We have tip-off times for the first round, and let's start with the local games. All times Eastern:
Thursday, March 20
5. Michigan State vs. 12. Temple, 12:30 p.m.
Friday, March 21
6. Oklahoma vs. 11 St. Joseph's, approx. 7:10 p.m.
5. Clemson vs. 12. Villanova, approx. 9:50 p.m.
Isn't that the second year in a row the Wildcats have been put in the last Friday night game?
Also, you can print your own bracket by clicking here.
After the jump, the full schedule.
Darnell Harris hit his first three of the night with 3:19 on the clock to cut Temple's lead to 35-31. But Dionte Christmas answered with a three of his own from the top left of the arc, stopping the Explorers' brief momentum.
And now it's 43-33 Temple with 1:11 left in the half.
A day after making a bunch of threes to beat Syracuse, Villanova had the tables turned on them by a Georgetown team that is playing its best basketball of the season at exactly the right time.
Trailing at halftime, 40-29, the Wildcats stormed out of the gate in the second half, and actually led, 47-43, with 13:11 to play. But the Hoyas went on a 12-3 run after that, then turned it up a notch with an 11-1 burst to put the game away.
At the moment, I have no reason to think Villanova has done enough to make the NCAA Tournament. If enough other teams fall that could change, but the Wildcats are pretty far back in line at the moment.
ATLANTIC CITY -- Holy cow.
Down 28-19 with 1:41 left in the first half, Villanova ran off a 9-0 run to hit intermission trailing by only a point.
Then the Wildcats just blew Syracuse's doors off.
'Nova outscored the Orange by 20 points, 55-35, in the final 20 minutes, en route to a very impressive 82-63 win.
Scottie Reynolds finished the game with 22 points, Corey Stokes had 18, and Dwayne Anderson -- what a spark he's been -- added 14.
I see the Wildcats made 11 of 21 threes in the game. Reading Jerry Palm's liveblog for CSTV.com, I see they were at least 8-for-9 in the second half. Wow.
So it's on to a rematch against Georgetown tomorrow at noon. That should be a good one.
UPDATE: Mike Kern checks in with all the details. And so does Joe Juliano.
Teek writes:
The best NCAA tournament game in town takes place this Friday night at 8:00 at Ursinus College where the 25-2 Ursinus Bears, Centennial Conference champions with a 20-0 league record, take on Baptist Bible College in an opening round Division III NCAA Tournament game.
$6.00 for adults, $3.00 for kids - to see an NCAA game cheaper you'd have to be playing in it.
He's got a good point. I can't make it, but maybe you can.
I can't make it to the Fieldhouse tonight either -- though most of us won't be able to because there won't be so much as an inch to spare tonight when St. Joe's hosts Xavier.
Among the absolute must-read stories on Philly.com today is Ray Parrillo's look back at the Hawks' 59-year-old home floor, and some of the great memories that have been created there over the years.
The other outstanding story today is Mike Jensen's feature on basketball players from Philadelphia who are now pros in Europe. It's the first of a two-part series on Philly athletes abroad, and it runs on the front page of the print edition of today's Inquirer.
Mike went all the way to Poland to find a bumper crop of expats on the hardwood out there, ranging from Rashid Atkins to Chet Stachitas to Mustafa Shakur. He came back with an outstanding story that might be the best piece of college basketball journalism in the city this whole season.
There's also a great map showing where a bunch of players with local ties are now.
Now, I happen to know what the second part of the series is, and if you look in today's paper you'll find it too. But if you don't know, I'm not telling. Let's just say it won't surprise you too much.
Other stories:
Jeff McLane and Steve King on Temple's win over Duquesne that locked up second place in the conference for the Owls
Joe Juliano and Mike Kern on Villanova's win over South Florida
And La Salle got blown out at UMass.
Let's give a Line of the Day to Dionte Christmas for breaking out of a mini-slump:
Name |
Min |
FG |
FT |
3pt |
OR |
DR |
TR |
A |
S |
TO |
Blk |
PF |
Eff |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
D. Christmas |
40 |
12-23 |
9-9 |
4-11 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
30 |
37 |
That noise you just heard somewhere along the Schuylkill Expressway was Villanova's momentum crashing to a halt.
I was starting to think about resurrection analogies at halftime, but then Lazar Hayward and Marquette turned a seven-point Villanova lead into a 10-point Golden Eagles win.
Joe and I will have plenty to say about the game on tomorrow's College HoopsCast (yes, we pushed it to Tuesday again), but in the mean time, did you ever think the Wildcats still had a shot at the NCAA Tournament?
While working on some other projects before rejoining you en route to Boston on Friday, here are a few topics to discuss:
1. Where did this kind of a performance by Villanova come from?
2. Where on earth did that pullover Bob Huggins was wearing come from?
3. Why can't more games be on Channel 17? (Okay, we know the answer to that one, but still.)
4. At the end of last night's Purdue-Indiana game, Brent Musburger said he hoped to see Kelvin Sampson on the sidelines for the Hoosiers' next game on Saturday. Now, I'm a pretty big fan of Musburger, and you're welcome to not be, but let's focus on this: I thought that was a bit uncalled for in journalistic terms, and I also think Sampson deserves to lose his job. What do you think?
And a bonus: Is this guy the best player in college basketball, and, after last night, has his team shown that it's the best in the ACC?
Name |
Min |
FG |
FT |
3pt |
OR |
DR |
TR |
A |
S |
TO |
Blk |
PF |
Eff |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
T. Hansbrough |
37 |
11-19 |
10-13 |
0-0 |
3 |
9 |
12 |
0 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
35 |
32 |
(Yes, I took a picture of my television, because I can't find any photos of Huggins from the game on the wires yet.)
I see the comments about Malcolm Grant and I would just like to say this in brief. I am not as well-connected to the Villanova program as the beat writers are, so I don't hear much about the Wildcats off the record, but I do think questions about Grant are fair to ask.
I can tell you that Jay has been asked by reporters about why Grant doesn't play and the answer thus far has been preferring Reggie Redding for his defense.
That is not to pass judgement, just telling you what has been said on the record.
And while I don't want to have to take the question up every week, I will try to give it another hearing when I record this week's College HoopsCast later today.
By the way, if you think last night's finish was rough, consider what happened to the Rutgers women just a few minutes later at Tennessee.
WASHINGTON -- In a game with enough calls to make a presidential campaign fundraiser jealous, the 48th and final foul of the night was perhaps the most controversial of them all.
With the score tied at 53-53, Scottie Reynolds’ driving layup was blocked by Jeremiah Rivers in the game’s dying seconds and Jonathan Wallace came out of a ferocious scrum with the loose ball. As he turned to launch a heave at the buzzer, Corey Stokes went out to block him and got just the slightest piece of Wallace’s jersey.
The whistle blew with one tenth of a second left.
Wallace strode to the foul line and calmly sank two free throws to give Georgetown a 55-53 win.
As I watched a replay of the contact, I had a very hard time seeing enough to judge it a foul. Especially with so little time on the clock.
But perhaps a less than palatable game all around deserved just such an ending. This thing was really hard to stomach at times.
Corey Fisher made only one of 16 field goal attempts, Scottie Reynolds made six of 13, Jonathan Wallace made four of 10 and DaJuan Summers made four of 11.
The only players who shot 50 percent or better were Roy Hibbert, Jessie Sapp and Patrick Ewing, Jr., and they shot 3-for-6, 2-for-4 and 2-for-3 respectively.
So the final stats were these.
For Villanova: 14-for-57 from the field (24.6%), including 3-for-23 from 3-point range (13.0%) and 11-for-34 from 2-point range (32.4%), and 22-for-27 from the free throw line (81.5%). Sixteen offensive rebounds, 25 defensive rebounds, seven assists, 11 turnovers, two blocks, five steals and 24 fouls committed.
That adds up to 65 possessions and 0.818 points per possession.
In the second half alone, ‘Nova shot 4-for-31 from the field -- and a nice, round 0-for-13 from beyond the arc.
After Dwayne Anderson’s dunk to open the second half, the Wildcats went 11 minutes and 52 seconds without a field goal.
For Georgetown: 16-for-40 from the field (40.0%), including 7-for-20 from 3-point range (35.0%) and and 9-for-20 from 2-point range (45.0%), and 16-for-24 from the line (66.7%). Four offensive rebounds, 31 defensive rebounds, 11 assists, 18 turnovers, six blocks, six steals and 24 fouls committed.
That adds up to 65 possessions and 0.841 points per possession.
It would have been huge for Villanova to win it, no question. And while I’m sure it won’t make anyone on the Main Line feel good, at least Georgetown really was just as bad.
