Big East Sports Blog

Once is accident.  Two is a trend.  Three became a problem on Saturday afternoon for No.13 UConn against Big East foe Villanova.   The Huskies have been living on the edge as of late.  They needed overtime and a Craig Austrie jumper with 0.2 seconds left to steal a win down in Orlando against South Florida, 74-73, and the Huskies were pushed to the brink earlier this week against DePaul.  UConn, down 13 at one point, used heart and desperation to battle back, using a 23-7 run in final 10 and a half minutes to silence the Blue Demons.  Two straight games the Huskies had poor starts and early troubles, yet managed to dig deep and pull out two consecutive come-from-behind victories.  However, the Huskies ran into a Villanova squad, a Wildcat squad that’s been playing with their own desperation of late, fighting for their tournament lives. They were losers of five straight, and many left them for dead as far as their chances of possibly making the NCAA Tournament, but don’t look now, Villanova is generating some worthy bubble talk, as far as the tournament goes.  The Wildcats have won three in a row since falling in the final seconds on a questionable call to Georgetown.  Villanova has sunk St. John’s and West Virginia convincingly, and now the Wildcats outlast one of the hottest teams in the country.  They’re not a lock by any means to even get an invite, but the door is still open for Villanova.  Their next two games will go a long way in telling whether or not the Wildcats are tournament worthy.  The Wildcats get Marquette at home on Monday night and travel to Louisville to face off against the Cardinals.   In hostile territory, UConn did exactly the opposite of what head coach Jim Calhoun wanted.  The Huskies got behind the eight-ball early, falling in a 14-2 hole.  The raucous crowd at the Wachovia Center was firmly planted behind the home Wildcats, and the Huskies were overwhelmed from the outset, trailing by as many as 15 in the first half.  UConn forget they had center Hasheem Thabeet inside.  Touches were few and far between for the big man, and the Huskies left the Wachovia Center losers for the first time in 10 games.For Villanova to entertain the idea of victory, Scottie Reynolds needed to be the best player on the floor, and he delivered.  Reynolds finished the afternoon with 18 points, 15 coming in the second half, but he wasn’t without help.  A pair of freshmen stepped up and played like seniors to help Reynolds shoulder the offensive load.  Antonio Pena had 10 points, and Corey Stokes finished with 18, all coming off the bench.  UConn’s shortened bench finished with only three points, while Villanova’s bench poured in 20 points.   The other major storyline in the game was the Wildcats’ master plan in defending Huskies big man Hasheem Thabeet.  Villanova was dead set on not allowing Thabeet to be a factor, not allowing Thabeet to be the X-factor he’s been during UConn’s 10-game winning streak.  Hats off to Villanova head coach Jay Wright.  Every time Thabeet got his mitts on the ball, the Wildcats collapsed on him like a cheap lawn chair.  Wright sent ball boys, statisticians, announcers, fans, anyone he could find to throw at Thabeet.  The game plan paid off.  Despite missing only a minute of the game, Thabeet finished with just eight points (two in the first half) and attempted only three field goals.  While the big man had 10 boards, the Wildcats did a good job of steering clear of Thabeet, who had only three blocks in the game.   From the opening tap, you knew that a third come-from-behind win wasn’t in the cards for the visiting Huskies.  UConn made only one of their first eight shots.  Hasheem Thabeet had exactly one more touch than I did in the first half (1).  A.J. Price, who finished with a team-high 16 points, started out just 2-of-9.  UConn had nine first-half cough-ups, and zero fast-break points.   All good things must come to end, and while one streak ends, another carries on.  While impressive and eye-opening, (the Huskies defeated four ranked teams during the streak) UConn’s 10-game winning streak is over.  Villanova’s officially gone streaking, winning their third in a row, but more importantly, the Wildcats are back on the tournament bubble, still giving themselves an opportunity to play ball in late March.

Sorry Villanova fans, I feel for you, I really do. 

