Quick Recap: Marquette 80 Villanova 76

For the first time since 2003, Villanova was one-and-done in the Big East tournament. Instead of using the tournament as a way to start a turnaround, the Wildcats suffered their fifth loss in the last seven games. Let’s look at the latest of those defeats:

• Marquette was unbelievably hot from beyond the arc. It hit all six of its attempts in the second half. More than anyone else it was Darius Johnson-Odom who hurt the Wildcats. He was 5-for-7 from deep and finished with 24 points.
• One of the reasons the Golden Eagles were able to shoot so well from deep was their patience on offense. They routinely wound the shot clock down and waited for an open three. Villanova was often too slow to rotate, and Marquette was rewarded for its patience.
• The dagger was a Lazar Hayward 3-point shot that broke a 70-70 tie with 1:51 remaining. The Wildcats never managed to tie the game again.
• The win for Marquette was sweet revenge after losing four straight to Villanova. The last four meetings between the teams have been decided by a combined nine points.
• Scottie Reynolds played possibly his worst game of the Big East season. He hit just four of ten shots and finished with 10 points. He now stands 49 points behind Kerry Kittles for the the most points in Villanova history. The Wildcats would likely have to advance to the Sweet 16 for him to break the mark.
• Villanova got off to a very slow start, and one of the reasons why was its 10 first half turnovers. Effects of the double-bye or just the standard for Villanova now?
• Corey Stokes was clearly the Wildcats best player, scoring 22 points off the bench. He hit eight of nine shots, including six of seven from long range.
• Maalik Wayns had one of his better games in recent memory, scoring eight points off the bench.
• One Wildcat who had a particularly poor performance was Reggie Redding. He shot 1-for-9 from the field and finished with just two points. He also took a very questionable shot with Villanova down 73-70 with 1:20 remaining when he forced a layup in traffic. The Wildcats never had the ball down one score again. Despite the performance, Redding led the team with 38 minutes.
• Taylor King, who’s status was questionable until Tuesday, played two minutes, committed a reckless foul and was then benched for the rest of the game. Isaiah Armwood didn’t play at all.
• The Wildcats only committed 17 fouls, held the rebounding advantage and shot a higher-percentage than Marquette but still lost.
• After the game Reynolds made a very interesting comment by saying that he felt the Wildcats were better now than they were when they were ranked No. 2 in the country. Whether its delusion or trying to remain confident, the Wildcats do not sound like a team that is free-falling the last month.

- David Cassilo

Marquette will face Villanova tomorrow after surviving scare from St. John’s

Another Red Storm upset looked like it was a possibility, but in the end Marquette prevailed 57-55, and will now face Villanova in the Big East quarterfinals for the second straight season.

After trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half, St. John’s battled all the way back and held a 53-52 lead with 2:22 to play. Two possessions later, senior guard David Cubillan hit a three-point shot to put Marquette up for good. A half-court shot at the buzzer by St. John’s for the win was off target.

Now it’s a rematch against Villanova for the Golden Eagles. A year ago, Marquette rallied all the way back from a 16-point halftime deficit to take a one-point lead late in the game. However, its upset bid fell short as Villanova’s Dwayne Anderson hit a layup at the buzzer to give the Wildcats a 76-75.

The rivalry between the two teams grew as Villanova escaped Milwaukee with a 74-72 win on Jan. 2 when Scottie Reynolds sank the go-ahead basket with 19 seconds remaining.

A week later at Villanova, the Wildcats almost blew a 22-point lead, but managed to hold on 78-76.

Marquette will look to snap a four-game losing streak against Villanova at 2 p.m. tomorrow in the Big East quarterfinals.

-David Cassilo

Taylor King rumors fly around campus

Taylor King’s absence from Saturday’s game was mysteriously described as a “teaching point” by Jay Wright. Yesterday came the news that this “teaching point” might cost King a chance to play in the Big East tournament.

Rumors around campus are flying and theories that have been given have ranged from behavioral to academic. Nothing is certain other than that Villanova has done an excellent job at being tight-lipped.

The latest rumor is that his NCAA tournament may be in jeopardy, but at this point, that is just a rumor.

Expect to hear soon because if we know anything about Wright, it is that he is a master at eliminating distractions from his team.

-David Cassilo

St. John’s destroys UConn, will face Marquette with winner to play Nova

The Red Storm jumped all over a lackluster UConn team and cruised to an easy 73-51 victory in front of the home Madison Square Garden crowd. Junior forward Sean Evans tied a career-high with 19 points and chipped in nine rebounds as the Red Storm advanced to the second round of the Big East tournament, where it will face Marquette.

