USF was a big winner over an 18th-ranked Louisville team in their regular-season finale, and will be a tough out in Madison Square Garden. USF has a hot-streak on the Wildcats, winning each of their last three games and by double-digits in their most-recent meeting.

The key for Villanova is to find ways to stretch the USF defense and to win a tough rebounding battle. The match-ups inside are particularly difficult for Mouph Yarou, who will need help against a very strong front line.  Mo Sutton has been more effective against the USF defense, providing a “speed” option for the Wildcats, and should see plenty of chances.

State of the Bracket

AP Photo

Villanova is in the unenviable position of potentially needing to win a game or two in the Big East tournament in order to sure up their resume for a bid to the lower-class CBI Tournament. The Wildcats are already mathematically eliminated from an NIT bid, which would require at least a .500 record, a mark that cannot be achieved without winning the Big East Tournament.

So the Wildcats are left with three post-season options: (1) Win the Big East tournament and get an NCAA auto-bid, (2) improve their record this week and get a bid to the CBI, or (3) no postseason at all.

The CBI tournament accepts major conference programs sporting losing records, which is why Villanova would have a chance. They do look for some end-of-season momentum, however. A school like Villanova might be looked at by some as being above the CBI, but this years youth and struggles have made them a good candidate for an extended season. Every scholarship player is eligible to return for the Wildcats next season, which means that more games and more experience — it can’t hurt.

“Interested, definitely interested, but at 12-18 you’re not a prime candidate so we just have to see how things play out,” coach Jay Wright told CBSSports.com of the CBI.

Neither JayVaughn Pinkston, nor James Bell, will be 100% healthy on Tuesday night after suffering left ankle injuries.

“James is trying to play, but he probably shouldn’t be playing,” Wright said to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “JayVaughn is hurting. I know we’re not good enough to lose those guys and be really good.”

Maalik Wayns is freshly recovered from an injury of his own — a left MCL sprain — and was named to the All-Big East Second Team on Sunday morning. The Wildcat guard has been the focal point of the Villanova attack this season, usually getting some scoring help from some combination of his teammates — most often Pinkston or Dominic Cheek.

His high-scoring ways saw him fly past former Wildcat-greats, Malik Allen and Jim Washington during the regular-season finale on the school’s all-time scoring list. If he sinks a layup on Tuesday, he will move into 46th place, passing Harold Jensen as well.

According to Wright, what his team needs is to get into a “rhythm.”

They’ll start to get that rhythm against Rutgers in a game that KenPom.com gives them a 54% chance of winning on a neutral court. The Wildcats already have a win over the Scarlet Knights, but had to hold on as the Knights surged and came back. Rutgers finished their season ahead of the Wildcats in the Big East standings, but only by a hair.

Still-hobbled Pinkston and Wayns each contributed 18 points in the Wildcats’ victory at the RAC. Wayns was limited in the second half by foul trouble — his fourth personal foul coming on a questionable offensive foul call.

Villanova will need to play tougher defense this time around, and do so throughout the game, instead of allowing their opponent to come back like they have so many times this year. They also need to control their turnovers, which have been an issue at many times as well — they turned it over 20 times in the Rutgers game.

Villanova’s strength this season has been on the boards and that should continue to carry on at Madison Square Garden this week. Oft-criticized Mouph Yarou is averaging 8.2 rebounds per game and the team averages 39.5 per game, good for 13th in the nation. They have averaged a solid 13.9 offensive rebounds per game as well.

If they can earn the win tomorrow night, the Wildcats would play South Florida again on Wednesday night, a team they lost to twice this season, 74-57 and 65-51. That game will be an even bigger challenge for the Wildcats; the Bulls would be easy favorites to win a third time on a neutral floor.

It would be a cinderella story for Villanova to make its way to Thursday night or beyond, and maybe that is the kind of shot-in-the-arm that fans will need to enter next season with a modicum of confidence.