The Wildcats’ most recent defeat to No.8 Georgetown signaled the end of Rivalry Week, but it wasn’t without some dramatics.  It was everything you’d expect.  Two big time rivals going head-to-head, with the memory of 1985 still fresh in everyone’s minds. 

As difficult as wins are to get in the Big East, the Wildcats nearly pulled off the upset over the Hoyas, a win that would given the Wildcats confidence, but new life going into the last leg of their schedule.  But instead, for the sixth time in the last seven games, the Wildcats were left with an empty and losing feeling.

Villanova guard Corey Stokes was whistled for a foul on Georgetown guard Jonathan Wallace with 0.1 seconds left in the game, and Wallace walked almost 70 feet the other, sunk both free throws and rescued Georgetown from the upset.  At first, I thought the whistle was blown because Wallace had stepped out of bounds, but it became apparent that the official signaled Stokes for a foul.

There’s a couple ways to look at this, but ultimately that was an awfully touchy call to make in such a crucial point in the game.  Certainly, you don’t hear any of the Hoyas refuting the call and rightfully so.  A win is a win is a win, and Georgetown was damn lucky to pull out the victory.  But I’m sorry, on a good, chilly day along the East coast in February, there are strong winds that have bumped or nudged Wallace harder than Stokes did.

What’s lost in all this is the fact that I have no clue how in the world Villanova was in the game.  They shot 25 percent in the game.  They were 4-of-31 shooting in the second half, and went 1-of-21 in the final 12 minutes of the game.  And still, Scottie Reynolds had a chance to win it on Villanova’s last possession of the game.  Again I’ll state:  Villanova shot 13 percent in the second half, and STILL almost won.

From the Georgetown side of things, this may be the most perplexing win of the season.  How they held Villanova to such a putrid night shooting from the field, especially holding them to one field goal in the last 12 minutes, and still came away with the win is head scratching.  Sometimes it’s just better to be lucky than good, and the zebras helped bail out the Hoyas in the end. 

Monday, Feb.4th

• Louisville 71, #16 Marquette 57
• St. Joseph’s 77, Villanova 55

Tuesday, Feb.5th

• #6 Georgetown 63, South Florida 53
• Providence 79, DePaul 65

Wednesday, Feb.6th

• #19 UConn 63, Syracuse 61
• #22 Notre Dame 95, Seton Hall 69
• St.John’s 52, Rutgers 45

Thursday, Feb.7th

• #25 Pittsburgh 55, West Virginia 54

Friday, Feb 8th. - No games scheduled

> Find great Big East gear including Providence clothing, Villanova apparel & more through Big East Fans.

Coming down the home stretch during Rivalry Week, entering Big East play on Saturday, Georgetown, Notre Dame and UConn all went 2-0 dating back to last Saturday, Feb.2nd.  For the all the success the previously mentioned teams are having, DePaul, Villanova and Seton Hall posted goose eggs in the win column.

Beasts of the Big East

#6 Georgetown- defeated Seton Hall last Saturday 73-61, then followed up with a 10-point win against South Florida on Tuesday, 63-53.  While the Hoyas needed to rally from 10 points down, they pulled away late for the win and remain on top of the Big East standings at 9-1.

#22 Notre Dame.  Hot on the heels of the Hoyas are the Irish, who matched Georgetown by going 2-0 as well.  With wins over DePaul last Saturday 89-80 and mauling Seton Hall on Wednesday 95-69, the Irish remain just one game behind Georgetown in second place in the Big East at 7-2.

UConn - No team is hotter in the Big East right now.  The Huskies pulled out a tough, physical match up a week ago against Pitt, 60-53, and followed up one hard nosed win with another, knocking off arch rival Syracuse on Wednesday 63-61.  In their two wins this week, they’ve only surrendered an average of 57 points per game, and find themselves inside the Top 25 polls, riding a five game win streak and third in the Big East.