WASHINGTON -- In a game with enough calls to make a presidential campaign fundraiser jealous, the 48th and final foul of the night was perhaps the most controversial of them all.
With the score tied at 53-53, Scottie Reynolds’ driving layup was blocked by Jeremiah Rivers in the game’s dying seconds and Jonathan Wallace came out of a ferocious scrum with the loose ball. As he turned to launch a heave at the buzzer, Corey Stokes went out to block him and got just the slightest piece of Wallace’s jersey.
The whistle blew with one tenth of a second left.
Wallace strode to the foul line and calmly sank two free throws to give Georgetown a 55-53 win.
As I watched a replay of the contact, I had a very hard time seeing enough to judge it a foul. Especially with so little time on the clock.
But perhaps a less than palatable game all around deserved just such an ending. This thing was really hard to stomach at times.
Corey Fisher made only one of 16 field goal attempts, Scottie Reynolds made six of 13, Jonathan Wallace made four of 10 and DaJuan Summers made four of 11.
The only players who shot 50 percent or better were Roy Hibbert, Jessie Sapp and Patrick Ewing, Jr., and they shot 3-for-6, 2-for-4 and 2-for-3 respectively.
So the final stats were these.
For Villanova: 14-for-57 from the field (24.6%), including 3-for-23 from 3-point range (13.0%) and 11-for-34 from 2-point range (32.4%), and 22-for-27 from the free throw line (81.5%). Sixteen offensive rebounds, 25 defensive rebounds, seven assists, 11 turnovers, two blocks, five steals and 24 fouls committed.
That adds up to 65 possessions and 0.818 points per possession.
In the second half alone, ‘Nova shot 4-for-31 from the field -- and a nice, round 0-for-13 from beyond the arc.
After Dwayne Anderson’s dunk to open the second half, the Wildcats went 11 minutes and 52 seconds without a field goal.
For Georgetown: 16-for-40 from the field (40.0%), including 7-for-20 from 3-point range (35.0%) and and 9-for-20 from 2-point range (45.0%), and 16-for-24 from the line (66.7%). Four offensive rebounds, 31 defensive rebounds, 11 assists, 18 turnovers, six blocks, six steals and 24 fouls committed.
That adds up to 65 possessions and 0.841 points per possession.
It would have been huge for Villanova to win it, no question. And while I’m sure it won’t make anyone on the Main Line feel good, at least Georgetown really was just as bad.
WASHINGTON -- Well, this is a surprise.
Villanova leads Georgetown at halftime, 29-28, although I'm not sure the Wildcats really had much to do with it.
Well, Scottie Reynolds did, but I'm not sure about the rest. Much to the annoyance of the Georgetown students behind me, Reynolds scored 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting, including 2-for-2 from three-point range and 3-for-5 from the free throw line.
But consider this for Georgetown, and to be quite honest it had far more to do with the Hoyas themselves than Villanova's defense.
Georgetown shot 9-for-25 from the field (36.0%), including a ghastly 3-for-12 from 3-point range (25.0%) and 6-for-13 from 2-point range (46.2%), and 7-for-11 from the free throw line.
A lot of those shots were open looks, too.
Four offensive rebounds, 15 defensive rebounds, six assists ,seven rebounds, two blocks, two assists, two steals and 12 fouls committed.
That adds up to 33 possessions and 0.872 points per possession.
For Villanova: A slightly, but not much better, 10-for-26 from the line (38.5%), including 3-for-10 from 3-point range (30.0%) and 7-for-16 from 2-point range (43.8%), and 6-for-9 from the free throw line (66.7%). Four offensive rebounds, 15 defensive rebounds, six assists, seven turnovers, two blocks, two steals and 12 fouls committed.
That adds up to 34 possessions and 0.818 points per possession.
And now here we are four minutes into the half and it's 31-30, with the only field goal of the half so far a Dwayne Anderson slam ten seconds in. Georgetown's points came from two Roy Hibbert free throws just now.
Yikes.
WASHINGTON -- Greetings from courtside at the Verizon Center, where from the looks of things we'll have a pretty big crowd for tonight's game between Villanova and Georgetown.
I saw a few fans walking on F Street on my way into the arena from the Metro. And I just heard a group of Villanova students in the upper deck chanting "Let's Go 'Nova!" It'll be interesting to see just how many visiting fans are here tonight.
I also walked into the arena concourse right behind a very well-dressed Roy Hibbert. You might remember that I interviewed him last summer at the Pan Am Games trials, and he's just as tall now as he was then. I swear he almost hit his head on the ceiling, even though this place is an NBA arena.
I just saw the costumed version of the Hoyas' mascot, Jack, walking around with a sign that says, "Jesuits are cooler." That's pretty funny.
And the actual canine version of Jack led the team onto the floor. It's not Mike VI or Bevo, but he has his own kind of charm.
Anyway, here's a little something about Georgetown for you all to chew on. It's dedicated to the guy who wants St. Joe's to be a big-time school academically, and the Villanova fans who wanted out of the Big 5, and anyone else along those lines.
Georgetown is a member of the Big East for everything except football, in which it is a member of the Patriot League. But check out this verse of the school's fight song, "There Goes Old Georgetown":
We've heard those loyal fellows up at Yale
Brag and boast about their Boola-Boola.
We've heard the Navy yell,
We've listened to Cornell;
We've heard the sons of Harvard tell
How Crimson lines could hold them.
Choo Choo, Rah Rah, dear old Holy Cross;
The proud old Princeton tiger
Is never at a loss.
But the yell of all the yells,
The yell that wins the day,
Is the "HOYA, HOYA SAXA!"
For the dear old Blue and Gray.
Now granted, that song was written way back before Dave Gavitt was even born. But even so, the only one of those schools Georgetown shares a league with is Holy Cross in football.
And while Georgetown is certainly a top-notch academic institution, I can't help being just a little amused at the lack of references to Villanova, Syracuse or anyone else even remotely close to the Big East.
Then again, I've always thought the Ivy League could use a member institution in the nation's capital.
This city being the place I called home for the first 22 years of my life, I can't help offering a few restaurant recommendations for when you all make a trip down here to see your team play. As almost all the museums here have free admission, you should have a few extra dollars to spend on taking advantage of what is a pretty good restaurant scene here.
Nonetheless, my favorite places in town all offer good value for the money. In something resembling an order, they are:
1. Ben's Chili Bowl, 13th and U Streets. If the cheeseteak is the official Philly food, then the halfsmoke takes the title in D.C. A combination of hot dog and sausage, it is best served piled high with mustard, onions and chili, and without question best eaten at Ben's Chili Bowl.
Now in its 50th year of operation -- which is stunning to me, because I was at the 40th anniversary celebration -- Ben's is as much a District institution as Pat's and Geno's are in Philly, but without the tourists. Ben's has some Philly ties too: it's renowned as Bill Cosby's favorite restaurant, and owner Ben Ali has a Wharton degree.
2. Chadwick's, various locations. If any Georgetown fans come across this blog tonight, they'll be most familiar with the Chadwicks on K Stret right under the Whitehurst Freeway on the Potomac River. But the one closest to my heart is at the other end of Wisconsin Avenue, in my old neighborhood of Friendship Heights. The $10.95 crab cake sandwich is outstanding -- all jumbo lump and broiled, not fried.
3. Julia's Empanadas, various locations. They might not seem like much, but they're the perfect sort of thing to get a few of and take down to the Mall or a pregame tailgate party. I'm partial to the Chilean beef, the Salteña and the really outstanding peach-guava fruit empanada for dessert.
Honorable mention: California Tortilla and Chipotle, various locations. Washington has been front and center in a burrito war between these two chains in recent years. California Tortilla used to just have one store -- now it's all over the Mid-Atlantic -- while Chipotle has always been a national chain that offered a smaller menu but better quality for the things it did offer.
Fortunately for us, in recent months these Hatfields and McCoys have taken their fight to our turf. Chipotle has opened a few locations in the Philadelphia region, most notably at City Avenue and Monument Road, while CalTor (as it's long been known down here) has a franchise at 278 South Main Street in Doylestown.
So you tell me which is better -- but make sure you get some of J.T. Pappy's Gator Sauce when you visit the latter.
Now that I've whet your appetites, let's get on with the game.
-- Photo gallery by the Inquirer's Ron Cortes
-- Video highlights of Phil Martelli and Jay Wright's postgame remarks
-- Audio of Phil Martelli's full press conference
-- Audio of Jay Wright, Dante Cunningham and Scottie Reynolds
When it was over, Phil Martelli said that "the team with the best players always wins," and that Villanova has "guys on that team that are better players than I have."