Villanova expects to tip-off around 9:30 p.m. and the game will be covered by ESPNU and ESPN 3D.

Tuesday’s Slate

Tuesday, March 6 – First Round (ESPN2/ESPN 3D)

No. 16 DePaul (12-18) vs. No. 9 Connecticut (18-12) ………………………………………… Noon

Last-place DePaul had a good start to the season before conference play, but their promising results couldn’t be carried through to the conference play. The Blue Demons did end the season with a blow-out of Seton Hall, giving them some momentum coming into a game against a slumping UConn team. Connecticut also ended the season with a win, however, and will be expected to advance after blowing DePaul away on February 15th.

No. 13 Pittsburgh (16-15) vs. No. 12 St. John’s (13-18) ………………………………………… 2 p.m.

After graduating most of their team last year, the Red Storm weren’t expected to do much in the Big East this season. They managed 6 league wins and are the higher seed in their first-round game against a disappointing Pittsburgh team. Despite being the worst Pitt team of Jamie Dixon’s tenure, the Panthers should win their first round game with the Johnnies, a team they beat by 20 points less than a week ago.

Tuesday, March 6 – First Round (ESPNU/ESPN 3D)

No. 15 Providence (15-16) vs. No. 10 Seton Hall (19-11) ……………………………………. 7 p.m.

Providence has the wherewithal to surprise some better teams. Louisville learned that lesson earlier this season, but Seton Hall won’t be caught off-guard by the Friars tomorrow. The Pirates need to bounce back from losses to Rutgers and DePaul and win a few games this week to save their NCAA tournament hopes, and that motivation should drive them to a victory.

No. 14 Villanova (12-18) vs. No. 11 Rutgers (14-17) …………………………………………  9 p.m.

Rutgers won two of their last three games, including a Saturday-night game against St. John’s to lock themselves in as the 11-seed in the Big East, but their one loss came on their home floor against Villanova. The Wildcats haven’t been able to beat the top of the Big East conference this season, but they were 4-1 against teams that finished 11th or worse. Expect another close game that the ‘Cats can win if they protect the ball and make some big shots late.

See Also: Villanova alum John Celestand previews the Big East tournament for BigEast.org

Cincinatti’s record sits at 11-6 in conference play and they may still be able to clinch a double-bye at Madison Square Garden with a win this weekend. Villanova will be playing again on Tuesday regardless of outcome, but would clearly appreciate some momentum that would come with a win  over the 21-9 Bearcats.

The game will have some impact on Big East standings for Villanova, and depending on how Saturday’s games go across the conference, the Wildcats could be seeded anywhere from 11th through 15th on Tuesday. They will have a tough road to get to Saturday at Madison Square Garden, however, no matter what happens this weekend.

The Bearcats had four players score in double-digits against the Wildcats in January, including a team-high of 22 points from Dion Dixon, who hit 4 triples in the first half of that game. He was joined by Yancy Gates with 16 points and 9 rebounds, Sean Kilpatrick with 14 points, and point guard Cashmere Wright with 11 points.

Kilpatrick averages just over 14 points per game, while Dixon scores 13.5 ppg, Gates averages 11.7 ppg and Wright contributes 10.8 ppg for Cincy. Gates also leads the team with just under 10 rebounds per game and has been one of the Big East’s top big men this season. Wright leads the offensive with 4.5 assists per contest.

Where Villanova edges out the Bearcats is in getting to the free-throw line, where the ‘Cats have a FT Rate of 39.1% to Cincy’s 29.6%, and offensive rebounding, where the ‘Cats own a slight edge, 14.3 to 13.6 per game. When the Wildcats get to the free-throw line, they shoot a higher percentage than Cincinnati as well (76.2% vs 64.6%). Villanova is also 10th in the nation in total rebounding-per-game, with an average of 39.8 boards.

