 years, until the Big East expanded from 10 to 13 teams in 1995-96, with West Virginia, Rutgers, and Notre Dame joining. (The first meeting was all the way back on January 18, 1938, with WVU winning 44-38 over the visiting Wildcats. The teams met regularly in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but then did not play again for over a decade, until the formation of the Eastern Eight.)

So to break it down:

In non-Big East games, Villanova leads 10-9; in Big East play, Villanova leads 10-8. At the Coliseum, the Wildcats are 2-4 in Big East play, overall. However, Villanova has dropped its last three games @ WVU, and has not won there in a decade. Their most recent victory was January 23, 1999, when they won 73-62. That team - led by John Celestand, Howard Brown, and Malik Allen - was the fourth and final team which coach Steve Lappas led to the NCAA tournament. They lost a heartbreaker against Ole Miss in the #8-#9 game in the first round in Milwaukee that year.

The most galling loss of the series, since WVU joined the Big East, came during what would be the final season for Lappas. On February 20, 2001, the Wildcats lost in double-overtime in Morgantown, a 107-100 loss for the team remembered as the "Michael Bradley team", due to the single year of eligibility for the superstar center, who had transferred from Kentucky, sat out a year, and then played only his third season of eligibility at 'Nova. He opted for the NBA draft, rather than stay for his fourth year under then-incoming coach Jay Wright. (Wright has subseqently gone 3-5 against WVU, at all venues.)

Full recap after the game.

Please check out what all of the other Villanova bloggers are saying about tonight's game at West Virginia, in:

Various Viewpoints: Other VU Sites' Previews

Pete at Let's Go 'Nova

Chris at I Bleed Blue and White

greyCat at Villanova By the Numbers

VUHoops.com

Tim at 'Nova News

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.)

Various Viewpoints From Other Villanova Blogs - Lincoln's Birthday Edition

At Villanova by the Numbers, greyCat has published a highly detailed piece in Marquette #02 Post Game: Gimme an O! as well as an open letter in Interactive Tuesday? No Thanks.

Over at Let's Go 'Nova, Pete has published his grades for Marquette (see the other post here for more on that), a piece on former Wildcat Jason Fraser's joining the Harlem Globetrotters, and an announcement of a NCAA tournament contest for Villanova memorabilia - the best guess at the Final Four wins...

Chris at I Bleed Blue and White has been particularly prolific today, with four posts:

Vote for Jay Wright! (on the question of the famously attired coach and his standing among the best-dressed mentors in the sport)

Read! Villanova Finally a Lock - the ESPN prognosticators officially deeming the 'Cats NCAA-worthy)

Read! Si's Power Rankings - SI rates 'Nova #11

Opinion: 'Nova's Greatest Weakness - Chris has some particularly good insights as to where the Wildcats might be vulnerable...

Tim at 'Nova News notes that Foye Scores 33....

VUHoops.com has a good West Virginia preview....

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.)

Pete's Marquette Grades from Let's Go 'Nova blog

Over at the fine Let's Go 'Nova blog, Pete had suggested that I throw in my own two cents on his individual player grades. These can also be found in Pete's comment section under that post...

Hello, Pete-

Here's my analysis of your grades, per your request. The player's grade from you is at the top, and then I comment below...

"Scottie Reynolds - A"

I absolutely agree with this grade. When you look not just at the simple 27 points, but at the high scoring percentage, the 5-11 from three-point range, and as you noted, the four boards and complete absence of turnovers (in a high-tempo game, no less). No question, an A.

(BTW - I don't know if you have an A+ in your system - let me know.

"Dante Cunningham - B"

I would also agree with your grade here. 15 points is a solid performance, on 7-12 shooting, for a forward, and he did cut down his turnovers. I was concerned by the lack of rebounding (just 4 rebounds, less than 10% of VU's 41).

"Corey Fisher - A"

Likewise, agreed. Fisher was admirable running the point (four assists, three turnovers) for 32 minutes, shot extremely well, and fueled the offense.

"Reggie Redding - C-"

I'm going to disagree here and bump Redding up to a C. Granted, McNeal did score 23 points, but he (along w/ Matthews) also led Marquette with four turnovers, and his 8-20 shooting (40%) was down significantly from his season average (48.4%). So I think Redding has to get at least some credit for that.

Also, Redding contributed on the boards and with assists, which partially offsets his dismal night shooting and the turnovers. So I'll give him a C.

"Shane Clark - A"

Superb performance.

(BTW - I don't know if you have an A+ in your system - let me know. If you have the A+ designation, this would be the time to use it.)

"Corey Stokes - B"

Agreed, here. Had he thrown in a few more points, I'd go up to the B+, and I concur that his assists/rebounding numbers were great, particularly for 21 minutes.

"Dwayne Anderson - B"

I must disagree here - I think Anderson should have gotten an A. He had 10 points and three boards in 13 minutes - and this is a player who averages 25 min/game this year. If he hadn't been injured, and we project those numbers onto 26 minutes (what he likely would have played) - that's 20 pts/6 boards on 67% shooting (8-12) from the floor, plus two assists and presumably no turnovers. So to me, that's an A.