Yet it was Martelli's team that not only came out on top, but did so in as convincing a fashion as you could possibly come up with.
The final score was 77-55, and as I wrote during the game, it barely seemed even that close. Just as importantly, it wasn't an upset.
The margin of victory was a surprise, but the fact that St. Joe's won the game was not at all. I get emails from midmajority.com whenever an "upset" occurs, a function that is defined almost entirely by how much money a conference has to throw around.
But I bet that even the text-messaging machine paused for just a moment and wondered whether it was really worth the effort this time around.
Because the real reason why St. Joe's won tonight was the exact opposite of what Phil Martelli said: they were the better team.
The Hawks played better defense, committed fewer turnovers, dished seven more assists and generally made life miserable for a Villanova team that seemed out of sorts for large chunks of the game.
The final stats were as follows.
For Villanova: 21-for-51 from the field (41.2%), including 4-for-17 from three-point range (23.5%) and 17-for-34 (50.0%) from two-point range, and 9-for-15 from the free throw line. Fourteen offensive rebounds, 16 defensive rebounds, seven assists, 17 turnovers, three blocks, five steals and 20 fouls committed.
That adds up to 61 possessions and 0.900 points per possession.
For St. Joe's: 23-for-47 from the field (48.9%), including 11-for-23 from three-point range (47.8%) and 12-for-24 (50.0%) from two-point range, and 20-for-25 from the line. Ten offensive rebounds, 20 defensive rebounds, 14 assists, 11 turnovers, eight assists, six steals and 13 fouls committed.
That adds up to 59 possessions and 1.316 points per possession, and thanks to Eric for noting that I forgot to post those numbers initially.
We pull out assists and turnovers as the key stats: 7 and 17 for Villanova, 8 and 6 for St. Joe's.
Individually, this was a night where Garrett Williamson took no shots whatsoever but still had a huge impact on the game: four rebounds, five assists, four blocks and two steals in 29 minutes.
It was a night where Pat Calathes' 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocks stood out, and only bolstered his growing case for Big 5 Player of the Year.
(I would still vote for Dionte Christmas, but let's see what happens when the two meet at the end of this month.)
But the line of the game goes to the one guy who I felt coming in could truly decide the game for the Hawks. If I was on the other side, the guy who would scare me the most is Rob Ferguson, because if you don't put the clamps on him he's capable at any time of uncorking a performance as remarkably efficient as what he did tonight:
Name |
Min |
FG |
FT |
3pt |
OR |
DR |
TR |
A |
S |
TO |
Blk |
PF |
Eff |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R. Ferguson |
33 |
5-7 |
5-6 |
5-6 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
22 |
28 |
Scottie Reynolds had his moments from beyond the arc, but he finished the night 3-for-12 from the field. Corey Fisher's Palestra debut included five turnovers and a 2-for-7 shooting night.
It is no stretch to say that when those two next play on 33rd Street they will almost surely do better. But for tonight, they lost to the better team, and when last I checked, that's how basketball usually works.
With that, I'm off to sleep. I've been up since 5 a.m. working, and I'd rather not make it the full 24 hours. I'll be back early in the evening with a new edition of the College HoopsCast, and if you're into politics be sure to check out Philly.com's extensive Super Tuesday coverage. I have a bit of a hand in that as well.
If nothing else, we know Phil Martelli will be paying attention.
Note: Latest updates are at the bottom.
Preamble: Greetings from the rafters of an absolutely sweltering Palestra, which is already rocking in anticipation of the 65th Holy War game between Villanova and Saint Joseph's.
There's still well over half an hour to go before tip as I start writing this, and it's as hot in here as it's ever been. The only saving grace is that my seat in the upper press row is not right in front of one of the heaters.
I am, however, right under a bag weight that helps support the loudspeaker apparatus over the court, and I've hit my head on the thing twice three four times already when standing up.
(I've also been up since 5 this morning working, so if you see any errors in the post, please feel free to email me.)
Those of you who've seen me at games before know that I always wear short sleeves when covering games here because of how hot it gets, even on night when the place is 2/3 empty.
Well, because this game is such an occasion, I decided to show up in long sleeves and a sportjacket.
Big mistake.
The jacket has been consigned to sitting on the back of my chair for the rest of the night, and the sleeves have been rolled up. I really should have known better.
Anyway, as is the custom here on the blog, I'll be bringing you all the highlights of the atmosphere: the rollouts, chants, and whatever else comes along. The game is on CSTV, and while I know a lot of you don't have it at least someone's broadcasting it. You could also listen to the radio, which I know for sure because Villanova analyst Whitey Rigsby is sitting right next to me.
I'm going to head back downstairs and get a few extra bottles of water, and I'll rejoin you again in a bit.
Preamble, part 2: If you needed any further proof of what kind of a basketball town this is, consider the fact that the buzz in the building right now has next to nothing to do with tonight's game. Bobby Knight has resigned as head coach of Texas Tech, and all of a sudden that's what everybody is talking about.
None of the media here seem to know why. And that might actually be saying something, considering that in the house tonight are ex-Villanova coach and CSTV analyst Steve Lappas, St. Joe's color analyst and ESPN.com bracketologist Joe Lunardi, and Dana O'Neil, formerly of the Daily News and now with ESPN.com.
Preamble, part 3: Seven minutes to go and already the St. Joe's students have unfurled two rollouts. The first one said "FREE LEE!" and was rather discreet. The second one was much more for public consumption, and read, "CAUSE OF NOVA VIRUS: CAFE FOOD OR RU LOSS," with the "RU" in appropriate red.
By the way, even though I usually sit courtside, I actually quite like sitting up high, especially when the building is sold out. It's great to be able to look over the whole scene, with th ecorners full and everyone looking straight down at the court. On nights like this, the place becomes a theater as much as it does a sporting venue.
Preamble, part 4: Paging Father Lannon? Yet another St. Joe's rollout, and this one gets caught by the old shot clock pole in the stands and has to get torn up before it hits the lower level: "WE'RE SORRY YOUR MASCOT IS A PUSSY."
Just reporting what I see, folks.
The starting lineups:
... and hasn't a lot already happened even before the game starts.
Villanova
C So 5 Casiem Drummond
F Jr 33 Dante Cunningham
G So 1 Scottie Reynolds
G Fr 10 Corey Fisher
G So 15 Reggie Redding
St. Joseph's
F Sr 52 Rob Ferguson
F Sr 12 Pat Calathes
C Jr 34 Ahmad Nivins
G So 13 Darrin Govens
G Jr 0 Tasheed Carr
15:40 1st, 10-4 St. Joe's: We knew the crowd was going to be overwhelmingly in the Hawks' favor, but the place is really roaring at the first media timeout. St. Joe's is 4-for-5 from the field to Villanova's 2-for-5, with the loudest shot so far a three by Pat Calathes just now. Tasheed Carr also had a nice jumper from the right corner just inside the arc with a man pretty well in his face.
Here comes a St. Joe's rollout with a not too surprising theme: "EVEN TIM DONAGHY BET ON SJU"
For or against?
8:30 1st, 24-18 St. Joe's: A rollout during play, which isn't something you see every day: "ST. JOE'S INVADES NOVA NATION!"
I have a hunch there's more too that.
... And there is: "BIG 5: PENN TEMPLE LA SALLE ST. JOE'S DREXEL"
Given the numbers of people on the Main Line over the years who would agree with that, I'm not so sure how good an idea it is to put that on a rollout. But that's just me.
A bit about the game, by the way: 'Nova had cut the Hawks' lead to 19-18 with a three from Corey Fisher, but Darrin Govens answered with a three of his own at the other and and that was as close as the Wildcats have come.
4:07 1st, 35-20 St. Joe's: A classic Rob Ferguson three from the top of the arc, and Jay Wright has seen enough of that. Timeout Villanova, and it's all one way traffic on the floor and in the stands.
3:46 1st, 35-20 St. Joe's: A media timeout, and a St. Joe's rollout: "HAWK D [in red] WRAPS REYNOLDS [in black]." For the record, Reynolds is 2-for-8 and 2-for-4 from three, with seven points total.
2:36 1st, 42-22 St. Joe's: Another Villanova timeout, this one caused after Pat Calathes grabs a Wildcats turnover and races away for a deafening slam. This thing is getting out of hand in a hurry.
HALFTIME, 42-26 St. Joe's: What a half for the Hawks, capped off by a ridiculous off-balance heave by Darrin Govens for a shot clock-beating three with a few seconds left. I thought St. Joe's would be winning, but not by this much. I'll report the full stats in a bit, but let's start with 11 Villanova turnovers and St. Joe's shooting 15-for-19 from the free throw line.