Villanova has won its last three games against Cincinnati at the Pavilion. This season the Wildcats are 9-5 at home but four of the five losses were at the Wells Fargo Center. Cincinnati, meanwhile, has went 6-5 on the road.

Maalik Wayns currently has 1,128 career points at Villanova and will pass Malik Allen for 48th-place in the school’s all-time scoring list if he notches 4 more points.

The game will tip-off at 2:00 pm on Saturday, March 3rd from the Pavilion at Villanova and will be aired nationally on ESPN.

See also: 

• Cincy you asked… (January 13th Preview)
• Villanova Cat Bear the Second-Half Heat (January 14th Recap)

This season, Villanova again travels to Piscataway, but this time with lower expectations. The unranked Wildcats are now the underdogs looking for an upset, a game behind Rutgers in the Big East standings.

Despite having a worse record, KenPom.com ranks Villanova a spot higher than the Scarlet Knights, but predicts that Rutgers would win this game 64% of the time.

Junior point guard Maalik Wayns returned to the starting line-up for the Wildcats in their last game at Georgetown and will again be available against Rutgers. James Bell has also missed games recently with a sprained left ankle, as has JayVaughn Pinkston, both starters prior to their injuries and both will be listed as day-to-day heading into the Rutgers game.

Bell has practiced on a limited basis this week, but will be a game-time decision for Jay Wright.

The Wildcats have struggled with injuries and without them this season, with bad defense giving way to bad offense in many cases. The ‘Cats have a long way to go to look like the team they were expected to be this year.

“The (mistakes) are often results of inexperience,” stated Villanova coach Jay Wright. “All those little things, all those details are a part of inexperience and that’s been a big part of our struggle this season. Individually inexperienced and then just always having different groups together. One guys is in, one guy’s out, one guy’s hurt, one guy’s out. We have not been good enough to overcome that this year.

“The guys give us effort, though. We just have to continue to keep pushing through it and get better.”

Rutgers, meanwhile, is coming off of an upset win over in-state rivals Seton Hall on Saturday. The Scarlet Knights knocked off the Pirates, 77-72 in overtime in Newark.

The Scarlet Knights are led by Eli Carter with 13.4 points per game and 2.2 assists. Gilvydas Biruta is close behind with 10.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while Dane Miller provides a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game. Biruta is also their best 3-point shooter at 36.8% while seven Rutgers players have connected on more than one-third of their attempts from deep.

They also share the ball, with four players averaging over 2 assists per game, with Jerome Seagears leading the way with 2.3 per game. Seagears has averaged 15 points in his last two outings and knocked down the game-winning triple against Seton Hall.

Villanova will have a challenge on their hands in this game and may be shorthanded as they were against Georgetown if injured players are unable to return. Wayns will need to find his legs again in order to become as effective as he was before the injury, since the Wildcats will need his scoring without Pinkston and Bell available or at full-strength.

The game will tip-off at 9:00 pm from the RAC in Piscataway, NJ and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.

Both teams lost earlier in the week, with the Wildcats dropping one in overtime on Monday to the UConn Huskies and Georgetown becoming a signature win for the Seton Hall Pirates. The 18-point loss in Newark, New Jersey  stunned the number-8 ranked Hoyas.

“I think the Seton Hall game may be our worst performance of the year at both ends of the court,” Georgetown head coach John Thompson III said. “[Jordan] Theodore was terrific and he totally dominated the game from their perspective, he made big shots. Early in the second half we though we would get to chip away at it, but he controlled the game, thats what seniors do.

“The Georgetown/Villanova game is special, we’re going to have to play well, we’re going to have to come out and bounce back [from Tuesday's loss] and play much better than we did the other day. ”

Villanova, meanwhile is lacking the senior firepower that Seton Hall has in Theodore and Herb Pope, who have been among the leagues’ best at their respective positions this season. What Villanova does have, is some talented youth that has been trying to get comfortable with their roles.

