Game 21: vs. Cincinnati
#21 Villanova looks to extend their winning streak at The Pavilion to 25 games as they host Cincinnati (14-7, 4-4) on Sunday. The Wildcats (16-4, 4-3) are coming off a 10 point win over #3 Pittsburgh earlier in the week. The Bearcats knocked off #25 Georgetown on the same night.
Cincinnati is led by 6′1″ Junior guard Deonta Vaughn who is good for just under 16 points a game. He adds 4.8 assists a game. On the boards, 6′9″ Yancy Gates pulls down the most rebounds at 6 a game, and Mike Williams gets another 5; those two are also the #2 and #3 scorers on the team. Read more
Wayns Out 2-5 Weeks
We mentioned earlier this week that Maalik Wayns has hurt his knee. The Mc Donald’s All-American candidate at Roman Catholic twisted his knee earlier this week against Cardinal O’Hara and is awaiting the results from an MRI.
The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting today that Wayns will be out 2-5 weeks. The Daily News notes that an injured ACL has been ruled out, and it is more likely to “be a miniscus issue”.
So if Villanova fans were planning on heading to The Pavilion to watch Maalik take on Chester this evening, they’ll be missing the future Wildcat play.
Hat Tip to Tim!
Photos from the Pitt Game
The media seemed to have covered Villanova’s win over #3 Pittsburgh last night quite well. This game has the largest gallery we’ve compiled.
Enjoy! Read more
Pitt 57: :67 Villanova
The knock against the #21 Villanova squad was that they haven’t won a “big game”- all 4 of their losses had come to teams ranked in the Top 15. That ended on wednesday night as the Wildcats knocked off #3 Pitt at the Wachovia Spectrum behind a career-high 18 points by Reggie Redding.
Dante Cunnigham threw in an additional 15 points as ‘Nova improved to 16-4 (4-3) on the year as the ‘Cats sported throw-back unis on 80s Night.
Villanova took the lead 49-48 with 8 minutes to go in the game and never looked back as the Panthers struggled in scoring only one field goal in the final five minutes.
What’s V?
Game 20: vs. #3 Pittsburgh
Weather will NOT impact tonight’s game! [read]
The Wachovia Spectrum hosts its final college basketball game on Wednesday as #21 Villanova (15-4, 3-3) hosts the Third-Ranked Panthers from Pitt.
Pitt (18-1, 6-1) is a dangerous team as you would expect a #2 would be. Big men Sam Young (18.8) and DeJuan Blair (14.7) lead the team 1-2 in scoring as well as 2-1 in rebounding. Blair pulls down nearly 13 boards a game. Guard Levance Fields adds another 10 points a game and nearly 7 assists a game providing the Panthers a balanced attack. Read more
Dom Cheek Article in Daily News
In case you haven’t read today’s Daily News, check out the Rosy Cheek article about Villanova-bound Dominic Cheek.
The article notes about the area that Dom Cheek grew up in and how St. Anthony’s coach Bob Hurley was a guiding force in keeping Dom on the straight and narrow when his environment could have led him astray with “the wrong crowd”. Read more
Maalik Wayns Diary Update
Last week we mentioned the a local Philly Hoops blog had a running Maalik Wayns diary. Maalik’s newest entry, his fifth, is now out.
The [Chester] game is going to be played at Villanova University which is my future home. I’m hoping that some of the Villanova students come to watch me play. That way I get to show them what they have to look forward to for the next four years.
Late Monday PM Update: we are hearing from two sources and vusports.com that Maalik injured his knee this evening against Cardinal O’Hara. They are determining the severity and we will do our best to stay on top of this. The letters A, C, and L are being noted.
Tueasday AM Update: RFC reports that Maalik’s Facebook status notes, ” Its not my acl…thank god”
January vs. February & March under Jay Wright
There have been some undercurrents that teams under Jay Wright are slow starters in the new [calendar] year. Typically, this matches up with the start of Conference play as well. So we decided to take a look at this argument.
Quick Points
1. We are looking at all games- Big East and non-conference matchups.
2. We are going to group February and March together ending at the regular season. Post Season play will not be examined. Read more
Villanova at #21 in Both Polls
The AP and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll have ranked Villanova #21 this week.
The rigors of the tough conference schedule are hitting Big East squads. Now, only 7 Big East teams are in the AP Top 25 this week with Notre Dame dropping out.
Heading to Providence?
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