Iron unkind

DePaul- They played Notre Dame close, losing 89-80, but close doesn’t cut the mustard in the Big East.  The Blue Demons suffered their second straight loss this week on Tuesday, losing 79-65 to Providence.  DePaul has lost lost four straight, three on the road, since winning consecutive games over Rutgers and Florida Gulf Coast.

Seton Hall- After winning five in a row, the Pirates have had a power outage this week.  Thought they lost to the best two teams in the Big East ( 73-61 loss to Georgetown, 95-69 loss to Notre Dame), Seton Hall has only averaged 65 points in the two losses.

Villanova-Since starting 13-3, the Wildcats have lost five straight and went 0-2 this week, losing to Syracuse last weekend and getting hammered against Big Five rival St. Joe’s on Monday, 77-55.  An alarming stat this week for Villanova: they’ve given up an average of 82 points in both losses, while only scoring an average of 64.

Scoreboard for Monday, Jan.28th

UConn 69, Louisville 67

The Huskies prevail on Big Monday behind a big night from guard A.J. Price, who poured in 20 points.  UConn pounded Louisville on the glass, winning the rebounding advantage 40-29.  Very uncharacteristic night for Louisville.  The Cardinals jacked up 33 3-point attempts, connecting on 11; Juan Palacios and Terrence Williams combined to hoist 17 3’s.  UConn played with a short bench, due to suspensions to Doug Wiggins and Jerome Dyson last week.  The frontcourt duo of Stanley Robinson and Jeff Adrien combined for 28 points and 20 rebounds to help UConn to win their 4th straight.

Tuesday, Jan.29th  - #17 Marquette 62, South Florida 52

With Jerel McNeal and Dominic James struggling, Lazar Hayward scored 23 points and Wesley Matthews dropped in 16 to help Marquette past South Florida.  McNeal was held to six points, James managed only three for the Golden Eagles.  In a surprising twist, (not really) Kentrell Gransberry turned in another double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds, but the Bulls were unable to overcome an eight-point halftime defict.

Wednesday scoreboard - Jan.30th

• #6 Georgetown 74  St. John’s 42
• #18Pittsburgh 69  Villanova 57
• Syracuse 60  DePaul 55
• Cincinnati 62  West Virginia 39
• Seton Hall 84  Rutgers 71

Mountaineers edge Thundering Herd 66-64

Da’Sean Butler’s jumper in the lane with just under 6 seconds to play propelled West Virginia past Marshall 66-64 on Wednesday night.  Butler led the Mountaineers with 18 points and leading scorer Alex Ruoff turned in a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.  Darris Nichols finished with 10 points.

Mark Dorris and Darryl Merthie each had 20 points for Marshall (10-7), the only Thundering Herd players to score in double figures. 

The Mountaineers (15-4) allowed Marshall to hang around the final seven minutes of the game by shooting just 5-of-14 from the free throw line.  The Thundering Herd cut deficits of 12 and 5 down the stretch.  Merthie was fouled on a 3-point attempt by West Virginia forward Joe Flowers with 31 seconds left; Merthie sunk all 3 free throws to tie the game at 64.  West Virginia returns to conference play Saturday night at 7 p.m. against No.9 Georgetown.

Scarlet Knights get 1st Big East win with upset over Wildcats

The guard tandem of Mike Coburn and Anthony Farmer dropped in 22 points apiece to lead Rutgers to an upset victory over No.18 Villanova 80-68 on Wednesday night.  Rutgers entered the game 0-6 in conference play in the ‘07-’08 campaign and hadn’t beat a ranked team in more than two years, their last win coming on Jan.18th, 2006 against then-No.22 Louisville 65-56.

Freshman Malcolm Grant led Villanova (13-4, 3-3) with 23 points, including a stretch of 17 straight late in the second half, as he single-handedly tried to keep the Wildcats in the game.  Scottie Reynolds was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 16, but struggled terribly from the field, shooting 5-of-19 and missing on 7-of-8 3-point attempts.