“I think they both [Pinkston and Johnson] are playing really well, they’re both really confident young men, you know, and Pinkston has been called on to make big plays and Ty  has had the ball in his hands,” Thompson said. “Speaking of Tyrone in particular, I think he’s very very poised and does a good job of distributing the ball to his teammates as well as knowing when its time for him to take them.”

Even though the Wildcats have struggled with opposing guards this season, Villanova’s backcourt-play is something that concerns the Hoyas’ coach.

“I think that we do match up with them but the flip side is that they match up with us,” he noted. “They always have done a very good job with their guard play at both ends of the court. They always have the sort of players, they switch everything, jump everything and they keep you off-kilter, which I don’t think will be any different.”

Jay Wright hopes to have star junior Maalik Wayns back on board for Saturday’s game to bolster that backcourt. The junior point guard has been sidelined since the second half of the Wildcats’ home game against Providence with a sprained MCL in his left knee. James Bell is

“I would say right now — because Maalik Wayns tried to go a little bit this morning in practice — as of right now I’d say Maalik is ‘hopeful’ for Saturday and James Bell is ‘doubtful,’” Wright told reporters.

Wayns is the team’s leading scorer and one of the Big East’s best in that department with 17.8 points per game. Dominic Cheek has helped to pick up some of that burden in his absence, averaging 16.3 points per game in his last three outings and 15.6 in his last six. That number was boosted by a 23-point outburst against Connecticut this week.

With Bell sidelined with a left ankle injury, Maurice Sutton has stepped into a bigger role, starting in the last two games and averaging 8.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in those contests, including a double-double against Notre Dame.

The Hoyas are lead by senior guard Jason Clark with 14.5 points per game and junior forward Hollis Thompson with 13.2 ppg. Senior center Henry Sims has also played a major role in Georgetown’s version of the Princeton offense, scoring 11.3 points per game, grabbing 5.5 rebounds and leading the team with 3.5 assists per game.

Georgetown’s offense makes use of its center to help run the offense by making passes out of the high-post. That makes the Hoyas very effective against the 2-3 zone defense.

The Hoyas can also shoot the ball, with three players connecting on more than 1/3 of their 3-point attempts. Thompson leads the way, connecting on a deadly 47.7%, while Markel Starks has hit on 37.9% and Clark makes 34.2% as well. As a team, they connect on 35.7% overall.

“Tough team and its hard to call Georgetown underrated, but I still think they are,” Wright said of the weekend’s opponent.

In practices this season, Wright claims that, “the attitude has stayed pretty good,” and that his players remain confident. Young players or longtime reserves like Maurice Sutton, he said, are happy about the opportunity to play more minutes.

“We’ve played tough, you know we’re playing without Wayns and Bell and we’re getting valuable minutes for our freshmen, Ty Johnson and also JayVaughn Pinkston is really coming on for us. It has just been a tough year but these guys have stuck together and playing hard and we feel confident going into Georgetown.”

Villanova will need more than confidence to steal a victory in the Verizon Center and send the Hoyas to a second consecutive loss.

The game will tip off from the Verizon Center inWashington, D.C. at 2:00 pm on Saturday and will be broadcast nationally on your local CBS affiliate.

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

UConn’s most important basketball star won’t be available on Monday when the Huskies travel to Philadelphia on Monday. Jim Calhoun went on an indefinite leave from the program until he is able to resolve a lower-back pain issue. They have lost 7 of their last nine games with wins over just Seton Hall and DePaul in that stretch, and 3-of-5 games without Calhoun on the sideline.

Instead, assistant coach George Blaney has taken the reigns of the UConn program in the interim.

After the coach, UConn’s other star is Jeremy Lamb, who has scored 17.2 points per game and grabbed an average of 4.6 rebounds. The sophomore swingman has also been the Huskies’ best free-throw shooter at 83.5% and connects on a little over a third of his attempts from deep.

The Huskies share the ball well among their key players on offense, with all five starters using a roughly-equal percentage of offensive possessions while on the court.