"Antonio Pena - B"

I agree here with this one. The 4 PFs were a little high for 11 minutes, but the 5 pts (for someone who averages 22 minutes, but played only 11), plus the three boards - very solid performance.

"Frank Tchuisi and Jason Colenda - incompletes -"

Agreed. I'll renew my point that Wright really should be putting them in the game earlier when the score is lopsided; he shouldn't have waited until the final minute against Syracuse and Marquette to put them in, especially at home.

Thoughts are welcome.

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.)

#13 Villanova Crushes #10 Marquette, 102-84, At Pavilion - Topping Century Mark Again! (Full Recap)

The #13 Villanova Wildcats crushed the #10 Marquette Golden Eagles on Tuesday, February 10, 2009, in front of the 93rd consecutive sellout (and raucous) crowd at the Pavilion. The final was a shocking 102-84 shelling of Marquette, and is the latest manifestation of what is now a three-game explosion of points from the 'Cats. They hung 102 points on nationally ranked Syracuse on Saturday, as well as winning a narrow 94-91 decision @ Providence earlier last week.

Villanova has now scored 298 points in three consecutive Big East games, in all of which they faced quality opponents. While I wouldn't be expecting to clear the century mark all the time, let alone in the Big East, hopefully this offensive super 'Nova will continue to explode throughout the college basketball universe. This outcome undoubtedly raised some eyebrows around the country - #10 Marquette yielding 102 points? After 'Nova just did the same thing to Syracuse three days earlier?

Some more good news, on the subject of streaks:

It was Villanova's seventh consecutive victory, and its third straight against a Top 25 opponent. Another streak extended was their now 26-game unbeaten run at the Pavilion. Villanova's last loss at the Pavilion was to DePaul on January 6, 2007. The first game of the streak was a win over Notre Dame, by the score of 102-87, ironically, on January 17, 2007.

This game against a top 10 opponent was as formidable a challenge as they were likely to see on-campus, given that most of the high-echelon opponents are played at the Wachovia Center (and prior to that, the old Spectrum and the Palestra).

Out of the 265 games that Villanova has played at the Pavilion, there have been only 36 in which Villanova has faced a ranked opponent: after this victory, Villanova has an even split (18-18), when taking on Top 25 opponents there. Moreover, of that group of 36, this was only the 11th time that both the Wildcats and their opponent have been ranked. And in that group, naturally, Villanova has done far better, now having won nine of those 11 contests.

But it seems that the Wildcats, if all goes well, could easily carry the Pavilion streak into next season. Finally, it also snapped a three-game losing streak to Marquette. The Wildcats hadn't won since February 2006, when the nucleus of Marquette's current team were freshmen - and it was at the Pavilion. It also avenged Marquette's 79-72 victory over 'Nova on New Year's Day (Marquette is one of only three BE opponents 'Nova will face twice this season).

Villanova improved to 8-3 Big East, 20-4 overall, while Marquette fell to 9-2 Big East, 20-4 overall. The victory also significantly strengthened Villanova's chances of getting a two-day bye in the new-format Big East tournament in March.

Looking at the numbers

Getting to 102 points requires a team effort, and no fewer than five Wildcats reached double figures. Scottie Reynolds had a game-high 27 points on 10-17 shooting overall and 5-11 from beyond the arc - and had four rebounds. Corey Fisher came off the bench and played 32 minutes, the third-most of any Wildcat. He had 21 points, shooting a sizzling 4-5 from beyond the arc, plus 6-10 from the floor and 5-7 from the line.

The best game overall came from Shane Clark, who had one of the finest days of his career. Clark had 16 points on perfect shooting, making all six of his field goal attempts, including three triples. He also added seven rebounds, three assists, and a blocked shot while committing just a single turnover. Dante Cunningham added 15 points and four boards. And Dwayne Anderson - despite playing only 13 minutes - was outstanding, scoring 10 points and picking up three boards before being injured early in the second half, which kept him out of action for the remainder of the game.

Reggie Redding also made a valuable contribution - he had half a dozen rebounds, as well as half a dozen assists, despite scoring only two points (the team didn't really need more points tonight). Antonio Pena played just 11 minutes but scored five points and grabbed three rebounds. Corey Stokes came off the bench for 21 minutes, finishing with six points, four rebounds and five assists. Regrettably, neither of the practice players - Frank Tchuisi and Jason Colenda - had the opportunity to score. Jay Wright absolutely should have put them in prior to the final minute, given the lopsided score and the chance for the packed Pavilion to cheer them on.

As a team, Villanova's numbers were great, except at the line. The Wildcats shot a torrid 54.2% from beyond the arc, and 58.7% from the floor (as a result, ironically, they actually had a higher percentage on their three-point shots than their two-point shots, as a result). Uncharacteristically for a Jay Wright team, they converted just 57.7% of their free throws (which nearly cost them their trip to the century mark.) Villanova also won the rebounding battle, 41-31.