Once again, Villanova was handcuffed by a poor start, as Rutgers (9-11, 1-6) jumped all over the Wildcats 16-2 behind a frenzied home crowd at the RAC (Rutgers Athletic Center).  Villanova turned the ball over a season-high 19 times and their 36.7 percent shooting didn’t help their cause either.  Rutgers, meanwhile, shot an even 50 percent from the field.  The Scarlet Knights entered the night dead last in shooting percentage in the Big East, but you couldn’t tell on this night.  They opened the game draining eight of their first 10 shots and shot 64 percent in the first half.  Villanova began the second half down 40-32, and preceded to go scoreless from the field for almost 12 minutes.

No.18 Villanova will look to rebound Saturday afternoon back at The Pavilion against visiting Notre Dame, while Rutgers will aim for their 2nd straight conference win against No.17 Pittsburgh.

Hibbert leads No.5 Georgetown in romp of Irish

Pre-season All-American Roy Hibbert poured in 21 points and dished out five assists to lead No.5 Georgetown easily past Notre Dame 84-65 on Saturday.  The Hoyas’ stalwart was defense was in full effect against the Irish, holding Notre Dame to a season low 32.8 percent shooting from the field.

DaJuan Summers had a double-double for Georgetown (14-2, 4-1) with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while freshman guard Austin Freeman dropped in 16 points.  The Hoyas shot 52.8 percent from the field.  Their starting five dominated the Irish, scoring 76 of their 84 points, despite being outrebounded by Notre Dame, 36-30.

Luke Harangody led Notre Dame 13-4, 3-2) with 13 points on just 3-of-13 shooting from the field before fouling out in the second half.  Harangody had a difficult afternoon at both ends of the floor.  He struggled offensively, and had the unpleasant task of matching up against Hibbert at the defensive end of the floor.  Kyle McAlarney also had a rough day from the field, finishing with 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting from the field, and just 2-of-8 from 3-point range.  McAlarney wasn’t the lone Irish player to struggle from long distance; Notre Dame shot 28 percent from downtown on 7-of-25 shooting.  Notre Dame was 20-of-61 from the field.  The 64 points was a season low scored by the Irish, who dropped 64 points alone in the second half last weekend against Connecticut.

The Hoyas were trailing 17-16 with just under 10 minutes to play in the first half.  Emphasis on were.  Georgetown preceded to race to a 15-0 run, a stretch in which the Irish went almost seven minutes without a basket.  Georgetown took a 38-25 lead into the break.  Notre Dame wasn’t able to get back into the game in the second half, and there 1-of-10 start from the field in the second didn’t help matters much.

No.5 Georgetown returns to action on ‘Big Monday’ against long-time rival Syracuse.  Notre Dame will have a full week off to prepare for Villanova next Saturday, Jan.26th.

No.25 Villanova bests Syracuse in the Carrier Dome

Anytime you’re able to pick up a win in the Big East, let alone on the road in place like the Carrier Dome, it’s a tremendous feeling, a feeling Villanova was able to experience first hand on Saturday.

Scottie Reynolds led the Wildcat attack and No.25 Villanova took full advantage of the foul trouble Syracuse found themselves in, picking up the road win 81-71.  Syracuse had four players with at least four fouls, with Scoop Jardine and Donte Greene fouling out for the Orange.

Villanova (13-3, 3-2) rebounded in the second half from a disappointing effort in the first half, shooting just 29 percent.  Greene picked up his fourth foul not even three minutes to start the second and then Arinze Onuaku got his fourth with just over 12 minutes to go.  The Wildcats wiped out a five point deficit at the half, trailing 35-30. 

Villanova went up 57-53 with just over 10 minutes to play when Greene and Onuaku checked back in, giving Syracuse (13-6, 3-3) a momentum boost with eight points between the two.  The warm, fuzzy feeling for the Orange didn’t last long, as Greene fouled out with about five and a half minutes left.  Onuaku pulled Syracuse to within three, 66-63, but Corey Fisher canned a 3-pointer and then Reynolds was fouled on a 3-point attempt and sunk all three free throws.  Villanova led 72-63 with three and a half left and the Orange couldn’t mount one final charge. 