Point guard Shabazz Napier is the second-leading scorer, accounting for 13 points and 5.8 assists per game. He also grabs an average of 4 rebounds per game and connects on 34.1% of his attempts from beyond the arc. Ryan Boatright, a freshman guard, is the Huskies’ best shooter, however, with a 41.7% 3-point percentage, helping him to average 10.4 points per contest.

Andre Drummond is the fourth player scoring in double-digits, and the talented freshman center has scored 10.1 points and averaged 7.6 rebounds per game for Connecticut. Drummond also leads the UConn block party with 2.5 blocks per game.

Both the UConn offense and defense are ranked in the 40s by KenPom.com for efficiency, with their biggest weaknesses being defensive rebounding (they allow opponents to grab a higher-than-average 33.2% of their offensive rebounds) and generating turnovers. As a team, their 3-point percentage is below-average as well.

The Huskies have 16-wins on the season, but have just 6 of those in conference play, where they are below-.500 so far. Napier has publicly called out his teammates, offering the suggestion that maybe their hearts aren’t in the game right now.

“I’ve got to question a lot of these guys’ hearts,” Napier told the Associated Press after his team lost 79-64 at home to Marquette. “The simple stuff — allowing somebody to get an alley-oop at the end of the game, just quitting with 16 seconds left — it doesn’t look like UConn basketball.”

Villanova, meanwhile, has seen its own fortunes in the dumps and players have been inconsistent in keeping up when playing with a deficit. A home crowd may be key to keeping the Wildcats’ energy levels high — which has seemed to be the case so far, with only one true away-game victory this season.

Their fortunes may be hampered, however, by the absence of James Bell and likely absence of Maalik Wayns, both of whom will sit out against Notre Dame. Bell has also been officially ruled out for UConn, while Wayns’ remains “day-to-day” with his MCL sprain. Without those two players, the ‘Cats will need some young players to step up and take pressure off of JayVaughn Pinkston who took was swarmed by the USF front line while forced into a feature role.

The game will tip-off at 7:00 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

Notre Dame started the season slower, losing to Georgia, Gonzaga, Maryland, Indiana and Missouri in non-conference play. Their three conference losses were against UConn, at Rutgers and at Cincinnati, the last coming on January 16 at the RAC in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Forward Jack Cooley recorded a double-double in each of the last three contests. Cooley has taken well to his role on the Irish team, averaging 11.9 points and vacuuming up 9.2 rebounds per game. He connects on over 61% of his shots.

Everyone on the Notre Dame team has had to step-up after Tim Abromaitis went down with an injury. Two sophomore guards shoulder most of the scoring load, with Eric Atkins averaging 12.8 points and 3.8 assists and Jerian Grant scoring 13 points and dishing out 4.8 assists per game. Atkins has also been one of Notre Dame’s best shooters, connecting on 39.8% from outside.

Defensively, the Irish rate about the same as South Florida, but offensively, they are significantly better, ranking 44th in offensive efficiency. Villanova will have to be far more effective on the offensive end than they were in Tampa on Wednesday night if they will have a chance to stay in the game against a Notre Dame team that has been playing its best basketball since January — and even better in February.

To that end, getting Maalik Wayns, the team’s leading scorer, back from a left knee injury would be helpful, but he is still listed as “day-to-day.” Wayns is healing, however, but his availability on Saturday night is unlikely to be determined until shortly before tip-off. Without Wayns on the court, opponents become more and more likely to double-up on JayVaughn Pinkston, who had been on a tear in Big East play, daring anyone else to step up and score.

Dominic Cheek remains the team’s second-best scorer with 12.4 points per game, but he has been inconsistent and is often content to hang out on the perimeter taking long jump shots. Yarou has averaged 11.1 points, but has also seemingly fallen off in league play.