Okay, here are the numbers.
For Villanova: 10-for-26 from the field (38.5%), including 2-for-8 from three-point range (25.0%) and 8-for-16 from two-point range (50.0%). Seven offensive rebounds, eight defensive rebounds, three assists, 11 turnovers (how's that for a ratio), two blocks, three steals and 13 fouls committed.
That adds up to 33 possessions and 0.780 points per possession.
For St. Joe's: 12-for-22 from the field (54.5%), including 6-for-12 from three-point range (50.0%) and 6-for-10 from two-point range (60.0%). Four offensive rebounds, 11 defensive rebounds, eight assists, six turnovers, five blocks (wow), six steals and seven fouls committed.
That adds up to 33 possessions and 1.363 points per possession. Almost double Villanova's. Wow.
Off we go in the second half.
16:22 2nd, 53-29 St. Joe's: Whoa. Rob Ferguson ball fakes Shane Clark at the top of the arc, Clark goes sailing by him and Ferguson easily drains a three.
15:51 2nd, 53-29 St. Joe's: A media timeout after Shane Clark is whistled for his first foul. A rollout: "2 COREY'S DON'T MAKE A WRIGHT"
14:36 2nd, 56-31 St. Joe's: This is the kind of night it's been for Villanova: St. Joe's tries to trap Scottie Reynolds at the perimeter with under ten seconds on the shot clock. Reynolds drives a bit, but can't get too far because Ahmad Nivins is in his way. He finds Dante Cunningham underneath with two seconds left, Cunningham just gets the layup off, it goes in the basket -- and he's called for a charge. On top of that, it's Cunningham's fourth foul.
11:42 2nd, 58-35 St. Joe's: It wouldn't quite be right to say that the atmosphere has gone flat, but there's a definite sense that this game is pretty close to being done.
A rollout: "nOVA DIET... NO MSG." Fair enough. I would like to know why the first n is lowercase, if any St. Joe's students see this.
9:24 2nd, 61-40 St. Joe's: Dwayne Anderson pokes the ball free at the arc, and as it bounces away he goes chasing after it. Anderson can't run fast enough to get to the ball, so upon crossing the foul line he basically pulls a Slip N' Slide move on the well-polished hardwood and goes sailing all the way from there into the photographers behind the basket. Applause from both ends of the floor.
7:30 2nd, 65-42 St. Joe's: A few Villanova fans are starting to leave. Not that there were many to begin with, but in all fairness most of them are staying. Lest you Hawks fans try to start something.
5:59 2nd, 70-42 St. Joe's: Garrett Williamson soars to block a Scottie Reynolds three. He dishes it up the court to D.J. Rivera, who can't quite get the fastbreak layp to go, but Pat Calathes puts it back. Jay Wright calls timeout. This is getting a bit ridiculous.
A rollout: "HOW DOES VU GET TO B.E. TOURNEY?"
The answer follows: "CALL TICKET MASTER"
3:56 2nd, 70-44 St. Joe's: The last media timeout. Commemorated by my hitting the sandbag above me for the sixth time tonight. Joe Lunardi bet the over when I told him I had already hit it three times, which just goes to prove once again how smart he is.
No rollouts during that timeout, though. I figure there's one left.
3:23 2nd, 73-44 St. Joe's: My goodness. The Hawks beat the shot clock yet again, this time on an NBA-range three from the top of the arc by Rob Ferguson that went in off the backboard.
2:20 2nd, 75-44 St. Joe's: Okay, enough with the shot clock-beating already. This time, Ferguson at the arc feeds Pat Calathes, who drives a step or so with a second left and lays it in off the glass. Timeout Villanova.
The St. Joe's fans start chanting "This is our house!" and the Villanova fans who two years ago chanted "This is Penn's house!" don't even bother doing anything.
A rollout: "WHAT THE BIG 5 MEANS ON THE MAIN LINE..."
and part two: "5 STRAIGHT LOSSES"
0:57 2nd, 75-48 St. Joe's: Phil Martelli points to the Hawks fans and pumps his fist. A few seconds later, a rollout comes down from the top of the St. Joe's student section that says "REDRUM." Explain that one?
FINAL, 77-55 St. Joe's: It's over, finally. Some St. Joe's fans rush the court and mug for the TV cameras. I have a hunch that they didn't have to, but they did stop Villanova's record Big 5 win streak.
Now to get through the throng and down to the press room, and who knows how long that will take.
Back with stats and more later.
Postgame audio
-- Syracuse: Jim Boeheim
-- Villanova: Jay Wright, Dante Cunningham and Corey Fisher
I'm not to the point of firing Jay Wright yet, but the comments are clearly flying in about another bad home loss for Villanova.
The final score was 87-73. Villanova trailed 76-68 with 2:21 left, but Syracuse ran off eight straight to put the thing out of reach and leave the Wachovia Center sounding very much like a southern annex of the Carrier Done.
Before getting to the final stats, let's take a look at the second half by itself.
Syracuse shot 12-for-18 from the field (66.7%), including 1-for-3 from three-point range (33.3%) and 11-for-15 from two-point range (73.3%), and a whopping 18-for-25 (72.0%) from the free throw line. Four offensive rebounds, 16 defensive rebounds, eight assists, seven turnovers, one block, two steals and 12 fouls committed.
That adds up to 30 possessions and 1.439 points per possession, as well as a free throw rate (free throws made / field goal attempts) of 65.1%.
Villanova shot 10-for-29 from the field (34.5%), including 5-for-12 from three-point range (41.7%) and 5-for-17 from two-point range, and 9-for-12 from the line (75.0%). Five offensive rebounds, seven defensive rebounds, seven assists, three turnovers, no blocks, three steals and 20 fouls committed.
That adds up to 33 possessions, 1.040 points per possession and a free throw rate of 31.0%.
Again, for emphasis: Syracuse in the second half shot 11-for-15 from 2-point range and Villanova shot 5-for-17, with the Orange pulling down 16 defensive rebounds. That would be your key stat for this game.
So now for the full-game stats.
First for Syracuse: 27-for-43 from the field (62.8%), including 10-for-14 from 3-point range (71.4%) and 17-for-29 from 2-point range (58.6%), and 28-for-39 from the free throw line (71.8%). Seven offensive rebounds, 27 defensive rebounds, 14 assists, 18 turnovers, four blocks, 10 steals and 19 fouls committed.
That adds up to 73 possessions and 1.20 points per possession.
And for Villanova: 26-for-58 from the field (44.8%), including 7-for-19 from three-point range (36.8%) and 19-for-39 from 2-point range (48.7%), and 14-for-18 from the line (77.8%). Seven offensive rebounds, 15 defensive rebounds, 20 assists, 13 turnovers, two blocks, 12 steals and 32 fouls committed.
That adds up to 73 possessions and 1.006 points per possession.
Line of the game goes to a guy who was pretty well unstoppable all game for Syracuse: Paul Harris.
Name |
Min |
FG |
FT |
3pt |
OR |
DR |
TR |
A |
S |
TO |
Blk |
PF |
Eff |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P. Harris |
39 |
8-11 |
12-16 |
0-0 |
2 |
5 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
29 |
28 |
And so to wrap the day up, I ask you this: For which team is the Holy War more important, Villanova or St. Joe's?
I created a poll for you to vote in. I'll post the results here tomorrow night, but between now and then, you can leave a comment here in addition to casting your vote.
Serves me right.
As I was putting together the previous post, Villanova got out to a 28-18 lead midway through the first half. But after a Casiem Drummond putback with 7:34 left made it 31-24, the Wildcats froze and the Orange roared to life.
Syracuse made three threes in a row at the same time as Villanova missed a trio from beyond the arc, surging into the lead for the first time all game. The run rolled on, and by the time Paul Harris hit two free throws with 4:28 left it was 15 straight for the Orange and a 39-33 lead.
Naturally, Syracuse went cold right then. The Orange only made one field goal between that point and Casiem Drummond's putback slam with 35.6 seconds left that made it 42-39 Orange.
But all that momentum disappeared in a hurry when a nifty layup by Scoop Jackson with just over a second left made it 44-39 at the half.
The full numbers went like this:
Syracuse shot 15-for-25 from the field (60.0%), including 4-for-8 from three-point range (50.0%) and 11-for-17 from two-point range (64.7%), and 10-for-14 from the free throw line (71.4%). Three offensive rebounds, 11 defensive rebounds, six assists, 11 turnovers, three blocks, eight steals and seven fouls committed.
That adds up to 40 possessions and 1.110 points per possession.
