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Villanova coughed up another  early 18 point lead at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday night. UConn came storming back late in the first half and the score was tied at halftme. Fans were understandably dismayed as they got up at the intermission, but the Wildcats were ready to fight in the second half, keeping the game close. They got back ahead of the Huskies 60-58 with about 30 seconds left when an errant inbound pass was stolen, allowing UConn to tie it up at 60 apiece with just 19.5 seconds remaining.

With the ball, the ‘Cats gave the ball to JayVaughn Pinkston, who couldn’t get his shot to fall and the game went into overtime of the second straight game. The ‘Cats again kept things close in the overtime, but a Shabazz Napier triple, launched from West Chester, with 0.2 seconds left sealed their fate — a 70-73 loss.

“You’ve got a couple ways to look at this, and there’s no choice but for us to say, ‘you know what, we’re going to learn from this and we’re going to get better,’ and there will be a point where this is something we draw upon,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said after the loss.

“There’s no question that this is tough on our guys, we’re battling, we’re in games. End of game situations, we’re actually doing some good things. This is twice now in the end of regulation we get a stop and we score a basket. We also make defensive miscues and turnovers too.”

A hustle play by Dominic Cheek helped the ‘Cats knot the score up at 58 each with just under 3 minutes remaining in the game. Cheek stole the ball near the top of the key and ran the length of the court to score the trying bucket. Yarou was fouled under the basket about a minute later, and nailed both ends of a 1+1 to give the ‘Cats a 60-58 advantage.

UConn wasn’t done, however, and Roscoe Smith managed to steal the ball away and Alex Oriakhi scored on a second-chancer to tie things up with 20 seconds left. Villanova couldn’t respond.

In overtime, the Wildcats struggled getting their shots to fall, but never fell behind by more than 3 points thanks to a couple of opportunities at the charity stripe, where they went 4-for-4. UConn did not fare so well, making just 5-of-8 opportunities at the line, while Villanova fouled  them intentionally to stop the clock.

After Ty Johnson sunk a lay-up to tie the game again at 70-points each with 5.9 seconds on the clock, Shabazz Napier nailed a prayer from 29-feet out.

On the ensuing inbound play, with 0.6 seconds left in the game and no margin for error, Ty Johnson heaved the ball out of bounds as Dominic Cheek tried to chase it down.

“As leader of the team, I take responsibility for that loss,” Cheek quickly offered when a reporter tried to ask about the in-bound mistake. “I should’ve just called time-out to be honest with you. I just wasn’t thinking at the time.”

“We overloaded one side of the floor and were just trying to throw it to the first open man,” Wright explained of the play. “We put five guys on one side of the floor, and we had a timeout [left]. That’s just a young player making mistakes. It’s a simple thing, there were a couple guys open and he just made a mistake.”

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Jeremy Lamb reached a new career high for points in the game with 32 on 11-of-21 shooting (52.4%) and added 5 rebounds and 2 assists. His Lamb’s previous career high had been 30 points. Dominic Cheek was responsible for guarding Lamb during the game.

“Jeremy Lamb is a great player, I respect his game, its just something I need to continue to work on,” Cheek said. “Just keep working on my defense.”

Lamb was only 2-of-9 from deep and the Huskies shot 30.4% from beyond the arc during the game. Star center Andre Drummond, likely the reason that 12 NBA scouts were in the building, was held to just 8 points, though he did grab 11 rebounds (8 in the first half). None of the UConn forwards reached double-digit points.

“All season, we’ve done a pretty good job as a team on bigs. All season, guards have just lit us up,” Wright admitted. ”Its not just one guy, its how you play perimeter defense as a team. You can go back over every game and the guards have just lit us up, and its just been a difference in every game.

“Our interior defense has been very good this season.”

JayVaughn Pinkston scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to record another double-double. He was on the court for 42 of the 45 available minutes in the game and has been a key player since Wayns went down with his left MCL injury during the Providence game.

“He really has his teammates respect,” Wright said of his redshirt freshman. “They trust the ball in his hands and in pressure situations they know he wants the ball in his hands. He’s learning too, he’s learning how people are going to play him and decision-making. That’s part of his learning process.”

Wright believes that the opportunity to get Pinkston and Johnson over 40 minutes of game time was a positive. They will be more prepared for the go-to roles they will be asked to perform in later.

Johnson scored 14 points for the Wildcats, which was just his first time scoring in double-digits this season. He also grabbed 5 boards and dished out 6 assists, but turned the ball over 4 times.

