Wildcats Thunder Past Herd in 2K Sports Classic

The Villanova Wildcats, sparked by Freshman point guard Ryan Arcidiacono, beat a tall, athletic, and talented Marshall University team 80-68 in a second round game of the 2K Sports Classic, on Sunday afternoon, November 11th, at the Pavilion.

The Wildcats led almost the entire game after breaking a 17-17 tie on a basket by James Bell. The Wildcats shot the ball well and controlled the boards against the taller Thundering Herd. Villanova hit 56.5% of their shots, sinking 13 of 23 field goal attempts (including 5 of 12 three point shots). Perhaps even more telling was Villanova’s contol of the backboards. The Wildcats out-rebounded Marshall 17-9, and limited the Herd to only one offensive rebound in the first half. Nova went to the locker room with a 43-35 half time lead.

Arcidiacono had 20 points to pace the Wildcats in scoring in the opening twenty minutes, with Bell adding 11 points. Equally important, the Wildcats limited DeAndre Kane, a pre-season All-Conference (Conference USA) first team selection, to two points in the first half.

In the second half, Villanova maintained a lead from start to finish. Marshall came within two points on a three pointer by D.D. Scarver to make it 59-57 with less then ten minutes to go in the game. But the Wildcats stayed poised and went on a 7-0 run to boost their margin to 66-57. The Herd, once again, came thundering back to make it a two point game 70-68 with under four minutes left. The Wildcats responded on a trey by James Bell (off of a nice feed from Arcidiacono), and went on to score the last ten points of the game.

Coach Jay Wright said, “That was a really good effort by our team”. He went on to praise Arcidiacono for having a very high basketball IQ. In particular, Wright stated that he was pleased by his team’s tenacity after the Herd cut the lead to two points, and by his team’s efforts in out-rebounding Marshall. He cited the fact that Marshall only had three offensive rebounds the whole game as a very positive sign of Villanova’s toughness.

Overall, the Wildcats had three players score in double figures, led by Arcidiacono’s 25, Bell’s 19, and Darrun Hilliard who contributed 15 points. Jayvaughn Pinkston, who had a rough afternoon shooting, was Villanova’s leading rebounder with 7. Achraf Yacoubou and Maurice Sutton each had 5 boards. Arcidiacono distributed 6 assists to his teammates. For the visiting Herd, Scarver was the high scorer with 22 points. Chris Martin had 13 points, and Elijah Pittman 12. Kane ended up with 4 points.

For the game, Villanova shot 23 of 46 (50%) from the field, 9 of 22 three pointers (40.9%), and 25 of 37 from the charity stripe (67.6%). The Wildcats grabbed 37 boards to 23 for Marshall.

Several former Villanova players were on hand for the game including current 76ers guard Maalik Wayns.

With the victory, the Wildcats improved to 2-0 on the young season. Marshall fell to 1-1. Villanova next travels to New York to continue play in the 2K Sports Classic against the Purdue Boilermakers on Thursday night, November 15, in the second game of a double-header at Madison Square Garden. The game will tip off at approximately 930pm. Alabama will play Oregon State in the first game. Both games will be televised on ESPN 2.

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[photo credit: Christian Hafer]

Villanova Blue & White Scrimmage 2012

Homecoming weekend at Villanova concluded on October 27th with the annual Blue/White men’s basketball scrimmage at the Pavilion. There were many old faces (returning players and coaches, Maalik Wayns, Curtis Sumpter) and many new faces (coaches and players) on hand for the game. The 2012-13 Villanova Wildcats are also missing Dominic Cheek and Markus Kennedy from last year’s squad.

Senior forward Maurice Sutton led the way for the victorious White team with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Fellow senior Mouphtaou Yarou chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds, and Darrun Hilliard also contributed 12 points and four boards.

The Blue team was led by James Bell and Dylan Ennis, who each scored 13 points. JayVaughn Pinkston contributed 10 points and four rebounds to the Blue team cause.

Freshman Ryan Arcidiacono sat the game out.

Villanova will play its first opponent on November 1st when they host Carleton University at 7pm in an exhibition game at the Pavilion.

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Wildcats Outclawed By Bearcats as Villanova Closes Out Regular Season with Loss to Cincinnati

With 1:32 left in the second half, Villanova trailed Cincinnati 66-64 (after rallying back from an eight point halftime deficit), when Yancy Gates was fouled and went to the line to shoot two free throws. Gates missed both foul shots, but in a moment that was a microcosm for the entire Villanova season, the Wildcats were unable to come up with the rebound and lost the ball out of bounds, losing a chance to tie the game or take a lead. Instead, the Bearcats retained the ball and Dion Dixon drained a triple to make it 67-62. Even though Maalik Wayns drained a three pointer with 40:1 left on the clock, the Wildcats were not able to pull even with the Bearcats and missed an opportunity to gain momentum for the upcoming  Big East tournament.