Villanova shot 16-for-29 from the field, including 2-for-7 from outside the arc (28.6%) and 14-for-22 from inside it (63.6%), and 5-for-6 from the line (83.3%). Two offensive rebounds, eight defensive rebounds, 13 assists, 10 turnovers, two blocks, nine steals and 12 fouls committed.
That also adds up to 40 possessions, and 0.979 points per possession. Quite efficient for both teams considering the high tempo.
The half's high scorer was Syracuse's Jonny Flynn with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 1-for-2 from the arc. Casiem Drummond led Villanova with 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting, all from two-point range.
As if we needed any further proof of how much the Wildcats missed him.
Even with everything else I've been working on this week, I've had the Syracuse-Villanova clash down as a must-see affair -- and a game the Wildcats simply have to win.
So here we are at the Wachovia Center, and unsurprisingly, the big crowd has plenty of orange in it. Some of those folks are in the fancy seats, but across the floor from me in the upper deck are a few big groups of road-trippers who've put aside their Dinosaur Barbeque and come down here for the day. They know this is a pretty big game for their team as well.
(As an aside, when looking for a good place to eat after visiting the Carrier Done, Dinosaur definitely has my endorsement. And I know I'm not the only one who thinks that.)
Said crowd has been on its feet a lot so far, because the Wildcats have come out with an aggression and hustle that we haven't seen in a while. Lots of pounding it inside, some big dunks, and even a few dives to the floor for loose balls. They need to keep it up, but it's been a good start.
Villanova started Antonio Peña, Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher, Reggie Redding and Dante Cunningham. Just as importantly, though, Casiem Drummond came into the game at 16:30 and has already had a significant impact on offense and defense.
Syracuse started Donte' Green, Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris, Kristof Ongenaet and Arinze Onuaku. Antonio "Scoop" Jardine, the Philadelphia native and Neumann-Goretti graduate, has had his suspension lifted and is expected to play today.
Speaking of dressing, both coaching staffs are wearing sneaker in honor of the Coaches vs. Cancer awareness weekend across college basketball. Jay Wright and his staff have taken it another step by wearing Villanova tracksuits, while Jim Boeheim is in the usual sportjacket and tie.
It might be the only time we'll ever see Boeheim better dressed than Wright, and yet I can't help thinking that Wright wears the tracksuit pretty well...
Postgame press conference audio
-- Villanova: Jay Wright, Antonio Peña and Corey Stokes
-- Notre Dame: Mike Brey
It's bad enough when you lose at home in conference play; worse when you do so to a team that hadn't won on the road all season; and even more so when it seems like the only way you're capable of winning a game is by making a big comeback in the second half.
Villanova has defied logic enough times this season, and today logic decided it had seen enough.
Simply put, the way the Wildcats played in today's 90-80 loss to Notre Dame is no way to win a basketball game. Jay Wright knows it, and good to see that commenter Brian already jumped in.
After a Kyle McAlarney three-pointer put Notre Dame up by 17, 68-51, with 5:32 remaining, Jay Wright called timeout and the Wildcats cut the deficit to 11 (70-59) with 3:53 left on a circus layup by Scottie Reynolds.
Notre Dame took it back to 14 (78-64) with 2:35 remaining, but there Villanova went again, another Scottie Reynolds layup making it 84-76 with 49 seconds left and making all of us think they were about to pull off another one of these things.
But then the one Irishman that Villanova genuinely could not stop all day stepped up and took things into his own hands. And it wasn't McAlarney, whose 30 points were a game high.
With the Wildcats pressing after that Reynolds layup, Luke Harangody got free behind the defense, got the ball way in Villanova's end and broke away for a game-sealing slam.
It was the second big dunk in as many minutes for Harangody, the earlier one being a monstrous throwdown from the edge of the lane on the right baseline after taking a nice dish from Tory Jackson.
So it is Harangody, all 6-foot-8 and 251 pounds of him, who gets the Line of the Game:
Name |
Min |
FG |
FT |
3pt |
OR |
DR |
TR |
A |
S |
TO |
Blk |
PF |
Eff |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
L. Harangody |
31 |
8-14 |
9-13 |
0-0 |
4 |
6 |
10 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
27 |
25 |
Eighteen of the points and nine of the rebounds came in the second half.
The final numbers for Notre Dame as a whole were these: 27-for-53 from the field (50.9%), including 9-for-19 from three-point range (47.5%) and 18-for-34 from two-point range (52.9%), and an unbelievable 27-for-38 from the free throw line (71.1%). Nine offensive rebounds, 29 defensive rebounds, 20 assists, 15 turnovers, one block, seven steals and 16 fouls committed.
That adds up to 77 possessions and 1.168 points per possession.
For Villanova, whose leading scorer was Antonio Peña with 17 points (to go with nine rebounds), these were the final numbers: 32-for-72 from the field (44.4%), including 7-for-21 from beyond the arc (33.3%) and 25-for-51 from inside it (49.0%), and 9-for-12 from the line. Fourteen offensive rebounds, 26 defensive rebounds, 19 assists, 14 turnovers, two blocks, eight steals and 29 fouls committed.
That adds up to 78 possessions and 1.030 points per possession.
(As an aside, Malcolm Grant was only 2-for-7 from the field, including 2-for-4 from three, and he missed his first three and last two shots.)
The numbers that matter most, though, are these: Notre Dame took 38 free throws and Villanova took 72 field goal attempts.
The formula for offensive free throw rate is free throws made divided by field goal attempts. Notre Dame's free throw rate in this game was 71.7%, while Villanova's was only 12.5%.
Think about that while I head up to the Liacouras Center.
Here we are in the middle of the second half, and the Villanova student section is starting to take things into its own hands.
"We want Malcolm!" they are chanting, as no one seems to be able to figure out why Malcolm Grant isn't playing. I'm sure we'll get an answer after the game, but I can't say I'm used to seeing Villanova fans quite this annoyed with their team.
Finally, after Randy Ayers hits a three with 12:28 left to give Notre Dame a 57-41 lead, Wirght calls timeout and brings Grant in. Let's see what happens...
For a team that's the worst in the Big East at defending three-pointers, Villanova has been strikingly soft in the lane today. Taking full advantage of a clear edge in heft as well as height, Notre Dame pounded the ball inside throughout the first half on the way to a 39-29 halftime lead.
The Irish made a respectable four of nine three-point attempts (44.4%) , but consider their two-point shooting: 10-for-17 (58.8%). It came in all sizes, too: 6-foot-8 big man Luke Harangody and 6-0 guard Kyle McAlarney were both 3-for-5
The rest of Notre Dame's first-half numbers: 14-for-26 from the field overall (53.8%), 7-for-12 from the free throw line (58.3%), 6 offensive rebounds, 12 defensive rebounds, 9 assists, 8 turnovers, 1 block, 5 steals and 7 fouls committed.
That adds up to 34 possessions and a quite healthy 1.157 points per possession.
Villanova has had its share of problems on offense as well, shooting only 12-for-32 (37.5%) in the first half -- including 2-for-7 from three (28.6%) -- and a lot of those shots have been pretty uncontested.
The most glaring lines belonged to Corey Fisher and Scottie Reynolds, who combined to make only 3 of 14 shots; Reynolds was 0-for-3 from the arc.
The Cats' full line: 10-for-25 from 2-point range, 3-for-5 from the line, 10 offensive rebounds, 10 defensive rebounds, 8 assists, 10 turnovers, 1 block, 4 steals and 12 fouls committed.
That adds up to 34 possessions and 0.844 points per possession.... and, if you ask me, a few too many drives through the lane in traffic.
Jamie Yannacone of WPEN-950, the biggest Villanova expert I know of outside the Inquirer-Daily News building, sitting behind me in the press section, agrees with the lack of offensive flow and finds it "curious" that Malcolm Grant hasn't played much so far.
True enough: Grant was only on the floor for two minutes of the first half. I have no objection to Jay Wright's decision to start Corey Fisher over Grant, but you certainly can't argue against what Grant did at Rutgers and in his other big games this year.
Notre Dame's two Philly guys, Rob Kurz (Penn Charter) and Ryan Ayers (Germantown Academy), have both seen significant time, however: 7 points in 13 minutes and 5 points in 11 minutes for the latter.
Ayers' father, former Sixers coach Randy Ayers, isn't here, but other members of the family are. Ayers is an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards now, and they play at Milwaukee tomorrow.
There's no reason to think Villanova can't come back and win this game, but after their bad loss at Rutgers it would have been nice to see them come out and establish themselves with a bit more force today.
Off we go for the second half.