On defense, the numbers weren't particularly good (Marquette did score 84 points, after all), but given the pace of the game and the number of possessions, it wasn't so bad. The Golden Eagles, ironically, had almost the same number of FTs and percentage as the Wildcats: VU was 15-26, MU was 15-27.

For Marquette, their four stars led the way. Their seniors had played at the Pavilion in February 2006 as freshmen, and they made their return felt. Lazar Hayward finished with 22 points and nine rebounds while playing all but one minute. Jerel McNeal, a BE Player of the Year candidate, had a team-high 23 points and seven assists. Wesley Matthews had 16 points, five rebounds and three assists. Finally, Domenic James finished with 14 points and nine assists.

The game action

Surprisingly, in light of the lopsided final score, the game was actually very competitive for a long time. Marquette led by nine points, in fact, deep into the first half, after James hit a jumper to make it 37-28 with 7:08 till intermission. Villanova had trailed just 23-22 at the 10:54 mark, after a layup by Fisher, and was in danger of slipping out of the game.

However, Villanova embarked on a 14-4 run, reclaiming the lead at 42-41, on a jumper from Cunningham at the 2:50 mark. Fisher then nearly took over the game for the final three minutes. He drew a foul while firing from the perimeter, and drained all three free throws. Fisher then nailed a three, and after Marquette failed to score on its final possession, fed Corey Stokes for a jumper in the dying seconds of the half. Fisher's heroics meant that Villanova headed into the locker room with a 50-45 advantage; it was a 14-point swing in just over seven minutes.

At an emotional level, Anderson's injury was undoubtedly very difficult for the team. As Chris from I Bleed Blue and White put it:

Here was their emotional leader lying on the ground. The place was in stunned silence. Dwayne Anderson sat on the bench quietly for two years, helping the team, and when he got his shot he never looked back. He’s been the heart of this team since the Seton Hall win last year. Losing him was going to crush the momentum that ‘Nova had. But it didn’t. Anderson got up and with some help walked off the court to deafening cheers from the crowd. Everyone seemed to rally around that moment.

Anderson was subsequently diagnosed with a right knee sprain, according to the AP article. Hopefully, he'll be OK.

Update: Villanova has issued a press release on Anderson's injury - here's the relevant summary:

An examination of Dwayne Anderson's left knee has revealed the senior guard suffered a hyperextension and bone bruise... Anderson is listed as questionable for Friday night's game at West Virginia...

"This is good news," stated [team surgeon Dr. Rob] Good. "It's hard to say exactly how long Dwayne will be out for. He will be day-to-day as we monitor the soreness."

Villanova then flattened Marquette for the rest of the game. This was remarkable, in light of how competitive and exciting the first half had been. There had been eight ties and seven lead changes in just 20 minutes, between two evenly matched teams.

The game remained very tension-filled, well into the second half. During the first eight minutes of the second half, Villanova had been able to retain the lead it had taken into halftime, with the lead fluctuating from five to 10 points. It seemed that the Pavilion faithful could breathe a little more easily when the Wildcats opened up a 10-point lead at the 12:12 mark, after a layup by Stokes gave them a 70-60 advantage.

Marquette responded with six quick points, cutting it to 70-64, and raising the anxiety level in the Pavilion. However, Villanova decisively took control at that point, launching an 8-0 run; their lead would never fall below nine points for the rest of the game, and was in double-digits for the vast majority of it.

The road doesn't get any easier for Villanova, however. They must travel to Morgantown, West Virginia - one of the toughest homecourts in the nation for a visitor - and tangle with the Mountaineers at 9 PM on Friday night. A full preview will be coming up.

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.)

#13 Villanova Crushes #10 Marquette At Pavilion- Topping Century Mark Again Vs Ranked Opponent - Full Recap to Follow - Here's A Survey of Links

The #13 Wildcats hit the century mark for the second straight game - both against ranked opponents, no less - in crushing #10 Marquette, 102-84, at the Pavilion on Tuesday, February 10, 2009, in front of ESPN's cameras.

A full recap will be coming later.

In the meantime, here's a survey of what other Villanova sites have been saying:

Let's Go 'Nova - Pete has 'Nova Wins Big, Anderson Hurt

I Bleed Blue and White has postGame: Villanova 102, Marquette 84 and also Links: Wednesday Afternoon Reading, in which Chris has assembled all of the best Villanova-related material from around the Internet. Update: Chris now has posted an outstanding recap, Thoughts on Marquette....

VUHoops.com - This Is Our House - 'Nova Takes Sixth Straight

'Nova News - We're Going Streaking!

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.)

#10 Marquette @ #13 Villanova Preview

#10 Marquette @ #13 Villanova Preview
Tuesday, February 10, 2009

7:30 PM at the Pavilion

TV: ESPN2

For other Villanova/Marquette previews, please check out the following sites - I highly recommend them:

Pete's Let's Go 'Nova site

I Bleed Blue and White site

VUHoops.com site

Villanova By the Numbers (VBTN)

'Nova News

And take a look at Cracked Sidewalks for an outstanding Marquette site...