Villanova, coming off of a road win at Rutgers on Thursday night, fell behind Cincinnati 9-4 to start the nationally televised game at the Pavilion. The Wildcats rallied to tie the game at 11-11, but fell behind again when the Bearcats went on a 9-0 run to go up 20-11. Cincinnati was able to retain the lead throughout the first half by dominating the boards (17-12, including 8 offensive rebounds) and hitting on 51.6% of their field goal attempts. At the intermission, the Bearcats held a 40-32 lead. Gates had 10 points and Sean Kilpatrick chipped in 9. For Villanova, Wayns and Dominic Cheek each had 10 points.

Villanova came out for the second half with a greater sense of urgency and outscored Cincinnati 15-7 to notch a tie at 47-47. After the Bearcats briefly retook the lead 49-47, Wayns hit a triple to give the Wildcats a 50-49 lead. The teams then traded the lead four times before the Wildcats again tied it up at 58-58 on a basket by Markus Kennedy. Cincinnati then went back on top 64-58 by hitting two three-point shots. Once more, the Wildcats, who struggled all season long, tried to mount a comeback, and got the score to 64-62 on a Mouph Yarou basket. However, the Wildcats were unable to successfully get over the hump and lost another Big East battle.

With the loss, Villanova closed out the regular season with an overall record of 12-18, 5-13 in the Big East. Cincinnati ended its regular season with a mark of 22-9, 12-6 in the Big East. Villanova was led in scoring by Wayns with 26 points. Yarou added 16 and Cheek contributed 10, all in the first half. Maurice Sutton, who once again played with great energy, scored 9 points. Cincinnati had four players in double figures: Gates had 16, Dixon 14, Kilpatrick 13, and JaQuon Parker pitched in 11.

Villanova ended up winning the rebounding margin 31-30. Yarou had 7 boards, and Sutton & Kennedy had 5 each. Gates was the Bearcats’ leading rebounder with 9. Wayns handed out 5 assists, with only 2 turnovers for Nova and Cashmere Wright had 6 assists and zero turnovers for Cincinnati.

Next up for both teams is the Big East tournament, which starts on March 6th in Madison Square Garden. Cincinnati will enjoy a double bye before playing its first game at the Garden. Villanova will be playing on the first day when they square off with Rutgers at 930pm.

Sitting court side were former Villanova basketball star Malik Allen, former Villanova and Philadelphia Eagles football great Brian Westbrook, and Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown. 

You can check out the post game press conference with

Villanova coach Jay Wright, Maalik Wayns, and Mouph Yarou by CLICKING HERE.

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Villanova Loses Second Straight Overtime Game as UCONN Escapes with Win

For the second straight game, the Villanova Wildcats lost an overtime battle against a Big East rival at the Wells-Fargo Center, falling to the University of Connecticut Huskies 73-70. Just like the previous game (less than 48 hours earlier to Notre Dame), the Wildcats held a big lead early in the contest that evaporated before they succumbed to the Huskies. In last night’s game, Villanova got off to a hot start, jumping out to a 26-8 lead, led by the hot shooting of Dominic Cheek and Mouph Yarou. UCONN guard Jeremy Lamb quickly heated up however and the Huskies went on a 22-4 run to close out the first half. At the intermission, the teams were deadlocked at 30-30.

 

Both teams came into the nationally televised game (ESPN), struggling. Villanova had lost five 0f their last six games, including the overtime loss on Saturday night to Notre Dame. Connecticut had lost four of their last six, including a loss on Saturday to Marquette. Both teams entered the fray with losing records in Big East play, Villanova was 4-10 in conference games, and the Huskies 6-8.

 

In the second half, after the teams were tied three times, Connecticut took a 7 point lead, 54-47, on an old fashioned three point play by Lamb with 6:28 to go in regulation. The Wildcats fought back, however, and went back on top, 60-58, after two-made foul shots by Yarou with 2:18 left in the game. When Ryan Boatwright missed two foul shots for the Huskies, the Wildcats had a chance to enhance the lead But alas, it was not to be. First, JayVaughn Pinkston missed a three point shot with 34.9 seconds left. Villanova got the rebound and after a timeout, Dom Cheek made a bad inbound pass that led to a UCONN steal and a bucket by Alex Oriakhi, once more tying the game, 60-60. Villanova had one more opportunity in regulation,  but could not convert.