Losing Greene killed any momentum or ideas of a comeback by Syracuse and a lot of credit goes to head coach Jay Wright and Villanova.  His players hung tough after a difficult first half, with the home crowd feverishly into it and they battled back down the stretch and came up with some tremendous baskets and key execution on offense in crunch time.

Fisher added 15 for Villanova and Cunningham chipped in with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds.  Villanova’s bench outscored Syracuse 31-5.  Losing one player is very tough for Syracuse, but then losing Onuaku killed Syracuse.  Freshman Jonny Flynn led Syracuse in scoring with 23 points.  Greene finished with 12 and Onuaku added 10 points and 10 rebounds before both players fouled out. 

No.25 Villanova will travel to Rutgers on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.  Syracuse will face off against rival Georgetown on Big Monday at 7 p.m.

Cincinnati beats second ranked opponent in as many weeks, knocking off No.15 Pittsburgh

Last Saturday, Cincinnati took a bite out Villanova, this week, it was the same story, just a different chapter.  This Saturday, Pittsburgh bit the dust at the hands of Cincinnati as the Bearcats upset No.15 Pittsburgh 62-59.

With things tied at 40, Cincinnati (9-9, 4-2) used a late 13-0 run with just over 4 minutes to play and was able to stave off a late rally by Pittsburgh (15-3, 3-2).  The Panthers had one final attempt to send the contest to overtime, but Keith Benjamin’s 3-point attempt was blocked with three seconds to play.  Benjamin, with Pittsburgh already depleted by injuries, suffered a cut on his hand and needed stitches.  He left the game in the first half, but returned in the second half for Pitt.  Sam Young led the way for Pittsburgh with 24 points and nine rebounds.  Benjamin was the only other Panther in double figures, finishing with 11.  Freshman DaJuan Blair finished with only four points and three rebounds and was hampered by foul trouble in the second half.  Tyrell Biggs, who replaced Blair, also found himself in foul trouble, and was limited to six points off the bench.

Deonta Vaughn led Cincinnati with 14 points.  Adam Hyrcaniuk finished with 12 points and team high seven rebounds and Rashad Bishop added 11.  The Panthers shot just 2-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first half, and led by one at the break, 28-27.  The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for the Panthers.

With the victory, Cincinnati has moved into a three-way tie for second place in the Big East at 4-2.  DePaul and West Virginia are also 4-2.  The Bearcats have won three of their last four games.

Pittsburgh returns to action on Wednesday night at St. John’s at 7 p.m., while Cincinnati also returns to the hardwood on Wednesday night with a home contest against Connecticut at 7:30 p.m.

There were two games on the Big East slate on Wednesday night and Syracuse and Villanova both held serve on their home floors, getting wins over Rutgers and DePaul.

Syracuse 81, Rutgers 59

The trio of Donte Greene, Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris helped Syracuse end their two-game skid with a victory over Rutgers 81-59.  Greene, Flynn and Harris accounted for 75 percent of the Syracuse (13-5, 3-2) offense.  The trio scored 61 of Syracuse’s 81 points.  Flynn led all scorers with 24 points, Harris added 18, and Greene finished with 19.  The Orange shot a blistering 60.4 percent while pounding Rutgers on the glass, outrebounding the Scarlet Knights 40-24.  Rutgers (8-10, 0-5) was led by a pair of freshman, Corey Chandler and Mike Coburn.  Chandler had a team-high 16 points and Coburn chipped in with 11 points.  Leading scorer J.R. Inman finished the night with just four points on 2-of-8 shooting. 