The Philadelphia Inquirer looks back to the game between Marquette and the Wildcats in 2006 - which also took place at the Pavilion - when the eventual Elite Eight Villanova squad was nearly upset by the Golden Eagles. The nucleus of the current Marquette team were freshmen at the time.

To the Wildcat faithful-

The #10 Marquette Golden Eagles visit the Pavilion on Tuesday night, in the highest-profile Pavilion visit since #4 Villanova's glorious 85-74 defeat of #5 Oklahoma back on December 3, 2005. Due to both teams being ranked, the atmosphere at 'Nova's intimate Pavilion will be very raucous. It's worth noting that due to Villanova's decision to shift many high-profile - and the occasional City Series - opponents to the Palestra and the South Philadelphia venues at various times over the last quarter-century, this will be only the 10th time - in the 24-year history of the Pavilion - that in a Pavilion contest, both Villanova and its opponent will be ranked entering the game. (And tonight's game will be the 264th in Pavilion history.) The most recent example was on January 6, 2008, when the 17th-ranked Wildcats edged the #13 ranked Pittsburgh Panthers, in a thrilling 64-63 contest. In these nine contests, Villanova has won seven - and interestingly, the lower-ranked team has won five of them.

#13 Villanova takes a record of 7-3 Big East, 19-4 overall, into the contest. Last Saturday's glorious blowout of then-#20 Syracuse, at the Wachovia Center, almost certainly cinched a NCAA berth (not that there was much doubt left, anyway). But the Wildcats could certainly cement it with a win over Marquette tonight. The Golden Eagles enter the game with a record of 9-1 Big East, 20-3 overall, and lead the current Big East standings. They also were undefeated in Big East play until last Friday, when they were upset @ South Florida. It is not a good omen that Marquette is coming off just its third loss - and it has not lost consecutive games this season.

All-time Series: 6-6

Despite being mid-sized Catholic basketball powers, the two teams did not meet regularly until Marquette joined the Big East. Prior to that, Villanova led the series 5-2. The most prominent, recent pre-Big East meeting was Marquette's thrashing of Villanova in Madison Square Garden, in the first game for the fabled incoming class of Allan Ray, Randy Foye, Curtis Sumpter, and Jason Fraser, in November 2002; superstar Dwyane Wade led the way for the Golden Eagles in that contest. Jay Wright is just 1-4 against Marquette in his career.

Villanova will be gunning for its 26th consecutive victory in the Pavilion: it extended the streak to 25, most recently, with the Super Bowl Sunday victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats at noon on February 1. The deliberately early tip-off was considerate on the part of ESPN+ and Villanova. As a result, there was fortunately plenty of time for the Pavilion faithful to get home to their house parties or Main Line establishments to enjoy Super Bowl XLIII between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals, a truly memorable Super Bowl in all respects).
In addition, Villanova will be trying to win its sixth consecutive contest, which it has not done since the 2006 season (when the Wildcats reeled off 11 consecutive triumphs).

Tonight's contest will be the regrettably-rare second meeting between two Big East conference rivals. With the expanded conference, VU plays only three teams twice yearly, and this year it happens to be Marquette. (Which worked out fine, given that even two losses to Marquette are great losses for RPI and seeding purposes.)

On January 1, 2009, the two teams met in Milwaukee. In that game, the Golden Eagles upset (yes, they did) then-#15 Villanova, 79-72. Marquette, at the time, was unranked in the AP poll and just #25 in the ESPN coaches' poll.

One of the considerable upsides of playing an opponent twice a year, is the fact that we can look at the first game to see patterns that may be replicated in the second meeting. (The Big East, as recently as the early '90s, had just ten teams, and everyone played everyone else twice.)

So let's look at the first game, using a very detailed AP recap:

Marquette was forced to commit 19 turnovers, matching their season high at the time. So how did they stay in it? They were able to overcome the notoriously stingy Villanova defense. Entering the game, according to the article, Villanova had been allowing just 57.6 points and just a 37.9% shooting average from the floor. In contrast, Marquette shot the lights out, hitting 46% of their shots - and a powerful 41.7% from beyond the arc. In a seven-point contest, that was all the difference needed. Marquette lost a lot of possessions due to turnovers, but when they held onto the ball they scored nearly half the time. In addition, probably due to halftime adjustments, their turnovers dropped markedly in the second half. They committed 13 turnovers in the first half, and less than half as many - half a dozen - miscues after play resumed.

Marquette was leading by just a single point, with only 5:39 to play, but they launched a run that Villanova could not overcome. The Golden Eagles - although shaky at the foul line at that time, according to the AP article - then secured the victory by nailing an outstanding 13 of 14 shots from the line in the last 2:40. Prior to this game, Villanova had effectively contained all of its opponents to just 68 points or less; on New Year's Day, in what hopefully was not a bad omen for the rest of 2009, they yielded 79 points.