It is the second straight season the Red Storm has pulled off a first-round upset as a No. 13 seed. A year ago it knocked off Georgetown 64-59.

Just like last year, St. John’s will meet Marquette in the second-round. Last season the Golden Eagles had no problem with the Red Storm, jumping out to a 38-10 halftime lead before winning 74-55.

This year the two teams are a bit closer in talent. In their only meeting this season on Feb. 24, Marquette defeated St. John’s 63-61 in overtime on a game-winner from junior forward Jimmy Butler.

Villanova awaits the winner of Thursday’s game and is 3-0 this season against the two teams. It had two two-point victories against Marquette and an 81-71 win over St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.

- David Cassilo

Taylor King may miss Big East tournament

Speaking to the media today, Jay Wright said that Taylor King might miss the Big East tournament because of an undisclosed personal issue.

King was benched in Saturday’s loss to West Virginia because of a “teaching point.”

Wright, who was vague on what exactly was the reason behind this, said that he will decide soon whether King will play or not.

-David Cassilo

Breaking down Villanova’s potential opponents

Today is the calm before the storm as Tuesday the Big East tournament will begin. Villanova won’t know who it is playing until about 5 p.m. on Wednesday, so here is a look at its three potential opponents:

(5) Marquette (20-10, 11-7): The most likely opponent is the Golden Eagles. It would be the latest contest in what has become a budding rivalry between the two schools. The Wildcats have gotten the best of the games recently. They defeated Marquette 76-75 on a Dwayne Anderson game-winner in the quarterfinals of last year’s Big East tournament. This season they have handed them two two-point defeats.

While Marquette has defied expectations after losing its core from a season ago, the Golden Eagles are still tough to figure out. Four of their last fives games have went to overtime, including contests against Cincinnati and St. John’s. While Marquette has defeated Georgetown and Louisville, it has also lost to DePaul.

Led by senior forward Lazar Hayward, the Golden Eagles will be gunning for revenge if they meet Villanova in the quarterfinals again this season.

(12) Connecticut (17-14, 7-11): Perhaps the most difficult team to figure out this season is UConn. It has defeated Villanova, West Virginia and Texas, but also lost to USF, Cincinnati twice, Providence and Michigan. The result of the Huskies erratic play means that they will probably need at least two wins to get an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament.

Villanova saw first hand how talented the Huskies can be, especially guards Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker and forward Stanley Robinson. However, outside those three players, there isn’t much offense on their roster. Although UConn plays strong defense (a key to their win against Villanova), it often has trouble scoring enough to win games.

The overall talent on this roster will make the Huskies a sleeper pick to reach the quarterfinals.

(13) St. John’s (16-14, 6-12): It has been another rough year for the Red Storm, and perhaps the only thing working in its favor is playing at Madison Square Garden. A season ago that helped pulled off a first-round upset against Georgetown before falling to Marquette.

To do that again St. John’s will need more production from players other than D.J. Kennedy and Dwight Hardy, its only players averaging on double-figures.

The Red Storm fell by 16 in its only meeting against UConn this season and needed three overtimes to defeat DePaul in its last game, suggesting that a lot will need to go the Red Storm’s way for a miracle run through the Big East tournament.

-David Cassilo

Big East tournament field set: Nova plays 2 p.m. on Thursday

The regular season came to a close today in the Big East with seven Saturday games. Now the field is set, and it is time to get ready for the Big East tournament, which starts on Tuesday.

• 12 PM Tuesday: 9. South Florida vs. 16. DePaul
• 12 PM Wednesday: 8. Georgetown  vs USF/DPU
• 12 PM Thursday: 1. Syracuse vs GU/USF/DPU

 

• 2 PM Tuesday: 12. UConn vs. 13. St. John’s
• 2 PM Wednesday: 5. Marquette vs. UCONN/STJ
• 2 PM Thursday: 4. Villanova vs. MARQ/UCONN/STJ

 

• 7 PM Tuesday: 10. Seton Hall vs. 15. Providence
• 7 PM Wednesday: 7. Notre Dame vs. SHU/PROV
• 7 PM Thursday: 2. Pittsburgh vs. ND/SHU/PROV

 

• 9 PM Tuesday: 11. Cincinnati vs. 14. Rutgers
• 9 PM Wednesday: 6. Louisville vs. CINN/RU
• 9 PM Thursday: 3. West Virginia vs. LOU/CINN/RU

 

If all goes according to plan, the potential semifinal matchups are:

Syracuse vs. Villanova

Pittsburgh vs. West Virginia

We’ll break down what the seeding means for Villanova in the coming days.

