Scottie Reynolds

The 18-1 start includes a 7-0 start in Big East Conference play which has never been accomplished before by the Wildcats.

‘Nova overcame an 11 point deficit late in the first half to be down only 1 point at the intermission. Whatever Jay said to the squad at the half, the team took it to heart. A combination of increased defensive pressure and cold shooting saw St. John’s only shoot 11-38 (29%) from the field in the second 20 minutes.

Corey Fisher added 18 points for ‘Nova and freshman Maalik Wayns contributed 16 with both shooting 5-8 from the floor.

Reynolds also led the team with 4 assists and 3 steals. Along the way he passed Randy Foye and moved in to the #8 spot on Villanova’s All-Time Scoring List.

Villanova next faces Notre Dame on Wednesday at 7p.

Closest to the Pin Results:  With the Cat’s winning 81-71, we congratulate eight VUH readers who took medals in our most competitive contest so far.  Gold Medals: Joe (82-71) and  Paul (80-71), earning 5 points each; Silver Medals: maalik lowry (80-72), Old School (81-69), Squeaky 99 (80-70) and supernova (82-70), earning 3  points each;  Bronze Medals: Brendan D (81-68) and EG’77 (81-74),  earning 1 point each.   For the standings after 15 rounds, see our Leader Board.

At 17-1 (6-0 in the Big East), ‘Nova is off to their best start since the 1963-64 season. If the Wildcats improve their conference record to 7-0, that would match their best Big East start since 1983.

Scottie Reynolds is leading Villanova with 18.7 points per contest. Head Coach Jay Wright is 8-5 against St. John’s in his career- 7-2 as the leader at ‘Nova.

The Red Men Storm are coming into the game at 12-6 (2-4) and an RPI hovering around 50. They are led by 6-6 Guard-Forward DJ Kennedy- and he is their leader. The Junior from Pittsburgh leads the Red Storm in Points (15.6), Rebounds (6.6), and Assists (3.3).

Norm Roberts’ squad is 9-2 this season at Madison Square Garden.

Tickets are available on TicketMaster or Stubhub.

Tipoff is slate for 1202p from MSG and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

Don’t forget to participate in Ed’s Closest to the Pin Contest.

UPDATE — Game Results:  With the Cat’s winning 81-71, we congratulate eight VUH readers who took medals in our most competitive contest so far.  Gold Medals: Joe (82-71) and  Paul (80-71), earning 5 points each; Silver Medals: maalik lowry (80-72), Old School (81-69), Squeaky 99 (80-70) and supernova (82-70), earning 3  points each;  Bronze Medals: Brendan D (81-68) and EG’77 (81-74),  earning 1 point each.   Select “read more” to see the names of the 52 readers now on our Leader Board after 15 rounds.

LEADERBOARD AFTER 15 ROUNDS

Update:  Saturday, Jan 23, 12:00 Noon (Game Time)    A total of 67 VUH readers posted predictions (none predicting a St. John’s victory).  Collectively, the readers see Nova winning 84-70 (a margin of 14 points and implied over/under of 154).   The Vegas odds-see a smaller winning margin for the Cats (-6.5) and a lower scoring game (over- under set at 148.5, implying a final score of 77-71).  Continue reading for the scatter graph depicting the VUH readers’ predictions as well as statistical information on St. John’s.

 Window Opening: Thursday, Jan. 21, 8:30 PM.   The window is now open for readers to post their predicted final scores for Saturday’s game against St. John’s in our Closest to the Pin Contest.  After fourteen rounds, our leader board shows Andy ‘06 in first place with 17 points, Pete in second place with 15 points, and tommyboy in third place with 11 points.

So far this season, Villanova (17-1, 6-0) has scored an average of 85.2 points while holding their opponents to 70.4.  St. John’s (12-6, 2-4) has scored an average of 67.7 points while giving up 63.3 points. The Red Storm’s most notable wins have come over Siena (+9), Temple (+7), Georgia (+10), and Cincinnati (+2).   Their losses have come at the hands of Duke (-9), Cornell (-5), Georgetown (-7), Providence (-15), Louisville (-7) and Connecticut (-16).  Villanova is ranked #4, has an RPI of 6 and an SOS of 49. St. John’s is unranked, has an RPI of 54 and an SOS of 38.

We’ll post our game preview and the Las Vegas spread / over-under by game day.  NOTE: With VUHoops’ new commenting system, it is important for contestants to use a consistent handle/login so that we can keep an accurate running leader board over the course of the season. Obviously, score predictions posted by anonymous readers cannot be accepted.

The Madison Square Garden game is on January 23rd.

#23 Villanova had nearly a double point lead throughout the whole game, but the Red Storm clawed back to within 8 early in the second. The cats then went on an 11-2 run to walk away.

‘Nova shot 58.8% from the field (30-51) including 41.7% from behind the arc and outrebounded the Red Storm 27-22.

The win extends Villanova’s Winning Streak at The Pavilion to 24 games.

[Box Score]

St. John’s is led by DJ Kennedy & Paris Horne who are each scoring a bit over 13 points a game. DJ Kennedy is their leading rebounder as he’s pulling down 7 boards. The Red Storm’s lone conference win was against #7 Notre Dame. However, the New York City squad has been very competitive in the first half in their losses against Pitt and UConn.

Head Coach Norm Roberts usually starts Forwards DJ Kennedy, Sean Evans, and Justin Burrell. Guards Quincy Roberts and Paris Horne round out the starting 5.

St. John’s doesn’t match up well with the Wildcats’ guards, but its size and toughness inside could pose problems for Jay Wright’s crew.

Quick Notes

• The Redmen/Storm have the historical edge over ‘Nova at a 58-42 margin with the first game in 1923 (which Villanova won 29-23).
• Dating back to 2002, Villanova has won 6 of 7 games.
• Villanova is currently riding a 23-Game Winning Streak at the Pavilion. The last loss was against DePaul on January 17, 2007.
• Jay Wright is 6-2 against St. John’s as the head coach of ‘Nova; 6-5 all-time.

Unofficial St. John’s Website: Johnny Jungle