Looking at the box score:

Only seven Wildcats saw significant time (20 minutes or more); Antonio Pena had seven minutes. Corey Fisher scored 21 points, just two short of his career-high, plus hauling down five rebounds. (Noteworthy: in Fisher's four previous games up to that point, he had totalled just 17 points. So expect to see a lot of him tonight.)

Three other Wildcats reached double figures: Dante Cunningham (16 points/8 rebounds), Scottie Reynolds (15 points), and Corey Stokes (10 points). The Golden Eagles also had four players in double figures. Jerel McNeal had an outstanding performance (24 points, four rebounds, seven assists) to lead all scorers. Wesley Matthews had 19 points, including 8-10 from the line, much of it down the stretch as Marquette retained its lead. Domenic James had 17 points and six rebounds, while Lazar Hayward had 15 points and five rebounds. He also shot well from the line (6-7).

This is a good segue to look back at the team numbers. Marquette enjoyed a substantial edge in points from the line. Villanova made an outstanding 85.7% of its free throws (18-21), but Marquette got to the line more often (albeit shooting a lower percentage). The Golden Eagles were 23-31 (74.2%), and those extra five points were a big difference in a seven-point game.

Marquette outrebounded Villanova, 32-30. Two significant trouble spots were in the box score: Villanova shot just 30% from beyond the arc (6-20) and also had many players in foul trouble. The two stars, Cunningham and Reynolds, both fouled out. Dwayne Anderson and Reggie Redding finished with four fouls, while Corey Fisher and Pena ended up with three. (Or put it this way - of the eight Wildcats who saw action, all finished with at least two fouls, and four of them either fouled out or were one short of doing so.) Villanova ended up with 28 fouls in comparison to Marquette's 18. Accordingly, staying out of foul trouble is of the utmost importance for the Wildcats this evening.

Marquette would likely use a seven-man rotation, based on this box score, but McNeal, Hayward, James and Matthews play the bulk of the minutes. Three other Golden Eagles round out the rotation - Jimmy Butler and Dwight Burke with 15 minutes, and Patrick Hazel with 21 minutes. McNeal has an outside chance of becoming Marquette's all-time leading scorer; he is just 20 shy of the current record-holder (although the team would undoubtedly prefer that he break the record at a home game, they would not likely let a desire to keep him to a maximum of 19 points factor into their game plan.)

A Concise Summary of Marquette History, from a Villanovan's perspective:

This might be of particular interest to Marquette fans reading this preview:

The Viewpoint on the Marquette Golden Eagles

Series History

Given the distance between the schools, it is not surprising that they have only met a dozen times, with the results a perfectly even split. The teams played annually for much of the 1960s, with Villanova winning @ Marquette in the first contest, 75-70, on New Year's Eve, 1960.

After 1967, there had been only two meetings, prior to Marquette's inclusion in the Big East, which began during the 2005-06 season. The first came in the 1980 NCAA tournament, when coach Roland V. Massimino's Wildcats defeated the then-Marquette Warriors, 77-59, in the first round. The series then lay dormant, until the most recent meeting in the opening game of the 2002-03 season, on November 15, 2002. This game featured the much-anticipated debut of the class of 2006 (Curtis Sumpter, Jason Fraser, Allan Ray, and Randy Foye), generally regarded as one of the top recruiting classes in the nation. However, in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden, a Marquette squad which would eventually reach the Final Four, destroyed Villanova, 73-61.

In Big East play, Marquette leads the series, 3-1. Villanova's only victory came in 2006, when the nucleus of the 2009 team had just arrived as freshmen, and Marquette nearly pulled an upset at the Pavilion, losing 72-67 while leading for most of the game. This is Marquette's first visit to the Pavilion since then, and just second all-time. Of the other three Big East games, Marquette came to the Wachovia Center last year, and in 2007, the single game was in Milwaukee at the Bradley Center. Marquette's third win also came at the Bradley Center, on New Year's Day of this year.

Coach and Context

In April 2008, Brent "Buzz" Williams succeeded Tom Crean, who spent nine years at the helm in Milwaukee. Crean accepted the job at Indiana, where he is currently mired in a 6-15 mess and - I speculate - wishing he were back with the top-10 Golden Eagles.

Crean - who had never previously served as a Division I head coach - took Marquette back to its previous glories in 2003, as he guided the Golden Eagles back to the Final Four, for the first time since Marquette's golden age, under the late Al McGuire, in the 1970s. Before being named Marquette's 15th head coach on March 30, 1999, Crean had been an assistant at Western Kentucky, Pittsburgh, and Michigan State.

Crean was the recruiting assistant in Lansing, and played an important role in constructing Michigan State's 2000 NCAA championship team, under head coach Tom Izzo. Of particular importance was his success in recruiting Mateen Cleaves, the team's catalyst, who would eventually win two Big Ten Player of the Year awards. (Although unfortunately for Crean, he wasn't in Lansing to savor the success, since he was then coaching his inaugural season at Marquette.)