Okay, it's time to move on from Penn for a while. Yes, the discussion about the state of the Quakers generated more comments on this blog than any other subject in its history, and you're welcome to continue that discussion below. But Penn is off for a week, and tomorrow the big boys take center stage.
You heard me right. Villanova, St. Joe's and Temple are the marquee programs in the city right now, as they have been historically. They all play big games on Broad Street tomorrow, the former against Notre Dame at the Wachovia Center and the latter two against each other at the Liacouras Center.
I'll be at both, hopefully doing at least some liveblogging. Whether or not I end up doing any in-game writing, I'll post the press conferences from both games here when they're done and offer some analysis as well.
Yes, that means I won't make it to Saint Louis-La Salle. It is a game I would otherwise be interested in, given how much the Billikens have been in the headlines lately -- both for their historic loss at George Washington and Rick Majerus' recent controversial step into the political arena.
Still, I hope a few of you all will be joining me for tomorrow's doubleheader. A quick check of the web shows that both games still have tickets available, reminding us that there's no better city in the country for watching multiple college basketball games in person in the same day.
In the end, the result is all that matters. So for the Eagles game-worthy media contingent at the Pavillion today, the first conclusion that has to be drawn is that Villanova beat Pittsburgh, 64-63. In theory, everything else matters a lot less.
But it sure took the Wildcats' offense a long time to get going, and it was sure hard to digest seeing 'Nova get out-rebounded at both ends of the floor. The Panthers got 18 offensive rebounds to the Wildcats' 15 and 25 defensive boards to 16 on offense for Villanova.
Obviously,Pitt makes almost all of its games into slugfests no matter the opposition, and particularly so for Villanova. As has been the case a few times in recent years, this game came down to who would have the bigger day: Villanova's guards or Pitt's big men.
It would certainly have been different if Levance Fields wasn't injured, but Wildcats fans should really be giving thanks for Malcolm Grant's 22 points right now -- and the fact that what looked like a really serious injury late in the game was nothing more than cramps according to Jay Wright.
Grant's biggest contribution came at the end of the first half, when he scored eight points in three possessions to help bring Villanova back from four points down and take a lead for the first time in what felt like forever. In order, Grant hit three free throws on one trip, a three-pointer that came off a sweet crossover dribble on the next and and a layup on the last one
He then followed it up with a dish to Antonio Peña that was slammed in for a dunk, giving Villanova its biggest lead of the game to that point at 30-27.
After the game, Jay Wright gave Grant some serious props, calling him the "heart and soul" of the team. I have to admit that I was quite surprised by that comment, because I sure thought that role belonged to Scottie Reynolds.
Wright was asked about his remark later on in his postgame press conference, and acknowledged the magnitude of what he said about Grant.
"I don't want you to think I'm that crazy that I wouldn't go to Scottie Reynolds," Wright said. "Malcolm had been playing great and he'd done it before, so I said let's just go with it."
To hear the full exchange, click here and listen to the full Villanova postgame press conference. You can also listen to Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and Panthers freshman center DeJuan Blair.
Blair is an absolute stud. He's been getting some hype already this year but he's only going to get more as the season goes on. The 6-foot-7, 265-point Pittsburgh native is a tank of a player, and Villanova unsurprisingly had no real answer for him inside today.
But Blair has some moves, too. I counted seven times in the game where he either made a nice pass, spun around to hit a layup or worked his way inside and got in position for a putback.
In the end, it is Blair who most deserves a Line of the Day, because he filled his scoreline like no one else on the floor this afternoon:
Name |
Min |
FG |
FT |
3pt |
OR |
DR |
TR |
A |
S |
TO |
Blk |
PF |
Eff |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
D. Blair |
37 |
5-14 |
2-5 |
0-0 |
7 |
8 |
15 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
19 |
12 |
I know it's the Big East, and I'm sure Jay Wright will tell us that this is the nature of the thing. But even if all the other teams around here are are just as prone to have games where they shoot 6-for-26 from three, that was a bad loss for Villanova last night.
After what Penn did at Miami, seeing the 84-76 final score from Chicagoland was the last thing I needed when I got off the plane late last night.
Granted, it's early, and if the Wildcats beat Pittsburgh on Sunday (which they should, given the Panthers' injuries), it wouldn't surprise me if they're still ranked in the AP poll come Monday. Then again, it wouldn't surprise me either if they aren't ranked.
And it's not like one game does too much damage to Villanova's NCAA Tournament hopes either, especially as it's only their second loss of the season. But it does increase the need to take care of business at home, and maybe grab an extra win or two somewhere along the way.
The Holy War would probably take care of that in terms of RPI (it's technically a road game), as would the trip to Syracuse on Jan. 19.
It certainly makes it imperative to win in Cincinnati a week from tomorrow. The Bearcats are bad, but did beat Louisville at home on New Year's Day.
By the way, there might just be some hope for those of you who will be going through the Philadelphia airport soon.
It took 18 minutes from the time I hit the bottom of the escalator that leads to the AirTran baggage claim to the time that my bag arrived, which isn't the best I've ever seen but is a far cry from the horror stories we hear about PHL -- and a really far cry from the 45 or so minutes it took to get my bag in Miami because the baggage handlers were in the middle of a shift change when my flight landed.
The only problem I ran into here was that an R1 train was pulling up just as my bag hit the conveyor belt. But I was able to run across the street to the platform just fast enough to beat the conductor by half a second.
I'm a terrible basketball player (I wouldn't even bother trying to get into the weekly Palestra media game), but I'll put last night down as one of the better fast break plays I've pulled off in quite a while.
Since I haven't been paying attention to known Soft Pretzel Logic reader Joe Lunardi's Bracketology of late, I figured I'd take a look at today's latest edition.
If you're a Villanova fan, it should make you very happy. The Wildcats are an 8-seed and draw California in Raleigh, N.C., with the winner to face North Carolina. Except... wait a minute.
Villanova vs. Cal for the right to play UNC within earshot of Chapel Hill. Am I the only one hearing an echo in the room?
I'm not saying it'll actually happen that way, but I've always thought the selection committee has a bit of a sense of humor to it.
The other bit of good news for Villanova fans about this field is that the Wildcats are the only local team in it, as Lunardi has discarded St. Joe's. But the field is good news overall for the Atlantic 10, as Rhode Island and UMass join Xavier to give the conference three bids. Another A-10 team, Dayton, is the seventh team out.
15-seed Brown knocks off Cornell for the Ivy League bid, which shouldn't surprise the Penn fans out there much at all, while the CAA gets only one team, George Mason. The 11-seed Patriots would get to play St. Mary's in Washington, D.C., site of their East Regional championship in 2006 and a 20-ish mile straight shot east on Interstate 66 from the school's Fairfax, Va. campus.
I'd tell you how long it takes to make the drive but that stretch of road puts the Conshohocken Curve to shame by some distance when it comes to traffic. Regardless, that's an unfair fight for the Gaels if you ask me. But I only said that the selection committee was funny, not fair.
And I ask that you direct your correspondence to the Fieldhouse, not my office...
1. A Big 5 game on a Sunday night. According to former Big 5 Executive Secretary Paul Rubincam, this was the first time two city series teams met at that point in the week.
2. A Big 5 game with 194 combined points. We got that tonight too, as Villanova used a 23-7 run early in the second half to pull away from Temple for a 101-93 win in front of 7,720 at the Liacouras Center.
It was 42-39 'Nova at the half, as Temple shot 8-for-16 from three in the first 20 minutes but only 4-for-12 from outside thereafter. The Wildcats made 11 of their 10 attempts from beyond the arc for the game: 6 of 11 in the first half and 5 of 9 in the second.
Dionte Christmas had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds -- he was one of three Temple players to score 20 or more points -- but the line of the night goes to Scottie Reynolds. He's been quiet the last few games, but he exploded for 20 second-half points as part of this total:
Name |
Min |
FG |
FT |
3pt |
OR |
DR |
TR |
A |
S |
TO |
Blk |
PF |
Eff |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
S. Reynolds |
37 |
8-12 |
7-7 |
4-7 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
9 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
38 |
27 |
3. A Big 5 team that wins 13 City Series games in a row, because until tonight no team had ever done that before. So congratulations to Villanova for setting that record.
Jay Wright and Fran Dunphy both talked about that bit of history after the game. Click here to listen to Villanova's postgame press conference and here to listen to Temple's.
I'll let you all debate the fact that the game wasn't sold out, mainly because I have to work at 6 a.m. and I can't really say I'm looking forward to it...
Before all the shine from Thursday night wears off, I wanted to get this post up about some of the stats behind Villanova's win over against LSU. I was particularly interested in the breakdown of points per possession during the Wildcats' big rally.