James Bell on the other hand had come on strong in the last few games prior to South Florida and is the team’s best outside shooter (other than Markus Kennedy, whose 1-1 performance this week put his season 3-point percentage at .500). If Bell can be coaxed into an offensive outburst, defenders will have to pay more attention to him, and will ease up on Pinkston  inside.

That coaxing may have to come from an energetic fan-base, which may be too much to ask for at the Wells Fargo Center in the middle of this very disappointing season. The boisterous-though-sparse student section at the tiny Pavilion seemed to power the Wildcats in their last home game — a 19-point comeback victory over Providence.

Villanova has no pretentious of making it to the NCAA tournament as an at-large selection this season. What the ‘Cats can hope for, however, is improvement and some degree of hope going forward. Pinkston and redshirt-junior Maurice Sutton have both brought a level of energy and drive to the team lately that has offered a glimpse of hope down the stretch. Now it is time for the rest of the Wildcats to leave it all on the court.

The game will tip off from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET and will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.

Wayns is considered “questionable” for the game, but told reporters that he expected to be able to play after spending much of the 7-days-off recovering. If he does play, he might be limited in the game and may not start. He didn’t start in the previous contest against the Tampa-based school either, but wasn’t experiencing any health issues in that game.

Wayns took part in practices on Monday and Tuesday, but was limited in both.

Dominic Cheek, who played just 15 minutes in the January 5th game figures to play a bigger role in the rematch. JayVaughn Pinkston also figures to play a bigger role, starting regularly and playing over 30 minutes in most conference games so far.

Pinkston has come on strong in Big East conference play with 4 double-doubles and 9 games with 10 or more points recorded since January 1st. His star hadn’t burned as bright as it did in his last outing against Providence, however, with 28 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal in the game as he took over near the end to carry the Wildcats in their 19-point comeback win.

The Wildcats may also get a boost from James Bell, who scored in double digits in 5 of the last 6 games and leads the team, making 36.2% of his shots from the perimeter. In the earlier game, Bell played just 5 minutes.

With Wayns potentially out or limited, Ty Johnson will be asked to run the point. That is a significant step back in the scoring department, but when it comes to protecting the ball, Johnson is probably Villanova’s best option. He also sports a good wingspan and enough athleticism to do a good job defending in the Big East.

USF’s defense has held opponents to just 58.9 points per game and 30.3% shooting from outside. They have quietly become one of the top defensive teams in the Big East. That success has not bled over to the offensive side, however, scoring a league-low 61 points per contest.

Villanova is still sporting a defense ranked 124th in the nation and near the bottom of the Big East conference. Their offense, meanwhile, is ranked 54th in the nation and 7th-best in conference play.

Villanova will need to find an answer for Jawanza Poland, who lit them up for 20 points in the last meeting as well as Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, who scored 10 points, and Blake Nash who had 12, both on 50% shooting from 3. Shaun Noriega continues to be a threat to the Wildcats from deep as well, making his only field goal attempt for 3 in the last meeting and lighting them up in the meeting prior to that.

USF doesn’t shoot a high percentage from beyond the arc, just 32.4% overall, but they connected on 40% of those shots at Villanova. They made 46.2% of their field goals in that contest and out-rebounded the  ’Cats 36 to 18, with a 9 to 4 edge on the offensive glass. It will be tough for the Bulls to repeat that rebounding performance, however, as the Wildcats are one of the conference’s best rebounding teams.

Villanova is third in the Big East in offensive rebounding percentage while the Bulls are fifth.

Villanova isn’t expected to win this game, Ken Pom gives them just a 40% chance of knocking off the Bulls in Tampa and USF has been a winner at the Times Forum, going 12-1 there this season. If Villanova has any chance to pull it off, they will need to rebound well — a repeat of the last Nova/USF game won’t do — and get offensive production from players who aren’t named Maalik. Even if Wayns plays 40 minutes in the game, there is a good chance that he will still be a step behind his usual self as he plays through any residual pain or discomfort from the injury.