Marquette has a very rich and storied history, comparable to Villanova's past. The school has made 26 NCAA tournaments (with 32 NCAA victories) and 15 trips to the NIT, and served as a pit stop for Rick Majerus, among others (although he only had a trio of NIT trips in the 1980s, during his three seasons there). Along with Villanova, it is one of the few schools that can boast of both a NCAA title and a NIT championship, both courtesy of McGuire during his tenure in Milwaukee, from 1964-1977. In 13 seasons, McGuire made 11 postseason appearances, and posted a record of 295-80.

Marquette sank into mediocrity for a decade, however, after reaching the NCAAs in 1983 (ironically, after the NCAA became far easier to enter, when it was expanded in the miraculous year of 1985). The school went an entire decade between NCAA appearances, before Kevin O'Neill got them back in 1993. Things began looking up again. Including 1993, Marquette has made six NCAA appearances, including the 2003 Final Four, and qualified for five NITs. In only two years, has it missed postseason play entirely (1999 and 2001). Of those five NIT appearances, it also has gone deep into three of them. The Golden Eagles reached the NIT final in 1995, a team chiefly memorable because its sixth man, William Gates, was one of the two players documented in one of the greatest sports films ever made, Hoop Dreams. (In that game, Marquette lost in OT to Virginia Tech, 65-64.)

McGuire eschewed a NCAA bid in 1970 and instead won the NIT, in one of the last meaningful ones, before the NCAA's expanded field eventually reduced the NIT, to a consolation tournament; that Marquette team finished with a 28-1 record.

In 1974, McGuire took Marquette to the Final Four, losing in the title game to North Carolina State. But in 1977, he won it all, topping Dean Smith's North Carolina team, and then stepped down.

In 1997, two decades later, Marquette won a Conference USA tournament. And in 2003, they returned to the Final Four for the first time since the McGuire era, winning the C-USA regular season championship as well.

In 2004-05, Marquette had a decent season, which it finished with a 19-11 record. However, the team fell in the opening round of the C-USA tournament, to TCU in overtime. This fact, coupled with a 7-9 record in conference play, meant that the Golden Eagles really didn't have much of a chance at a NCAA bid. And so the season went into the record books, without the magic number of 20 wins, since it ended with a 12th loss, in the first round of the NIT (by double-digits, at home) to Western Michigan, in which the Golden Eagles scored only 40 points.

After the outstanding success of the 2003 team, Crean was being courted intensively by many other schools, particularly those in conferences of higher prestige than Conference USA, and those state schools with the money to presumably outbid Marquette in its bid to retain Crean for the long term.

To their credit, Marquette simply decided to shell out whatever it would take to keep him – in contrast to what usually happens at less wealthy private schools, namely, once they get a decent coach, they immediately lose him to higher powers in the college basketball firmament. They shrewdly calculated the math, figuring that if they wanted to keep a Big Ten school from taking Crean, the best solution would be simply to outbid his richer suitors, regardless of what it would cost to do so. And so Crean was locked up with a long-term deal, and has remained in Milwaukee.

Marquette had dropped a bit, however, since then, missing the NCAA tournament in both 2004 and 2005. However, Crean recovered well from the setbacks, guiding the Golden Eagles to the tournament in each of his last three seasons (2006-08). The Golden Eagles lost in the first round in 2006 and 2007, and the second round in 2008.

Full recap after the game.

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.)

#17 Villanova Hits Century Mark For First Time Ever Against Syracuse, 102-85

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, nationally ranked 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. 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.

Villanova returns to action on Tuesday in a showdown with conference leader Marquette at the Pavilion.

A more complete report will ensue…

Go Wildcats!

#17 Villanova Hangs On for Wild Win at Providence, 94-91

On Wednesday, February 4, #17 Villanova led by as many as 20 points - in the second half - and managed to hang on for a wild win at Providence, 94-91, as PC trailed by just one with 1.1 seconds to play. As radio analyst Whitey Rigsby pointed out - "Villanova gave up 57 points in the second half - on the road - and won."

Scottie Reynolds had a game-high 31 points, including many free throws at crunch time (he was 13-15 from the line overall). Four other Wildcats reached double figures - Dwayne Anderson (19 points), with Dante Cunningham, Reggie Redding and Corey Fisher each contributing a dozen.

Three Providence Friars scored 20-plus points in the course of the remarkable, valiant comeback (there won't be a lot of losses, where you have three scorers with 20 or more points, but it happened to PC tonight). Villanova won its four straight contest, improving to 6-3 Big East, 18-4 overall, and moving into sole possession of fifth place in the 16-team conference. (All four teams above Villanova are ranked in the top 10 nationally.)

A more complete recap will be posted later.

Go Wildcats!