I'm not sure that what I came up with proves anything, but the numbers are interesting nonetheless. I had to figure them out by hand because we don't get boxscores just for certain segments of a game, so I hope they're right.
But I was able to split the second half in two parts, which I'm calling Early and Late, with the point of separation being Terry Martin's three-pointer with 8:50 left that gave the Tigers a 21-point lead, 54-33.
Early
LSU: 15 field goal attempts, 6 free throw attempts, 4 turnovers, 2 offensive rebounds, 19 points, 20 possessions, 0.96 points per possession
Villanova: 17 FGA, 8 FTA, 4 TO, 8 OR, 9 points, 17 possessions, 0.54 points per possession
Late
LSU: 11 FGA, 9 FTA, 5 TO, 2 OR, 13 points, 18 possessions, 0.71 points per possession
Villanova: 12 FGA, 21 FTA, 2 TO, 2 OR, 35 points, 22 possessions, 1.59 points per possession
Quite a contrast, isn't it?
As Mike Jensen notes in today's College Basketball Report, ESPN's Bill Raftery saw it coming: LSU's foul trouble had a lot to do with their collapse.
Anthony Randolph picked up his fifth with 4:08 left and the Tigers up by 15, and just under a minute later the floodgates really opened. Villanova finally had some space to get the ball to the basket from within the paint, resulting in 11 free throw attempts after Randolph hit the bench.
I knew Raftery was really good, but I didn't know he had clairvoyance to go along with that humor.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend; see you at the Liacouras Center tomorrow night.
That was shocking.
I'm sure most of you saw it... although if you were like some of the 9,212 fans at the Wachovia Center tonight, you turned the game off with nine minutes left and Villanova down by 21 points, 55-34.
Maybe you stuck it out a little longer, but gave up when LSU's Mike Thornton got two rebounds in a row and finally scored to give the Tigers a 15-point lead, 64-59, with 3:11 left.
Somehow, some way, Villanova came back and won.
And in a season when seemingly every player has had his night to be the star, this time it was Malcolm Grant. The freshman scored all 18 of his points in those last nine minutes, grabbed two assists and a rebound and made the drive that led to Dante Cunningham's game-winning putback.
Grant made seven of the eight free throws he took in that span, including one after he was fouled hitting a three and all three after he was fouled missing a shot from beyond the arc.
And speaking of threes, Villanova had missed all five of their long-range attempts prior to Grant's first trey with 6:05 left on the clock. All that did was cut the deficit to 18 points.
You have to credit LSU for shutting down Villanova on the perimeter, but the fact that the Wildcats couldn't make a three for 34 minutes of play is pretty bad.
In the end, though, it was the greatest comeback I've seen in six years covering basketball around here. Yes, that means it trumps Penn's 18-point comeback with 7:35 left against Princeton in 2005. In part because that game went to overtime while the Wildcats won tonight in regulation, and in part because of that s 15-point deficit with 3:11 to play.
It doesn't beat Princeton's comeback from 33-9 down at halftime against Penn in 1999, but that was before I got to town.
Having said that, this one somehow seems more believable than the one two years ago. I don't know about tempo stats yet (which always factor in when Princeton's on the floor), but I had this hunch early in the second half that Villanova just wasn't out of it yet, and that they somehow or other had too much talent to really be stuck in the hole they were in against a very young LSU team.
The comeback two years ago just didn't make any sense to me at the time, because Princeton had that game going at a snail's pace and I wasn't sure there would be enough possessions for Penn to get back in it the way they were playing at the time.
Anyway, I really have to go to sleep, because I have to be up early in the morning, but here are the postgame press conferences from Villanova and LSU, and here's another clip from Jay Wright talking to reporters after his press conference. That clip is a straight MP3 file, so be ready for it instead of going to a Philly.com page.
Believe me, though, there's more to come on this one..
Preamble: A reminder to enter the Soft Pretzel Logic-Philly Feed trivia contest, in which we want to know when the last time was before this year that three ACC teams played in Philadelphia. Click here and leave a comment to submit your entry.
I've been meaning to mention that a couple days ago, I was interviewed by a college sports blog called Storming the Floor. You can read the piece here, but there's a question they asked me that was left out of the final product that is relevant to us tonight.
When they asked me what my favorite college arena in the region is, I of course said the Palestra, and I put the Wachovia Center second.
That surprised the interviewer, Marco Anskis, and I bet it might surprise a few of you.
Well, tonight is part of the reason why I said that. Yes, this is an NBA arena, and as such you don't get the closeness to the action of the Fieldhouse, the DAC or Tom Gola Arena.
But you know whenever you're here for a college game that it's a big deal. Usually, it's Villanova playing one of the bigger-name Big East Teams like Connecticut or Syracuse. Sometimes, it's a non-conference game like Texas last year or LSU tonight. Or it's the NCAA Tournament.
Regardless, whenever I'm here I feel like the game has a lot more sizzle to it than games at the Pavilion and pretty much all the other venues in the region. Maybe it's the lights, or the video screens, or the fact that there's almost always a national tv broadcast going on.
So off we go in the nightcap of the SEC-Big East Invitational doubleheader. South Carolina beat Providence in the first game, 67-66. The news here so far is that Shane Clark started, but midway through the first half Villanova trails 17-10.
And despite what I said above, the crowd here isn't all that big. Maybe it's because of the late start, maybe it's because Villanova didn't totally control the ticketing, but the upper deck is almost totally empty. There's the usual big Wildcats student section, though, and there's just enough noise around to get at least partway through my cold-fighting head.
Well, that was perhaps the least surprising result we'll see in the Big 5 all year. Villanova's 87-61 rout of Penn wasn't much of a game from the start, and still wasn't one when the Quakers outscored the Wildcats in the second half.
So I don't put too much stock in what happened after the first 10 minutes of the game, with the exception of Tyler Bernardini's three threes in four possessions to start the second half. Perimeter shooting is a skill no matter how much time is on the clock.
Corey Fisher had another sublime night, with 13 points -- including 3-of-5 from three -- four assists and four steals. Scottie Reynolds' 21 points won't be overlooked either.
But what I will remember from this game was a 50-second span starting at the 15:13 mark of the first half when Antonio Peña hit a layup, a three and a slam dunk on consecutive possessions. That was the moment when I realized just how deep this Villanova team is.
Obviously, Thursday night's game against LSU will be different, not least because the bodies on the other side will be a lot bigger and a lot faster. But Shane Clark didn't even play last night and Villanova got 21 offensive rebounds. This team is a lot deeper than we thought coming into the season, and I'm starting to think it could do some pretty good things this season.
Joe Juliano recaps the game, and there's also audio from the Penn and Villanova postgame press conferences.
Elsewhere, Jeff McLane recaps Penn State-St. Joe's and Kevin Tatum digs through the demolition derby that was Creighton-Drexel.
There's also a good story by Jeff Gammage that looks at the past and present of professional soccer in Philadelphia.
Welcome to the Pavilion, which is a sea of white tonight thanks to the free t-shirts that were placed on on every seat for the usual sellout crowd.
But unlike the Bucknell game, where there was a significant amount of orange in the stands, there are almost no Penn fans here at all. Maybe two rows at the very top of the north end, including the Penn band. I'm surprised a visiting band would be let in, even though it is a Big 5 game.
As for the game I was just at, I left the Palestra just as St. Joe's made its big run to start the second half, and the Hawks held on from there for a 79-67 win.
I could only follow Drexel from my computer, though, and was surprised to see yet another terrible offensive performance -- only 18 made field goals in the game and 27 turnovers.
So we're off and running here on the Main Line... and Villanova is already out to a 18-4 lead just over five minutes in.
I got exclusive interviews with all of the Big 5 coaches at a luncheon held for the media at the Palestra this afternoon. I was a bit surprised that Drexel wasn't there, but this was a Big 5 event and for better or worse, those were the schools present.
Anyway, we have:
-- Introductory remarks from all of the men's coaches and women's coaches Pat Knapp (Penn) and Dawn Staley (Temple). The master of ceremonies was Brian Seltzer, who reports for WPEN 950-AM and also is the radio play-by-play voice of Penn basketball.
(Sorry for the less-than-stellar audio quality on that one. I couldn't get the microphone close enough to the podium.)
-- Phil Martelli
-- Jay Wright
-- Fran Dunphy
-- Glen Miller
-- John Giannini
Ryan writes:
Has anyone else felt like that their teams have been a victim of a Jim Burr call. Such as the call against Villanova durning the NC State game last Sunday night. This guy may need to retire soon.
