Wildcats poised for success

Despite losing one of the greatest scorers in school history, will the Villanova Wildcats actually be better in 2011?

Andy Katz seems to think so. Despite the graduation of Scottie Reynolds, second on the all-time scoring list at the university, Katz ranks the Wildcats No. 9 in his Preseason Top 25.

Why? Jay Wright’s returning team is full of potential stars, led by guards Corey Fischer and Corey Stokes. But this team appears to be as deep as any in the country, with Antonio Pena, Maalik Wayans, and Dominic Cheek equally able to fill it up when necessary. ( Read More…)

Sunday, July 4, 2010 at 2:57 pm by Raj Sethi

Tags: villanova wildcats news, villanova wildcats schedule, villanova wildcats tickets

Villanova stunned by St. Mary’s, 75-68

The Villanova Wildcats couldn’t get big baskets down the stretch and were upset by Saint Mary’s, 75-68. 

Villanova got off to a slow start, but they finally started to hit their stride midway through the second half.

In the end, the Wildcats simply let Saint Mary’s hang around for far too long, and it came back to bite them.

Scottie Reynolds had another rough day, and the Wildcats couldn’t overcome it against a quality opponent.

It’s a disappointing loss for Villanova, which still believed they were a Final Four caliber team.

Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 8:46 am by steve

Wildcats’ slump comes at costly time as ‘Nova bounced from NCAAs

By Bud L. Ellis

February and March is not the time of the year to lose six out of nine. The Villanova Wildcats now realize that better than anybody in the country.

The No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s South Regional and once a contender for the national championship, the Wildcats couldn’t make it out of the second round. No. 10-seed Saint Mary’s stunned the Wildcats 75-68 in the second round of the NCAAs at Providence, R.I. on Saturday.

For Villanova (25-8), it was a crushing end to what once held the promise of a run to Indianapolis and the Final Four. First, the Wildcats has to go to overtime to hold off No. 15 seed Robert Morris in the tournament opener.

There would be no escaping the Gaels in round two. Saint Mary’s shot 50 percent from the field while Villanova hit on 36 percent of its shots. Tied at 65 with under two minutes left, the Wildcats were outscored 10-3 the rest of the way.

Corey Stokes led the Wildcats with 15 points, hitting three 3-pointers. Maalik Wayns added 10 points off the bench.

—30—

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 7:55 pm by bud

Tags: Corey Stokes, Final Four, Maalik Wayns, NCAA Tournament, Robert Morris, Saint Mary’s, Villanova Wildcats

Villanova crushed by Syracuse, 95-77

The No. 8 Villanova Wildcats wilted under the pressure of a record-breaking crowd in a 95-77 loss to the No. 4 Syracuse Orange.

Syracuse set an attendance record at the Carrier Dome for the largest on-campus crowd to ever watch a college basketball game.

Point guard Scottie Reynolds led the Wildcats with 16 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome Syracuse’ height on the inside.

Villanova once again proved that they can beat most teams, but those opponents with a lot of height on the interior give them huge problems.

They were outrebounded 48-36, and turned the ball over six more times than Syracuse. That isn’t a formula to beat great teams on their home floor.

Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 9:31 am by steve

Villanova falls to Pittsburgh, 70-65

The No. 3 Villanova Wildcats couldn’t take care of business in a 70-65 loss to the No. 21 Pittsburgh Panthers.

Point guard Scottie Reynolds tried to will the Wildcats to victory and finished with 20 points. Corey Fisher added 12.

Villanova did a respectable job on the glass, as they were only outrebounded by three. However, Pittsburgh’s bench scored more than twice as many points as theirs did.

They also lost Reggie Redding and Taylor King in the final minutes, as both fouled out of the game.

The Wildcats have shown they are vulnerable on the road against top teams, but Pittsburgh doesn’t quite qualify as a highly ranked opponent.

Friday, February 26, 2010 at 7:52 pm by steve

Villanova stunned by Connecticut, 84-75

The No. 3 Villanova Wildcats were stunned at home by the reeling Connecticut Huskies, 84-75.

It was just the second loss of the season for the Wildcats, with both coming in conference play. The other loss was at Georgetown.

Head coach Jay Wright said the loss wasn’t something to get concerned about but will serve as a welcome wake-up call for his team.