Syracuse used a mammoth 17-2 run to lead 31-16 with under four minutes to play in the first half.  The Orange took a 38-22 lead into halftime, and were never threatened in the second half, leading by as many as 32 points.  Rutgers and Seton Hall are the only remaining teams in the Big East without a conference win (Rutgers 0-5, Seton Hall 0-3).  Rutgers will aim for their first conference win at DePaul on  Saturday at 2 p.m., while Syracuse will face off against No.25 Villanova Saturday at noon in the Carrier Dome.

#25 Villanova 76, DePaul 69

Villanova remembered the upset victory at the hands of DePaul a few weeks ago on opening night in conference play, losing 84-76 on Jan.3rd.  It was payback time on Wednesday night.  Despite DePaul leading by as much as 16 early in the game and holding the lead through the first 10 minutes of the second half, Villanova stormed back, using a 15-0 run, to fly past DePaul 76-69 on Wednesday night.

Villanova (12-3, 2-2) has face adversity before this season, being down as much as 21 to LSU and rallying for the win, and for whatever reason, something seems to get the Wildcats charged up and energized when they trail by significant double digits.  Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points for Villanova, including the final dagger in the form of a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to put Villanova up 72-66.  Antonio Pena added 17 points and Dante Cunningham finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds. 

For every comeback, there is indeed a level of collapsing and complacency by the leading team.  DePaul (7-9, 3-2) helped Villanova jump back into the game by not scoring for more than five and a half minutes.  DePaul led 57-50 with just under 10 minutes to go and Villanova went on their 15-0 run to steal the lead back.  DePaul didn’t end the run until Draelon Burns scored with 4:13 left to go, with the Blue Demons trailing 65-59 after the bucket by Burns.  Burns led DePaul with 27 points and Dar Tucker had 18.  Villanova feasted on DePaul inside, scoring 30 points in the paint and hammering the Blue Demons on the glass, 43-20;  DePaul managed just four offensive boards, while the Wildcats grabbed 14.  The Blue Demons weren’t very balanced on offense, with Burns and Tucker the only two Blue Demons in double figures.  The duo combined for 65 percent of the offense, while the rest of the squad combined for just 24 of their 69 points.

It looked as if DePaul was on their way to making it 2 for 2 over Villanova this year, and this month, but DePaul took their foot off the gas and failed to slam the door shut on Villanova.  DePaul was clearly the better team in the first 30 minutes, but the problem is a full game consists of 40 minutes and DePaul just didn’t play a full, complete ballgame.

#25 Villanova squares off against Syracuse in the Carrier Dome this Saturday at noon, and DePaul will host Rutgers on Saturday at 2 p.m.

First DePaul, now Cincinnati.  For the second time this month, Villanova was upset on the road against what were supposed to be weaker conference foes.  Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Big East games aren’t played on paper.

Freshman Rashad Bishop earned his stripes by canning a 3-pointer with 22 seconds to play to propel Cincinnati to the upset victory over No.19 Villanova 69-66 on Saturday night.  That was Bishops’ only basket and points of the evening, as he was 0-of-3 before hitting the winning basket.

Scottie Reynolds dropped in a season-best 32 points for Villanova (11-3, 1-2) in 37 minutes.  Reynolds had struggled in his previous two games, scoring just 15 points in two games.  Corey Fisher added 13 points and Antonio Pena chipped in with 10 off the bench.  For the second straight game, Villanova lost the rebounding margin by double digits.  They were outrebounded 43-31 in the win over Pittsburgh, and 36-24 in the loss to the Bearcats.  Against the zone of Cincy, Villanova managed just seven offensive boards.

Deonta Vaughn led the Cincinnati (8-8, 3-1) attack once again, finishing with 25 points, 13 coming in the first half.  He has been the leading scorer for the Bearcats in eight straight games now, and he’s scored at least 24 points in three consecutive games.  John Williamson played the part of Robin to Vaughn’s Batman, notching 13 points and 11 rebounds, 10 coming in the first half.