- David Cassilo

Quick recap: West Virginia 68 Villanova 66 (OT)

At halftime, Villanova led 29-16. It’s defense looked like it had finally come together, and it appeared that the team would get a much needed confidence building victory heading into the Big East tournament.

How quickly things can change.

West Virginia outscored Villanova 44-31 in the second half, and the Wildcats needed a Corey Fisher 3-point shot with 7.7 seconds left to send the game to overtime. In the extra session, the teams were tied at 66-66 when Da’Sean Butler blew by Reggie Redding for a layup to put his team ahead with 5.8 seconds remaining.

The Wildcats had a chance to win it when the play that Jay Wright drew up worked perfectly, leaving Scottie Reynolds wide open in the corner for a 3-pointer after a pass from Redding, but Reynolds’ shot clanked off the back of the rim as time expired.

The result was a devastating 68-66 loss for Villanova to put a cap on a disappointing finish to the regular season. Villanova dropped five of its last nine games to finish 24-6 overall and 13-5 in the Big East.

The game began to slip into West Virginia’s favor early in the second half when the Wildcats committed six fouls in the first 5:02. By the 9:30 mark Villanova already had nine (two of which were questionable holds away from the ball), and Wright lost his cool and received a technical.

After the technical, the calls began to fall back into Villanova’s favor, and West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins became irate and received a technical too. The game was called poorly for both sides on Saturday.

In the end, it wasn’t the officiating that did Villanova in but instead the play of Butler. With Villanova up 55-53 in regulation, Butler hit a wide-open 3-point shot from the top of they key to give his team a 56-55 lead with 52 seconds remaining. His heroics continued later on the game-winning shot in overtime. He finished the contest with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Despite missing the game-winner, Reynolds once again led the Wildcats in scoring with 17 points. He now stands at 2,184 points for his career, trailing Kerry Kittles by 59 for the school record.

Reynolds did appear a bit beaten up in the game. He fell hard to the floor numerous times, including a play where he jumped over the CBS commentators. He was grimacing often in the second half and did not appear to be 100 percent.

Fisher and Redding also had double-figures in scoring for Villanova with 12 and 10, respectively. Junior Corey Stokes continued his strong play since moving to the bench as he finished with 11 points.

One player who remained on that bench for Villanova was Taylor King. Jay Wright said that King did not play Saturday because of a “teaching point.”

The loss has Villanova most likely slated for the four-seed in the Big East tournament, barring an upset by Rutgers at Pittsburgh. If it is the four-seed, Villanova’s first game would be 2 p.m. on Thursday against the winner of Marquette and its yet to be determined opponent.

- David Cassilo

One for All: Who will get the last one-seed?

If anything is certain in this college basketball season, it is that Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse should lock up one-seeds in the NCAA tournament. Once thought to be a lock for that fourth No. 1, Villanova now finds itself in a group of teams fighting for that last remaining spot. Here is a breakdown of those teams from most likely to least likely:

1) Duke (25-5, 12-3), RPI: 3, SOS: 6

• What it needs to do: Beat UNC on Saturday, win the ACC tournament
• Despite the loss at Maryland yesterday, Duke still finds itself with the best shot for a No. 1 seed. If it wins the ACC tournament, which should conclude with a rematch against Maryland, the selection committee will find it hard to keep a team that tied for the ACC regular season title and won the conference tournament off the top line. What Duke really has working for them is the numbers. Their RPI and SOS compare favorably to any team in competition. With one win over a top-25 team (Maryland) and one road win over a team in the top 80 of the RPI (Clemson), it is hard to figure out why the numbers work in Duke’s favor, but they do. Either way, the bottom line is that with just one potentially difficult game on the schedule being that ACC title game, Duke has the easiest road to winning out.

2) Villanova (24-5, 13-4), RPI: 7, SOS: 28

• What it needs to do: Beat West Virginia on Saturday, make the Big East final
• For all the struggles that Villanova has had over the last month, its hot start keeps the Wildcats in contention for a top seed. The Big East has been the best conference in America this season, and if any league  is to get two top seeds, it will be that one. The road would to a one-seed would most likely include a win over West Virginia on Saturday and then a win over either West Virginia or Pittsburgh in the Big East semifinals. The advantage that the Wildcats have is that no win by any other team would seal up the top seed as easily as knocking off Syracuse in the Big East final.