“I just try to bring the intensity and just be there for my teammates and try to get a victory,” Johnson said of having to fill that role. “I’m just going to keep thinking next play, attitude and just be there for my teammates because they’ve been there for me all season, and I’m just trying to be there for them as well.”

Johnson was one of three Wildcats who were perfect from the free-throw line making all 6 of his attempts. Yarou made all 5 of his and Cheek sank 3-of-3. Villanova made 89.5% of their free-throws overall and made 100% in both the first half and overtime.

Villanova made just 33.3% of their shots from beyond the arc in the game. They started hot, making 3-of-6 in the first half, but failed to connect on any of their next three more attempts in the second half and overtime. Cheek connected on 40%, on his way to a team-leading 23-points.

Pinkston was the only other player to connect on a 3-pointer as Nova shifted their focus to the paint in the second-half.

Despite roaring back from a 22-to-18 deficit on the boards at halftime to finish the game ahead of Connecticut, 44-to-37, the Wildcats couldn’t take advantage of their offensive rebounds. Both teams finished the game with 14 offensive boards, but the Huskies held a 17-to-8 advantage on second-chance points.

Villanova’s record falls to 11-16 on the season and 4-11 in the Big East with just three regular-season games to go. The Wildcats have only lost as many conference games once since joining the Big East in 1980 — they lost 15 games in the 1992-93 season.

“You’ve got to go through these situations, you’ve got to take the heat and stay strong through it, and make sure you pull it together,” Wright preached.

The Villanova coach also noted that the young Wildcats had no real reference point to draw from. None of his players or staff had ever experienced anything like this before.

“They haven’t been through anything together, nothing, and the last seven years everything’s just been really good here. There’s no one around here that was here the first three or four years — no one.

“So its just all new to all of them, and we’ve just got to go through this again and we’ve just got to build on it.”

Wright said he tells his players to look at the positive situations to keep them upbeat about their potential. He recalled showing his team the end-of-game situation from the Notre Dame game, discussing what went right to allow the ‘Cats to take that game to overtime.

“Show them that, and it’s the same thing, it’s the same end-of-the-game situation. You just got to do that one or two possessions more, and not look at the results.

“I just think we’re going to learn from this. This is part of the process of an inexperienced team, its obviously painful, but its what sports is all about.”

(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.

UConn is just about as one dimensional as I’ve ever seen them.  Kemba Walker is absolutely unstoppable.  The rest of the Huskies though, are extremely beatable.  Walker could drain a three in triple coverage and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit.  So why then with the game on the line did Corey Stokes guard him like it was the first play of the game…alone? Yes Isaiah Armwood was on his way over when he took the shot but if there’s one thing I learned yesterday it’s that right now Armwood is a great rebounder and that’s it. He’s as one dimensional as the UConn team. Don’t get me wrong, he’s young and talented and I think could be a real contributor down the road, but why was he given the all-important task of helping Stokes double Walker? He’s simply not ready to play with the game on the line.

OK, enough about our lackluster play in the last six seconds. There were highlights and deserved or not UConn is the 8th ranked team in the land. Corey Fisher for example actually bested Kemba Walker on his way to 28 points on 10 for 22 shooting and three from downtown.  One last criticism if I may; on the list of all-time stupid plays has to be the asinine attempt at an alley-oop at the end of the half. Corey, you’re a senior.  You’re playing a TIGHT game where every single point matters and you give MAURICE SUTTON an out of control pass like that. Absolutely irresponsible for a senior. I’ve been told by many to cut him a break, and if we lost by four or five I could, but that is simply unacceptable from a senior leader. OK, I’m done now…

Aside from Fisher’s dominance on the score line the rest of the team was kept fairly quiet by some very tight UConn defense. Maalik Wayns added 9 points and 2 assists to his season total and Mouphtau Yarou and  Antonio Pena ended the afternoon with 8 each. Corey Stokes was  only able to muster 3 points, all of which came from the foul line.  Whether it was an off day or superior defense focused on Stokes it would have been a very different afternoon if he got anywhere close to his season average.

Also sorely missed of course was Dominic Cheek who could have provided a little fire off the bench.  The good news is the MRI was negative and with no tears to any ligament or meniscus he could be back pretty soon.  Either way, here’s to a full and speedy recovery to him.