It was a two man show between Reynolds and Vaughn, a virtual anything you can do, I can do better match-up.  Reynolds provided instant offense for Villanova, scoring their first 12 points.  Vaughn gave Cincinnati the lead 41-40 that started a series of multiple lead changes.  The largest lead for the Bearcats came at 55-50, but Reynolds responded, sparking a 7-0 run to put Villanova back in front.  Reynolds had a chance to potentially win it for Villanova, but had a shot blocked with 27 seconds left that would set up the game winner by Bishop just five seconds later for Cincinnati.

With the victory, Cincinnati has surpassed their win total already in conference play from a year ago when they were an abysmal 2-14 in the Big East.  The Bearcats are now 3-1 and tied for second place in the standings.

No.19 Villanova will seek to extract some measure of revenge this Wednesday night when they host DePaul at 9 p.m.  The Wildcats will be looking to get even with a Blue Demons squad that upset them earlier this month 84-76.  Cincinnati has won four of their last five games, and they’ll aim for their third straight win against Notre Dame, in South Bend, on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

It was the marquee match-up of the weekend and something had to give.  Two teams ranked inside the top 20.  Two teams that have had their recent struggles.  Villanova was in need of a bounce back effort after being upset by DePaul and Pittsburgh is still looking for a new identity without Mike Cook and Levance Fields.  The funny thing about sports is that there’s always going to be a winner and a loser.

Two free throws by Dante Cunningham in the final 10 seconds, and a turnover on the final possession of the game helped No. 17 Villanova defeat No.13 Pittsburgh 64-63 on Sunday afternoon.

The depth of Villanova (11-2, 1-1) played a decisive factor in helping the Wildcats past Pittsburgh (12-2, 0-1).  The bench of Villanova poured in 39 points, rescuing the struggling starting five of the Wildcats.  The starters for Villanova combined for only 25 points on an abysmal 8-of-34 shooting (23.5 percent).

The Wildcats got a humongous boost from freshman guard Malcom Grant, who scored 22 points (4-of-7 from 3-point range), 14 coming in the first half.  Grant scored eight of the final 10 points for Villanova to close out the first half with both teams deadlocked at 30.  The Wildcats used a 14-6 at the end of the half to pull even.

Antonio Pena added 12 points off the bench for Villanova, who outscored Pittsburgh’s bench 39-7 in the game.  Dante Cunningham had six points and nine rebounds, but the trio of guards for Jay Wright struggled badly.  Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher, and Reggie Redding combined for just 12 points on 4-of-22 shooting. 

Pittsburgh only had seven players enter the game, with all five of their starters playing at least 30 minutes.  Sam Young had 16 points for the Panthers and DeJuan Blair added 12 points and 15 boards.  The Panthers outrebounded the Wildcats 43-31 and outshot them as well, 45.5 percent to 33.9 percent.  Despite those two stats heavily in their favor, their 22 turnovers matched a season high, with their 22nd turnover of the game costing the Panthers the potential victory on the final possession.

Blair put the Panthers ahead 63-62 with 1:36 to play, but with 15 seconds left, Grant hoisted a long shot for Villanova that missed, however the Wildcats were able to keep possession on a held ball off the rebound.  Then, with 10 seconds to go Reynolds found Cunningham inside and he was fouled, putting him at the line for 2 shots.  Cunningham connected on both putting Villanova ahead 64-63.  Ronald Ramon brought the ball up the floor for Pitt, but had it knocked out of his hands at the top of the key, ending the game and giving Villanova the win.  Ramon was the only Pitt starter not to score in double figures, finishing with just three points on 1-of-5 shooting.  The Panthers have lost two of their last three games since starting the season 11-0.

Villanova will be idle for five days and they’ll return to action on Saturday, Jan.12th at 7 p.m. when they travel to Cincinnati to meet the Bearcats.  Pittsburgh will hit the hardwood on Wednesday when they travel to Orlando to square off against South Florida at 7:30 p.m.