 

UCONN rode the hot hand of Lamb throughout the overtime period, as he scored their first 10 points of the “extra ” session. But once again, Villanova did not quit and fought back. Ty Johnson hit a layup with 5.9 seconds left to tie the game at 70-70. Unfortunately, for the Wildcats, Shabazz Napier had enough time to launch a 29 foot three pointer that connected and gave the Huskies the lead 73-70. With 6/10ths of a second left after Napier’s shot swished through the net, Villanova’s attempt to inbound went astray and the the Cats went down to another heartbreaking overtime loss.

 

Cheek was Villanova’s high scorer with 23 points, on 9 for 13 shooting, including 2 of 5 three point shots. Ty Johnson ended with 14 points and contributed 6 assists against 4 turnovers. JayVaughn Pinkston had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Mouph Yarou added 11 points for the Wildcats. For the second straight game, Villanova was without the services of starters Maalik Wayns and James Bell who both continue to nurse injuries. Prior to the game, Dallas Ouano, Villanova’s lone senior, was honored at mid-court as part of the senior night ceremonies.

For UCONN, Lamb scored a game (and career) high 32 points. He was the Huskies only player to score in double figures. Andre Drummond had a game high 11 rebounds for the Huskies.

 

Villanova, now 11-16 overall, 4-11 BE, next plays at Georgetown on Saturday, February 25th. UCONN, now 17 -10 overall, 7-8 BE, hosts Syracuse on Saturday night.

To view the post game press conference with Jay Wright, Dominic Cheek, and Ty Johnson,

CLICK HERE!

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Luck of The Irish Declaws Wildcats in Overtime as Notre Dame Tops Villanova

The Villanova Wildcats squandered a 20 point first half lead (39-19), and lost to the surging Fighting Irish of Notre Dame 74-70 in overtime. Notre Dame won its eighth straight game to boost its record to 19-8 overall, 11-3 Big East. For the struggling Wildcats, it was another tough loss in a season full of tough losses. Villanova fell to 11-15 overall, 4-10 Big East.

 

Villanova played, perhaps, their best half of basketball all season in the opening period and went into the intermission leading by 16 points, 39-23. Paced by Freshman JayVaughn Pinkston, the Wildcats hit 15 of 31 shots in the opening half, including 4 of 8 from three point range. The Wildcats also dominated on the glass, winning the rebounding margin 24-10. Villanova also had 8 assists against only 3 turnovers in the opening half.

After trailing early 10-5, Villanova went on a 20-2 run to take a 25-12 lead. With just over a minute and a half to go in the half, the Wildcats lead ballooned to 39-19. Pinkston had 14 points, Dominic Cheek had 11 points, and Mouph Yarou had 7 rebounds as the teams went to the locker room. All of this was accomplished without leading scorer Maalik Wayns, who missed his second straight game with an injury. James Bell also sat out the game with an injury. In their place, Freshman Ty Johnson and Junior Maurice Sutton got the start for Villanova. Jack Cooley was the Irish’s only player in double figures in the first half with 10 points.

 

The second half saw Notre Dame mount a slow but steady comeback aided by excellent outside shooting from Pat Connaughton, who ended up hitting 7 three point shots (three in the second half and two in the overtime session). Eric Atkins, held to just three points in the opening half, added 11 in the second half and also stepped up the defensive pressure on Ty Johnson. The Irish put together a 13-0 run late in the second half to turn a 56-47 Villanova lead to a 60-56 edge for Notre Dame. It took a last second put-back by Maurice Sutton to tie the game at 60-60 and send the contest into overtime.

 

In the overtime period, the Irish broke a 65-65 tie, with back to back three pointers from Connaughton and Jerian Grant to take a 71-65 lead that they would not relinquish. Once again, Villanova let a game get away that was theirs for the taking. Notre Dame’s composure and effort enabled the visitors to pull out the win before a crowd of 15, 939 at the Wells Fargo Center.

 

For Villanova, Pinkston was the leading scorer with 24 points. Mo Sutton had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Dom Cheek added 19 points, Mouph Yarou had 11 boards (to lead the Wildcats), and Ty Johnson, who played a season high 40 minutes, had 7 assists against only 2 turnovers.

 

For Notre Dame, Connaughton led the scoring with 21 points, all coming on three pointers. Cooley with 18, Atkins with 17, and Grant with 10 also scored in double figures. Cooley ended up with a game high 13 rebounds, and Grant had 9 assists for the Irish.

 

Next up for Villanova is a game against  the UCONN Huskies, last year’s National champions, at the Wells-Fargo Center at 7 pm on Monday, February 20th. Guard Dallas Ouano, Villanova’s lone senior, will be honored before the game. The Irish return to action on Wednesday February 22nd when they entertain the West Virginia Mountaineers.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie attended the game and sat behind the Notre Dame bench.

[photo credits: Michael Green]

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