Jay Wright's Wildcats didn't look their best on Saturday afternoon, falling behind big early on their way to a 103-90 loss at Georgetown. But something changed between that loss at Monday night, with youngsters playing with poise and the Wildcats taking better care of the basketball, and the end result was an 82-75 win over West Virginia to move into a tie for first place in the Big East. In the first half nine different players scored for Villanova with senior Scottie Reynolds being limited by the defense of Devin Ebanks. And with Reynolds scoring just two points other guys had to step up and they did; Corey Fisher scored 12 points while freshmen Dominic Cheek (seven points) and Isaiah Armwood (six) added points off the bench. The Wildcats shot 63.3% from the field in taking a 44-33 lead into the locker room and defensively Villanova limited WVU to 35.7%. This game is far more worthy to watch than the Dear John reviews.
But with the Mountaineers mounting their customary second-half rally it was time for the elder statesman to step up and Reynolds did just that, scoring nineteen points (10-10 FT) and driving to the hole to keep West Virginia at arm's length. His ability to sense the moment and make the plays required to close out a win over a top opponent is what separates Villanova from a number of teams that fashion themselves as Final Four contenders (not to mention a team the caliber of St. John's, who put together an epic collapse against the Mountaineers on Saturday). West Virginia went to their 1-3-1 zone and frankly it wasn't effective against a team committed to attack the rim.
"We didn't do a very good job in it," remarked WVU head coach Bob Huggins after the game. "The strength for us in that is our length and when you stand there with your hands down they're going to pick us apart and they did (quote courtesy of villanova.com)."
The Wildcats did turn the ball over eighteen times and foul West Virginia jump shooters on four different occasions (Taylor King, who otherwise played a very good game despite not scoring, did it twice), but they also outrebounded one of the nation's best offensive rebounding teams 38-30. But despite all the numbers that show why Villanova won (and Reynolds and Fisher), the play of Coach Wright's freshmen could be something the Wildcats look back on should they find their way to Indianapolis the first weekend in April.
"I thought our freshmen did a great job and to do what they did in this environment and against this team is impressive," said Wright. "This is an outstanding team and they're very difficult to play against and very well coached, so if you don't play BIG EAST basketball with these guys it's going to be exposed (quote courtesy of villanova.com)." [SOURCE]
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