• Friday, December 3rd: vs. St. Joseph’s (PA) at The Pavilion (ESPNU)
• Sunday, December 12th: @ LaSalle at Tom Gola Arena (ESPNU)
• Wednesday, December 29th: vs. Temple at The Pavilion (ESPN2)

‘Nova (6-0) was paced by Scottie Reynolds and Antonio Pena who both contributed 14 points in the win. Corey Fisher added 13 points (and 6 steals) and freshman Dominic Cheek finished with 10 due to his energetic and athletic play. This is the Wildcats 2nd Big 5 win of the season.

Even though Villanova shot poorly from behind the arc (6-24 3FG) against LaSalle’s zone defense, the ‘Cats’s full-court pressure caused 27 LaSalle Turnovers. The Explorers also out-rebounded ‘Nova, 46-27.

The win, is Villanova’s 30th consecutive victory at The Pavilion.

The Wildcats will play Drexel on Wednesday.

Prior to the game we heard rumors that Senior Walk-on Jason Colenda had left the team “to focus on receiving his degree,” at this time, we can now confirm this.

La Salle is traditionally the weakest of the Big 5 schools. While Villanova leads the way with 18 titles*, La Salle has only won the round-robin series eight times, their last coming a decade ago in the 1989-1990 season.

This season the Explorers are 3-1, with wins over Hampton, (a Curry-less) Davidson and Tulane. They finished fifth in the Charleston Classic after their win on Sunday. They have four players averaging double digit points (a fifth has 9.5 PPG). Explorers star guard Rodney Green leads the team in points (20), rebounds (7.8), and steals (2.2 per game). Green had his worst scoring game so far on Sunday against Tulane, shooting 3 of 8 from the field for 13 points. In his last game against Villanova he scored 16 and added 6 rebounds.

La Salle added freshman Center Aaric Murray, a 6’10″ four-star recruit (and ESPNU Top-100 member), who is averaging 10 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 1.8 blocks. As a freshman he can be assumed to be a little rough around the edges (pulling down 5 and 3 rebounds in his last two games – though he only played 15 minutes against Tulane). Nonetheless, he is second in rebounding and the best shot-blocker on the team.

Their frontcourt is deep  (especially if 6’9″ Forward Vernon Goodrich is able to successfully petition the NCAA for eligibility this year), the Explorers have 6 options inside, all of whom are taller than 6’6″. The backcourt has two seniors starting, in Green and Ruben Guillandeaux (9.5 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 3.3 ast) and  6’6″ senior guard Kimmani Barrett coming off the bench. Despite his experience Green has been unreliable as a point guard, averaging slightly more turnovers (2.8) than assists (2.5) so far this season, and last year was his only year with more assists than turnovers (105/100). La Salle could eventually turn to 6’2″ freshman Parrish Grant to run the point if Green proves unable.

La Salle has lost their last thirteen games against ranked opponents (and Villanova has certainly contributed to that streak). Villanova has won 19 of the last 20 games against Big 5 rivals, and leads the all-time series against La Salle 32-26, and have won the last seven meetings by an average of 15 points.

Villanova should win this game by a healthy margin with or without Yarou.

And don’t forget to submit your entries for Ed’s Closest to the Pin contest, and check back here for a live-blog of the game tomorrow.

* I purposely didn’t count the round-robin-less years in the 90s, even though Wikipedia counts them. If you include those years, La Salle has 10 titles, Villanova has 20, and Temple leads the way with 24 (including shared titles).

So far this season, Nova has scored an average of 81 points while holding their opponents to 65.  LaSalle has scored an average of 74 points while holding their opponents to 72.  The Cats are 5-0 while the Explorers are 3-1 with wins over Hampton (+3), Davidson (+14) and Tulane (+2) and their single loss against South Carolina (-10).  Nova is ranked #5 AP, while LaSalle is not ranked.  Villanova the clear advantage in RPI (#38 vs. #169) and SOS (#159 vs. #261).   See Brian’s game preview, Exploring LaSalle, for more insights.  The Vegas odds-makers favoring Villanova (-14) and an over/under of 148.

UPDATE:  Round #2 Results: With Villanova defeating LaSalle 81-63, eight  readers were winners.   Gold Medal: Pete hit the bulls-eye, nailing the final score and earning 10 pts. (including 5 bonus points for the bulls-eye) toward the season prize.  Silver Medal: Three readers tied for second place, earning 3 pts. – Wallace (80-64), imisskylelowry (82-64), and Jim K (81-65).  Bronze Medal: Four readers tied for third place, earning 1 pt. — Chris (78-62), Old School (82-66), Eli (85-63), cdtoffers (77-63), and EMD’09 (81-67).  Click on “Read More” to see the full Leader Board after two rounds and the scatter chart depicting the 91 readers who posted predictions for the LaSalle game. 

LEADER BOARD (Through Round 2)

READER PREDICTIONS – LASALLE GAME

$40 will get you a ticket to both games.

Scottie Reynolds added 13. He and stokes went 7-12 from 3-Point Land.

[Box Score]
[Story]
[Video at the bottom]

RayFoyeCombo Video…

Sorry folks, it’s been a busy past few days with Dominic Cheek and the holidays…

Villanova (9-1) travels far to North Broad St tonight to take on LaSalle (4-3). The Explorers start 3 players- Rodney Green, Kimmani Barret, and Yves Mekongo Mbala who all average between 11 and 13 points.

The A-10 Squad does have experience as they return 4 of their starters from last year and 6 of their top 7 scorers in ’08. The Explorers reportedly have problems on Defense and distance shooting.

Tipoff is at 7p and the game should be viewable on ESPN-U or online at channelsurfing.

A complete sell-out is anticipated for the 7:00 PM tip-off at Tom Gola Arena.

Tickets can be purchased by calling 215 951-1999 or emailing: tickets@lasalle.edu. The ticket office at Hayman Center will also be open from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM today and tomorrow, 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM on Saturday and 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM on gameday.