Also of note was some very focused defensive play early in the game. Our shots were not falling but some good pressure on the Huskies kept the game from spinning out of control in the first eight minutes. While UConn’s defense was equally as stifling; Villanova kept the Huskies to just under 36% from the field for the game.  Not bad!

The team also did a much better job of protecting the ball with only eight turnovers. A stat like that will go a long way in the Big East slug-fest.

So yes, the sky is not falling. There’s a lot of work left to do and plenty of opportunities to get those marquee Big East wins (like this Saturday). Still, yesterdays loss is frustrating. We were so close and “easily” could have won.  But onward and upward! Two teams will be trying to avenge their last loss this Saturday at the Carrier Dome. I’ll be making my first trip up there so apologies in advance for any delayed postings.

Coming off a two-day rest and traveling, the #7 Wildcats, led by Corey Fisher‘s season high 28-points couldn’t keep pace as Kemba Walker drained a layup with 2.5 seconds left to ultimately give the #8 Huskies a 61-59 win.

Despite starting the game down 0-10 and missing their first 10 shots, Villanova got on the board four and a half minutes into the game thanks to a Maalik Wayns layup. But the tides turned and  the Huskies went ice-cold after that, making just 3 buckets from the field for the balance of the half. Villanova outpaced UConn to have the lead, 22-21 at halftime

In a toughly defensive-minded matchup, both teams shot marginally below average; 35.7% for ‘Nova. 34.7% for UConn. But the edge, in the close game came from Connecticut’s 2 extra 3-pointers and their +6 rebound margin.

After Walker missed two free-throws while being up two with 34 seconds left. Fisher drained 2 free throws to even the game and putting the ball in the Huskies’ possession for Walker’s final game winning drive and layup.

Villanova now heads to the Carrier Dome to take on #3 Syracuse on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 12p.

Note:  The Closest to the Pin Results are now posted.  Click here to see the game winners and our updated leader board.

Box Score

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The 9th-ranked Huskies were among the last few undefeated teams in the country before losing their Big East opener to a 1-loss Pitt team that looks better and better every day.  They followed that loss up with a loss to Notre Dame last week.

They recovered with a win over 12th-ranked Texas and then won against Rutgers and on the road at DePaul this weekend.

Villanova will be the first challenge in a stretch for the Huskies that will ultimately either confirm that they are a top-10 team or expose their weaknesses for good. Villanova, on the other hand, is already in the midst of such a stretch with UConn being followed closely by a visit to Syracuse.

The Huskies aren’t as strong defensively as Maryland was on Saturday. KenPom.com gives their defense a ranking of 45th in the country. Offensively, however, they have been much better, rated 23rd, and much of that has been thanks to Kemba Walker.

Walker is a leading candidate for National Player of the Year, and he will be a handful for the ‘Cats defense to control. Luckily, a group of athletic guards on the Villanova will help to counteract, or at least slow Kemba down.

Other than Walker’s 25.6 points per game, only 6’9″ sophomore forward Alex Oriakhi has averaged 10 points or more with 10.9 points per game. Both freshmen guard Shabazz Napier and forward Jeremy Lamb have had notable double-digit scoring games, but neither has stepped up to become a consistent third option for the Huskies.

Oriakhi is the team’s leading rebounder with an average of 9.2 per game and he also leads the team in blocked shots with 2.4 per game. Freshman Roscoe Smith adds 1.6 blocks while Charles Okwandu blocks 1.5 shots per game. UConn has been one of the best teams in the country for blocking shots, so the ‘Cats will have to be wary of their front court.

This is a game where the ‘Cats backcourt will have to control Kemba Walker. They will likely be without Dominic Cheek in that effort after a knee injury took him out of the Maryland game. About the injury, Coach Wright told reporters:

I have a feeling it’s serious, just because of all the hours I’ve spent with Jeff [Pierce, Villanova’s trainer]. Usually, he’ll say, “Ah, maybe,” but not this time. He said, “No way.” I haven’t talked to (Pierce), but I just know Jeff and I have a feeling it’s serious.

If Cheek is not available on Monday, freshman James Bell will take on most of the extra minutes in the backcourt, while you may also expect a bigger role to be played by the frontcourt. Isaiah Armwood pulled down 13 boards to lead the team against Maryland, and could be relied upon to help counter the Huskies’ bigs. Maurice Sutton will also be available again with his disciplinary suspension over.

Walker is the key to UConn’s success. Without an effective performance from him on the offensive side of the ball, the Huskies will struggle. With that set-up, the Huskies look less like a pack than a lone wolf.