#21 Villanova Clobbers Cincinnati for 25th Straight Pavilion Win, on the Day of Super Bowl XLIII

On the day of Super Bowl XLIII between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers, #21 Villanova put on its own version of a pre-game show against Cincinnati at noon. The game was undoubtedly scheduled for a noon tip-off, in order to allow the 6,500 fans (give or take) at the Pavilion to make it home or to the various Main Line establishments in plenty of time for the festivities. (It was a particularly welcome diversion, in light of the fact that the Eagles came remarkably close to participating in the Super Bowl themselves.) And those fans were not disappointed, as the Wildcats won their 25th consecutive game in the Pavilion.

The Wildcats also helped out with the pre-game entertainment, by providing an interesting game in the first half, before taking control and obliterating the Bearcats in the second half. Villanova triumphed easily, 71-50, although the contest was considerably more competitive than that final score would indicate. Cincinnati actually led by six in the first half and trailed by just six with 13:13 to play. After the Bearcats had successfully crawled back to 45-39, ‘Nova won the rest of the game 26-11.

Villanova improved its record to 5-3 Big East, 17-4 overall – the Wildcats are now Cincinnati fell to 4-5 Big East, 14-8 overall, as the Bearcats failed to sustain their momentum by defeating another ranked BE opponent, after upsetting Georgetown earlier in the week. Villanova extended its perfect streak against unranked opponents to 16-0.

Looking at the numbers:

The Villanova victory was powered by suffocating defensive intensity. The Bearcats managed to shoot just 29% from the floor and 26% from three-point range. They also committed 18 turnovers – and all of this futility is why they managed only 50 points. Conversely, the Wildcats shot 51% from the floor and thus were able to overcome a poor afternoon from beyond the arc: 2-12 for the day and 0-6 in the first half. Quality foul shooting also helped – ‘Nova had 24 free throws and converted 19 of them (79%).

The big star for ‘Nova was Dante Cunningham, who had a fine day - 21 points on 8-11 shooting. He also had eight rebounds, three blocks, and two steals (although he did turn the ball over half a dozen times, and that’s why it wasn’t a great day for him). Also in double figures for ‘Nova were Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher. Reynolds had 11 points in 30 minutes, as he did not have his best shooting touch – he shot just 2-8 from the floor and a majority of his points came from the line, where he was a near-perfect 7-8. In contrast, Fisher’s performance was far more encouraging. Fisher came off the bench for 20 minutes of action: he scored 11 points on 4-6 shooting, plus two steals, two assists and one rebound.

As for the game action:

Cincinnati looked very good in the first half. They posted a strong 6-0 run, triggering a Jay Wright timeout with the score UC 23 - VU 18, at the 6:01 mark. They were sinking into foul trouble, though, as UC committed enough fouls for VU to be in the double bonus with under six minutes to go in the first half.

Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates converted a traditional 3-pt play to make it 26-19. After he missed his initial free throw, there was a lane violation on DC, and Gates got another shot and made it this time… it was a 9-1 run ….

Fisher, off a steal, drove on a breakaway, and with a fine move (coming into the basket from the left and laying it up from the right side of the backboard), cut the UC lead to 26-19…

Dwayne Anderson knocked the ball out of 34’s hands in the corner – fine defense from DA and Antonio Pena – triggered the under-4 timeout with it still 26-21… This came on the heels of Anderson emerging from a scrum with the ball on the previous possession – although the save by Anderson did not lead to a Villanova basket (SR had to shoot immediately to avoid a shot-clock violation), it was a great play….

3:05 alley-ooped dunk from DC to make it 26-23, with a great cheer from the crowd…

Fisher makes 2 FTs to make it 26-25…..but picked up his 2nd foul on the next possession, sending him to the bench.

Pena followed up a missed layup from SR to put Nova up 27-26…at 2;17 – the 10th lead change ….

VU forced a turnover from the sideline trap, with Vaughn picking up his 3rd foul on Anderson, after Reynolds fed him trailing…. VU now 28-26 after 1 of 2 Fts.

After a three, UC led at the 1:15 mark, 29-28.

VU turned the ball over with 13.7 seconds left- but UC’s Miller missed the front end of a 1_1. It turned out that ‘Nova did not pay for the mistake (given that they could have held the ball for the last shot….) Reynolds laid it in with the waning seconds of the first half – VU took a 30-29 lead into intermission. It was the 12th lead change of the half, which featured four ties as well.

11-3 run to end the first half for ‘Nova…

Halftime numbers:

VU was 0-6 from beyond the arc – 5-15 for UC –

The Wildcats held a small advantage from the floor, with a 46% to 42% margin. They also reached the line far more often, going 10-13 against just 2-3 for the Bearcats. UC kept it close by relying on its bench, which scored a majority (18) of its 29 first-half points, compared to just seven for ‘Nova’s bench. (Cunningham had taken six of ‘Nova’s first seven shots and scored the Wildcats’ first eight points.) Each team had nine turnovers. Seven points from Gates at halftime…

DC alley-oop from Fisher - 9 pts, 3 rebounds for DC at halftime…

Jay Wright in a charcoal VU jumpsuit and sneakers… Mick Cronyn had him outclassed in black… one of the rare occasions when Wright will be outdone by an opposing coach when it comes to clothes.