Wright said he has been imploring his team over the past several weeks to continue to get better, especially on the defensive end of the floor.

That defense was part of the problem Monday night, surrending 84 points to a team that scored just 48 in their last game.

Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 4:50 pm by steve

‘Nova Upset by UConn at Home, 84-75

In this past week, it hasn’t paid to be one of the Big East’s elite teams.

First, West Virginia lost on the road to Pittsburgh in triple overtime on Friday. Sunday brought two more losses to the Big East’s elite (Louisville beat Syracuse at ‘Cuse, Rutgers beat Georgetown at Rutgers). And thanks to a feisty UConn squad and a career game for junior guard Kemba Walker, ‘Nova was the last of the Big East’s top teams to fall, as UConn scored a 84-75 upset over the Wildcats in Philly on Monday night.

The big story for UConn, besides the fact that this was their first true road win of the season, was the fact that they got to the free throw line 44 times in the game, more than twice their season average. This has gone from happenstance to an alarming trend for Nova fans – Georgetown shot 50 free throws when they beat ‘Nova earlier in the month.

“They moved the ball and made all the right reads and they were hitting the outside shots,” Nova guard Scottie Reynolds said.

Reynolds was Nova’s other big problem. Reynolds, who’s likely favored for Big East Player of the Year, scored 19 points in the game, but only scored four after halftime, when the Wildcats were trying to stage a comeback. (Jerome Dyson dogged Scottie on defense in the second half, and Scottie was becoming visibly frustrated during the game.)

In the meantime, Walker was busy scoring a career-high 29 points.

“Kemba Walker was outstanding. We just didn’t have an answer for him,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “They did a great job on defense. I think Dyson wore himself out playing Scottie.”

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at 12:16 am by bryan

Villanova takes down West Virginia, 82-75

The No. 2 Villanova Wildcats didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by the hostile environment in an 82-75 victory over the No. 6 West Virginia Mountaineers.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead and were able to keep West Virginia at arm’s length away down the stretch in the second half.

Whenever West Virginia was able to claw within six or seven points, Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds seemed to have an answer at the other end of the court.

If Reynolds wasn’t getting to the basket or knocking down the jump shot, he was drawing double teams and feeding an open teammate for an easy score.

Reynolds finished with 21 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals, stuffing the stat sheet across the board like he usually does.

Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 1:19 pm by steve

Villanova Snuffed Out By Georgetown, 103-90

The Wildcats are unbeaten in the Big East no more.

After starting the Big East season a school record 9-0 (for a school-best 20-1 overall start), the Villanova Wildcats found themselves in a precarious situation on Saturday: facing a Top 10-ranked Georgetown team fresh off an awful loss to USF, buried in two feet of snow. With the elements lined up against Villanova, the Wildcats fell to the Hoyas, 103-90.

The Wildcats couldn’t match the energy of the Hoyas in the first half, who fed of the 10,000 plus fans that trekked to the game through the “epic” blizzard. Hoyas’ sophomore guard Jason Clark knocked down all five of his first half attempts, including four three-pointers, and the rout was on by halftime, as Georgetown held a 19 point lead.

More importantly, Georgetown’s defense stifled Scottie Reynolds, who only scored five points in the first half.
Everyone at the Verizon Center knew the Hoyas couldn’t keep Reynolds quiet for long, and Scottie went on a one-man tear at the beginning of the second half that nearly got the Wildcats back into the game.

But the Wildcats couldn’t seem to keep out of foul trouble against the Hoyas, which doomed them early and late. The Hoyas shot 50 free throws altogether (sinking 39 of those attempts), with two of Nova’s players fouling out and five others picking up four fouls a piece.

Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 6:49 pm by bryan

Villanova gets past Seton Hall, 81-71

The No. 2 Villanova Wildcats refused to be part of an upset in an 81-71 victory over the Seton Hall Pirates.

Guard Corey Stokes hit two big three-point shots down the stretch to push the Wildcats over the top.

Stokes was a non-factor up to that point, but his two three-pointers were part of an 11-0 Villanova run to put the game out of reach.

Villanova held a seven-point halftime lead, but the Pirates simply wouldn’t go quietly into the night.

Antonio Pena led the Wildcats with 16 points and eight rebounds. Scottie Reynolds added five assists.

at 10:40 am by steve