The game will tip off in Storrs, CT (Gampel Pavilion) at 3:30pm on Monday. The game will be available nationally on ESPN.

Don’t forget to get your votes in for Ed’s Closest to the Pin contest.

UPDATE 3pm: Dominic Cheek’s injury has been described as a “knee sprain.” He will have an MRI on the knee in the morning and will not make the trip to Connecticut with the team.

Update:  Game Results

REMINDER:  Under the contest rules, winners are determined without regard to whether the contestant correctly picked the winning team (we don’t want to tempt a Nova fan to improve their chances of winning by voting against the Cats) based on the smallest absolute difference between the predicted scores and the actual scores.

VUHoops vs. Vegas:  Based on the average predicted scores of the VUHoops Crowd and the posted Vegas line, we would have won $200 by betting Villanova +2.5 and betting the under.  The details follow.  We’re now +$800 for the season.

Leader Board After 18 Rounds

Update:  Monday, January 17 (Game Time). A total of 76 VUHoops readers posted predictions, with 15 picking the Huskies to win.  As a group, the readers see ‘Nova winning by a score of 75-73 (a margin of 2.0 points and implied over/under of 145).  The Vegas odds makers are picking Connecticut to win by 2.5 points and set the over/under at 146 points, implying a final score of 72-74.  KenPom.com’s model also is predicting a Nova loss by one point with a score of 72-73.

SCATTER PLOT OF PREDICTED SCORES

Window Opening: Sunday, January 16 (8:00 AM). The window is now open for readers to post their predicted final scores for ‘Nova’s game at. Connecticut on Monday, January 17 at 3:30 PM (Storrs, ESPN) in our Closest to the Pin Contest.  After seventeen rounds, we have a three-way time for first place among Hugh Jass, Joe and Pat ’12, each with 13.5 points.  Click here to see our full leader board.  In our VUHoops vs. Vegas competition, VUHoops is up $600.

The #7 Cats (16-1, 4-0) had an RPI of 11, a SOS of 61 and are scoring an average of 77.6 PPG while giving up an average of 62.0 PPG. The #10 Huskies (14-2, 3-2) have an RPI of 10, a SOS of 30, and score an average of 76.6 PPG while allowing an average of 64.5 PPG. Connecticut’s more notable wins have come against Michigan State (+3), Kentucky (+17), South Florida (+5), Texas (+1) and Rutgers (+14). Their two losses have come against Pitt (-15) and Notre Dame (-3). Villanova and Connecticut have played two common opponents, South Florida, with ‘Nova winning away (+12) and Connecticut winning at home (+5), and Rutgers, with ‘Nova winning at home (+16) and Connecticut winning at home (+14). As of Friday, KenPom.com’s model was picking Nova to lose by a score of 73-72. More statistical information about Connecticut is available at Statsheet.com.

Be sure to check out Brian’s game preview.

Special Note: When posting predictions, please be sure to:

• List your predicted score for Villanova first, followed by the score for the opponent (e.g., Cats 100, Owls 75)
• All future games (except Rivalry Games), points are awarded to winners as follows: Bulls-eye = 10 points; Gold (non-bulls-eye) =5 pts; Silver = 3pts; Bronze = 1pt.
• Note the following rule change: given the extraordinary number of readers participating in the contest, we can no longer enforce our rule prohibiting duplicate score predictions.
• Use a consistent handle / ID so that we can keep an accurate running leader board over the course of the season. Obviously, score predictions posted by guests or anonymous readers cannot be accepted.

Here are ‘Nova’s dates…

• Jan. 17 Villanova at Connecticut 3:30 ESPN
• Feb. 21 Syracuse at Villanova 7:00 ESPN
• Feb. 28 Villanova at Notre Dame 7:00 ESPN

The Huskies were led by Kemba Walker who scored a career high 29 points. Although Connecticut bested Villanova in FG% (48.9% to 40.6%) the Wildcats shot respectably. The difference came from the charity stripe and on the boards. UConn shot 24 more Free Throws than ‘Nova, making 35 as opposed to VU’s 16. On the rebounding side, ‘Nova was outrebounded 36-22- the largest rebound difference this year for Jay Wright’s squad.

Scottie Reynolds led the way for Villanova with 18 points. Corey Fisher added 14 and big-man Antonio Pena had 10 before fouling out.

‘Nova (22-3, 11-2) moves into a ties for first with Syracuse in the conference. The Wildcats next play at Pittsburgh on Sunday.

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