Fisher gave VU its biggest lead at that point, 34-29; ‘Nova had trailed by as many as seven. Vaughn hit a 3 to make it 34-32 at17:07…

16:49 Anderson hit Villanova’s first 3 to make it 37-32.. Mitchum responded with another 3. Vaughn was in the game with 3 fouls..

At 15:41, Fisher committed his 3rd foul and had to head to the bench, with the TV timeout resulting – it was 37-35 ‘Nova, Fisher replaced by Stokes.

VU had a great play in transition, from Reggie Redding on a follow-up of a ‘Nova miss. 41-35…but then picked up his 3rd foul and was replaced by Shane Clark…

DC hit 2 FTs with 13:59 to go 43-37 – now with 15 pts…

Dish from DC to Clark, 45-37 – the biggest lead for either squad….

A called timeout from Wright with 13:13 to go, after a basket from UC 45-39…

Fisher breakaway off steal from Wilkes (pickpocket steal) 47-39 – Wilkes recovered well enough to defend the resulting layup, but Fisher managed to maneuver it in… Wright had been using the opportunity to get both DC and SR some time on the bench, and VU responded…

At this point, 25 of UC’s 39 pts were from the bench… Reynolds and DC were back in the game after the timeout… Fisher hit a 2 to 11:14 to extend the lead to 49-39… the Wildcats clearly had the momentum at this point, as UC then committed its fourth TO in six possessions… on an offensive foul. Gates also then committed an offensive foul on the next possession – another UC offensive foul on back to back possessions – its fifth turnover of the second half, against just 10 points. Stokes 51- 39 DC put back made it 53-39, with 9:01 to go, forcing Cronin to call a timeout (although I think at that point it was too late…) Villanova now led by 14… a 16-4 run… a UC shot clock violation with 8:32…

UC while absorbing a 12-0 run, missed all six of its shots and committed four turnovers… UC called another timeout at 7:17 to hold the lead, now down 57-39… at the under 8 at 6:39, ‘Nova held a commanding lead at 57-42… at this point, VU had scored 19 points off 16 UC turnovers…

With six minutes to go, UC fumbled the pass because it was so hard, had the ball almost go in, but it was rebounded with ‘Nova… it was that kind of day for ‘Nova. Villanova was only 1-11 from beyond the arc at this piint but had a 15 point lead, nonetheless…

Dish on to Cunningham for a dunk from Anderson…59-43…5:06…

Anderson 3 from top of arc, from SR…at 4:29 to gp…62-43…

VU was called for a three-second violation in each half…. The secondh-half one triggered the under 4- timeout at 3:59 and the 62-43 lead…

An intentional foul on SR on a breakaway on Mitchell (SR was annoyed about turning the ball over and grabbed him from behind), it’s extremely unusual to have an intentional foul called with a 19 point lead; Mitchell made both FTs, but UC did not score on the ensuing possession…

Stokes converted a traditional 3-pt play at the other end…65-47…2:46…

The game grew choppy at the end, with a sequence of fouls, with Villanova committing five quickly…

With 42.2 seconds to play, the deep reserves and walk-ons came into the game….unfortunately, they just ran out the clock rather than running a set, as it would have been cool to see one of them score. Nevertheless, the final ended up 71-50, VU. I have to say that I think that Wright should have put them in a lot sooner than the final minute, because Villanova had secured a virtually insurmountable lead far earlier, and the game had not been competitive for a while.

The Wildcats return to action on Wednesday, February 3, 2009, against the Providence Friars, one of their traditional Big East rivals. Villanova has historically struggled at Providence, and it is likely to be yet another tough one at the Dunkin’ Donuts Arena (nee Providence Civic Center).

Go Wildcats!

You can contact Villanova Viewpoint by commenting on this blog. Comments are encouraged. 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 Viewpoint Back on Blogger For Now

Hello-

Until further notice, Villanova Viewpoint is now back on Blogger - right here at villanovaviewpoint.blogspot.com... And instead of e-mailing, just leave a comment on any blog post here on Blogger.... Comments are encouraged...

Thanks - Go Wildcats!

You can contact Villanova Viewpoint by leaving a comment on this or any post....

#21 Wildcats Upset #3 Pittsburgh in Final NCAA Game

On Wednesday, #21 Villanova bade a final farewell to the "old Spectrum", the site of glorious victories over Big East opponents during the 1980s and 1990s. The Wildcats upset #3 Pittsburgh, its first win over a ranked opponent this season and likely cementing the squad's claim to a NCAA tournament berth.

The Wildcats return to action on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 1, when they host Cincinnati at the Pavilion at noon - in other words, in plenty of time for fans to return home to enjoy the Super Bowl - and, regrettably, ponder what could have been a "Turnpike Super Bowl", had the Eagles rallied for a victory in Arizona two weeks earlier.

Go Wildcats!

You can contact Villanova Viewpoint by leaving a comment on this blog... comments are encouraged. You also can e-mail villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com (Important note: This is a different e-mail address than before! Please use this one.)