I'll leave the straight answer to that question to you all, but I will say the call that I presume you're referring to -- the foul with 0.4 seconds left that sent Gavin Grant to the line for the game-winning free throws -- was really dumb.
I asked Mike Jensen about it on today's College HoopsCast and he agreed.
In addition to Villanova's trip to Orlando, we talked about:
-- The freshman guards leading Drexel and Penn this year
-- Visits to Philadelphia this week by some of the top mid-major teams in the country: Ball State and Gonzaga at St. Joseph's, Ohio at Temple and Creighton at Drexel
-- The Hawks returning to action after a 10-day layoff
-- and some of the big games on the national scene lately, including Arizona-Kansas, Xavier-Indiana and North Carolina-Ohio State.
Plus, I got exclusive interviews with Virginia guard Sean Singletary and his mother, Jacqui, after the championship game of the Philly Classic.
Speaking of the Philly Classic, I'll share some of my thoughts on it after the jump.
That was a really good game on the Main Line tonight that Villanova won, 70-64. Both teams played hard, worked for every possession and pushed each other for all 40 minutes. It certainly made up for what I sat through yesterday.
Here's audio of the postagme press conferences from Bucknell and Villanova.
Let's dig into the numbers a bit, because there were a lot of good ones.
The big stat was rebounds, because just saying that Villanova had a 43-26 advantage isn't enough. Within that, the Wildcats pulled down 20 offensive rebounds to only 17 Bucknell defensive rebounds.
Most of that advantage was built in the second half. Villanova recorded 12 offensive rebounds to seven Bucknell defensive rebounds in the frame, while grabbing 12 defensive rebounds to only two offensive boards for the Bison.
The results were even more evident: Villanova had a 28-10 edge in points in the paint and a 25-8 advantage in second-half points, including a 19-3 margin in the second half.
Having said that, the Wildcats pretty much had to win the game in the paint, because they struggled from the arc while Bucknell absolutely shot the lights out in the first half from beyond the arc. The Bison were 9-for-17 from three-point range, but only made three of 12 two-point attempts.
Bison guard John Griffin, a Philadelphia native who played with Reggie Redding at the Prep, was the main reason for that. Griffin hit six of his 10 three-point attempts in the game, including 5-of-7 in the first half. He only took one two-point shot, and missed it.
Bucknell coach Pat Flannery (also a Philly guy) (thanks Homer) knew full well coming in that perimeter shooting had to be the gameplan, as you'll hear him say in his postgame remarks.
Anyone who's seen his team over the last few years knows that Flannery is an outstanding coach. Today proved it again, as the Bison stuck to that gameplan and executed incredibly well -- not just with the shooting, but in other facets of the offense as well.
Bucknell attempted only nine free throws in the game, and three of them when Griffin was fouled shooting from beyond the arc with nine seconds to play.
Furthermore, the Bison recorded 17 assists to 18 turnovers (10-to-10 in the first half), easily beating Villanova's 10-to-15 ratio (an even worse 3-to-10 at halftime).
But in the second half, the Wildcats were able to play to their strength. By pounding the ball inside and dominating the glass, Villanova was able to wear Bucknell out and wrap up a win that will look quite good come March.
Now, for a change of subject. After the jump, my thoughts on the debate in the comments about what a mid-major is.
Despite SEPTA's best efforts to stop me, I made it to the Pavilion mere seconds before tipoff of the Bucknell-Villanova game.
I'm here to see the Wildcats for the first time all year, and also to see what I consider to be the preeminent mid-major team in the state of Pennsylvania.
Unlike some, I don't consider the Atlantic 10 to be a mid-major conference. I see it in a second tier along with Conference USA, the WAC and the Mountain West. That leaves Bucknell, Drexel and Penn (in something resembling that order, despite Drexel's recent record against Penn) as the top three mid-majors in the state. It should be fun when the Dragons and Bison hook up later on the year.
But for now let's see how they match up against one of the Big East's big boys, and let's see how Villanova matches up against Jay Wright's alma mater -- a team that also has a great coach in Pat Flannery.
Speaking of mid-majors, a comment about Penn from Mickey:
Was Gilbert Jackson ever considered to succeed Dunphy?
Is Penn really this bad?
To the first, no, and to the second, I'm not sure. Jackson was only gone for a year when Dunphy left, and it seemed clear from the start of Penn's search that Jackson would be allowed to go his own way. Having said that, I don't know what would have happened if Dunphy had left earlier.
As for how bad Penn is, last night was indeed pretty bad (not least compared to the football game that preceded it).
I am a bit more inclined than some of the people I talked to yesterday to credit Howard's hot shooting instead of blaming Penn's defense. Howard's Eugene Myatt, a Philadelphia native, had a ridiculous game and made 13 of his 17 shots. That's an outstanding performance no matter how bad the other guy's defense is.
At the same time, though, it's really bad to give up an average of 1.26 points per possession, especially considering that Penn outrebounded Howard 31-24 and the Bison only had five offensive rebounds.
On offense, I thought Penn was able to move the ball around pretty well, but this team really lacks a perimeter shooter at the moment. Not having Darren Smith makes a big difference in that respect, because he could shoot and could also draw defenders off Brian Grandieri when he had the ball.
From everything I've heard, Tyler Bernardini will end up being that kind of a shooter, but given that he's a freshman it's no surprise that he isn't there yet.
Penn is definitely a work in progress. I thought after the Drexel game they could be pretty good by February. Now I don't know where they'll be. They could still be good, but it seems to me they've got a ways to go.
Okay, time for me to pay attention to the game here. And not just because I just saw Curtis Sumpter chatting with Larry Brown.
It isn't often that you have two teams in this list playing each other. Of course it happens this coming weekend with Delaware at Villanova and Lafayette with Lehigh, but let's have a look at what happened to Temple and Penn State in Sagarin...
22. Penn State (24) -- road win vs. Temple (130)
37. Rutgers (45) -- road win vs. Army (126)
80. Delaware (75) -- home loss (in five overtimes!) vs. Richmond (70)
101. Villanova (110) -- road win vs. Towson (167)
130. Temple (132) -- home loss vs. Penn State (22)
143. Delaware State (139) -- home win vs. Norfolk State (175)
169. Lehigh (172) -- road win vs. Bucknell (223)
178. Lafayette (189) -- road win vs. Holy Cross (136)
195. Penn (199) -- road loss vs. Harvard (152)
242. La Salle (242) road loss vs. Duquesne (224)
Not many wins on the slate, but Lafayette's stands out the most to me.
And by the way, next week will be the last week for this. Crunchy Numbers for basketball will begin some time next month, when we have enough numbers in the system to actually start making some judgements.
The Top 10 comparison:
Rank |
AP |
Coaches |
BCS |
Sagarin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | LSU |
LSU |
LSU |
Kansas |
| 2. | Oregon |
Oregon |
Oregon |
LSU |
| 3. | Oklahoma |
Oklahoma |
Kansas |
Oregon |
| 4. | Kansas |
Kansas |
Oklahoma |
Oklahoma |
| 5. | West Virginia |
West Virginia |
Missouri |
Ohio State |
| 6. | Missouri |
Missouri |
West Virginia |
West Virginia |
| 7. | Ohio State |
Ohio State |
Ohio State |
Florida |
| 8. | Georgia |
Arizona State |
Arizona State |
Arizona State |
| 9. | Arizona State |
Georgia |
Georgia |
Missouri |
| 10. | Virginia Tech |
Virginia Tech |
Virginia Tech |
USC |
Up until now, I had thought pretty much all year that the computer and human rankings would look the same after a while. It's been such a wild year in college football that it hasn't happened yet. And this week's discrepancies are among the biggest we've seen all year.
So who's right?
Mike Kern and Kevin Tatum recap the game. And here's postgame audio from Drexel and Penn.
Brian Grandieri led all scorers with 23 of the quietest points you'll ever see in a noisy Palestra. He shot 8-of-14 from the field, a somewhat surprising 0-of-1 from three-point range, and only 7-of-12 from the free throw line -- which he admitted wasn't good enough.
For Drexel, Tramayne Hawthorne (6-of-12 fg, 4-of-10 3pt) and Gerald Colds (6-of-11 fg, 6-of-9 3pt) tied for top scorer with 18 points. But look at the breakdown by halves:
|
First half
|
Second half
|
Overtime
|
|
|
Hawthorne
|
6-9 fg/4-7 3pt
|
0-3 fg/0-3 3pt
|
0-0 fg/0-0 3pt
|
|
Colds
|
2-4 fg/2-4 3pt
|
2-5 fg/2-3 3pt
|
2-2 fg/2-2 3pt
|