If Bell and Pinkston continue their hot-streaks, however, the ‘Cats offense could power through this match-up. The question then, is whether the Villanova defense can get enough stops to make it count. If USF starts getting hot from outside, they will need to extend the defense out and deny the shooter. If this game has to turn into a shootout, it would be better to trade 2′s for 2′s than to trade them for 3′s.

The game tips off at 7:00 PM at the Tampa Bay Times Forum and will be broadcast live on ESPN2. 

During the Friars’ most recent outing, they took a lead into half-time against West Virginia and played to a draw at the end of regulation. They lost when Darryl Bryant, nailed a 3-pointer with about a second left on the clock, giving the Mountaineers an 87-84 victory.

Vincent Council, a junior guard, has been trying to fill the void left by the graduation of MarShon Brooks on the scoreboard. Council has averaged 16.1 points per game, grabbed 4.3 rebounds and dished out an average of 7.7 assists. He is the offensive driving force behind the Friars attack.

Bryce Cotton, a sophomore guard, is Council’s sidekick, scoring 15.3 points per game, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists, while leading the team in 3-point percentage at 41.8%. Two other players have averaged a score in double-digits, sophomore guard Gerard Coleman with 14.2 ppg and freshman forward LaDontae Henton with 13.8 ppg and a 39.2% success-rate from beyond the arc.

Other than Henton and Cotton, no Providence players have been able to consistently make their shots from deep.

Those two players may be enough, however, to make the Wildcats’ defense struggle. Villanova really hasn’t done a good job of guarding the perimeter for 40 minutes in any of their games this season. Certainly not in the last few.

Offensively, Villanova is still looking for a second option after Maalik Wayns. The talented guard has been the only consistent threat to score on the Villanova roster, with a number of players performing well, but none consistently. Mouphtaou Yarou recorded a double-double against Pittsburgh, but has also had games where he was a statistical non-factor. Along with Dominic Cheek, his development has been a disappointment to Jay Wright so far.

James Bell and JayVaughn Pinkston have both performed well in the last few games, with Pinkston scoring in double digits in 8 of 10 games since January 1st — including 3 double-doubles. Bell, for his part, has scored in double-digits in each of the last 5 games, starting with the Seton Hall victory. Bell also had a double-double against Louisville and leads the team with 36.7% shooting from 3-point range.

Villanova needs a more balanced attack and an answer for defense on the perimeter, and that is what the ‘Cats are trying to find when they talk about “getting better,” this season. Nobody will magically transform into a sharpshooter before the end of the season, nor will any player learn to take defenders off the dribble overnight. Instead, the ‘Cats need to meet the more reasonable goals of playing competent defense and offense that can survive without Wayns on the court.

A win for the Wildcats would be their 14th over the Friars at the Pavilion and push them up into the group of four teams with 4-wins on the season. They wouldn’t have to win out in order to finish the season at .500 in the league, but they would in order to finish above that mark. That is about what it would take for the Wildcats to climb up to the middle of the Big East pack.

The game will tip-off at 8:00 p.m. eastern from the Pavilion at Villanova and coverage will be provided by ESPN3.com and locally on WPHL-17.

The two teams, who played in an epic game for a spot in the Final Four a mere three years ago, are trying to emerge as the least disappointing team in the Big East this year.

‘Nova (10-12 overall) and the Panthers (14-9) both share 13th place in the conference with a 3-7 record in the BIG EAST. At the moment, only DePaul and Providence are sporting worse conference records. At the dismay of many Nova fans, St. John’s is the only other BIG EAST school with a sub-500 record.

Point Guard Ashton Gibbs leads the Panthers with 16.4ppg and 2.8 assists- PITT is on a 3-1 streak since his return to the lineup following an abdominal injury. Nasir Robinson adds 12.4 points in the paint and grabs 6.6 boards.

Tipoff is slated for 2p from Petersen Events Center- a venue where Villanova is 0-4. The game will be carried on ESPN.