3) Kansas State (24-5, 11-4), RPI: 5, SOS: 4

• What it needs to do: Beat Iowa State on Saturday, win Big 12 tournament, get help
• Kansas State had its best chance Wednesday night to show that it deserved a one-seed but fell by 17 to Kansas. Now the Wildcats might have to settle for a two-seed. Even with a win over Kansas in the Big 12 final, Kansas State may not be able to do enough if Duke and Villanova do what they need to do. As of now, Kansas State’s best win is a victory against Baylor on the road, and that does not sound like the resume of a top seed.

4) Ohio State (24-7, 14-4), RPI: 28, SOS: 69

• What it needs to do: Win Big Ten tournament, get help
• Over the last month Ohio State has looked like one of the best four teams in college basketball. It has the best player in the country in Evan Turner, and he has a chance to lead his team to the regular season and postseason title in the Big Ten. It sounds like Ohio State should be atop this list, but its terrible computer numbers suggest otherwise. With an RPI and SOS so high, it will be tough for the selection committee to overlook these numbers when making the bracket. I doubt any team with numbers like those has received a one-seed, but if Ohio State is the first, it would be hard to argue.

5) West Virginia (23-6, 12-5), RPI: 6, SOS: 4

• What it needs to do: Beat Villanova on Saturday, win Big East tournament
• The Mountaineers have floated around the top-10 for most of the season, never showing that they deserved to be considered among the nation’s elite, while also never giving a reason to drop them too low. Bob Huggins’ team will have plenty of chances the next ten days to do the former as it faces Villanova on Saturday and then has  potential games with Villanova, Syracuse and Pittsburgh in the Big East tournament. If West Virginia was able to run the table, it would enter the NCAA tournament as the hottest team in the country and with three more top-notch wins under its belt. That being said, it is by far the most difficult road of any team.

Longshots:

• Purdue (25-4, 13-4), if it runs the table, and the selection committee believes it can win without Robbie Hummel.
• New Mexico (28-3, 14-2), if the selection committee forgets the Lobos play in the Mountain West Conference and that their best win is against Texas A&M.

- David Cassilo

Cats Win, but Are They Fixed?

Last night was the best game that the Wildcats have played since the win at West Virginia. Villanova dominated from the opening tip, seized control and always responded when South Florida got close. It was a 74-59 win, and the Wildcats got 21 points from Scottie Reynolds on Senior Night. Funny how easy it is at The Pavilion.

Even better for Villanova was that Pittsburgh lost to Notre Dame, meaning that even if the team loses on Saturday at Syracuse, it will still hold the 2-seed in the Big East tournament.

To analyze just how good this win was, let’s look at each area that struggled against Pitt and see how it fared Wednesday night.

• Fouls: The Wildcats looked very disciplined on defense, picking up just 17 fouls. Even more important was that very few of those fouls would fall into the category of “stupid” or “unnecessary.” Reggie Redding was the only Wildcat that dealt with foul trouble, and the team was able to overcome his absence. Overall, it was a very low combined foul total (35) for a Big East game, and I’m not sure if the credit should go to both teams or the referees. Either way, it was a step in the right direction for Villanova.
• Half-court offense: While Villanova got its fair share of points out of the fast break, it also looked very comfortable in the half-court. The reason for this was that Corey Stokes and Antonio Pena both played well, giving the Wildcats more scoring options and giving the Bulls more players to defend. The team wasn’t constantly relying on one-on-one  moves and looked better for it.
• Bench: One of the main reasons Villanova won was the play of its bench. From the scoring side of it, Dominic Cheek looked fantastic. He finished with 8 points and also added some stellar defense. From the defensive side of it, Mouphtaou Yarou was asked to play a pivotal role, and he did not disappoint. The freshman played 24 minutes and limited the South Florida starting frontcourt to just 12 points. With 4 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks, Yarou was a major contributor. Taylor King also looked better shooting the ball, hitting both his shots for 5 points.
• Be Aggressive: Perhaps the only area that Villanova did not remarkably improve was in this one. The Wildcats got to the line just 19 times. However, the game was a blowout and the officials let them play more often than not. Still, the Wildcats would like to see that number up around 25.
• Defense: Ok, we didn’t look at this against Pitt, but it’s worth noting because of the team’s struggles all season. This was arguably Villanova’s most complete defensive game of the season. It held South Florida to 49 points, 38.1 percent shooting and just 42 total shots. It was a complete 40 minutes of defense. Villanova has now put together back-t0-back solid defensive performances, and this might be the sign of things to come.

Although Villanova played great, this was not its perfect game, and I think that’s the most promising part. Throw in a better performance from Corey Fisher, who finished with just 7 points, and add a greater impact from Redding, and this team is firing on all cylinders.

Wednesday was exactly was the Wildcats needed to see, and they seem poised for a strong effort Saturday night at Syracuse.

-David Cassilo