Wed Feb 11th, 2g, Villanova-PC, DePaul-SJU...

[Bill Marsh]

although Ochefu's stat says he was dominant, he was 5/5 at one point with all his shots being layup/dunks off of nice feed. he did have one nice move against chucku down low and was a force no doubt on the board and defense.

the game really was determined midway thru 2nd half when PC couldn't score against nova's D and nova started hitting their 3s.

Where was PC's D? Desrosiers, who is the 2nd leading shot blocker in the BE @ 2.8/game didn't block a single shot. Neither did Chukwu or any of the other Friars despite the fact that they average 5 blocks per game as a team, 2nd best in the league.

[billyjack]

although Ochefu's stat says he was dominant, he was 5/5 at one point with all his shots being layup/dunks off of nice feed. he did have one nice move against chucku down low and was a force no doubt on the board and defense.

the game really was determined midway thru 2nd half when PC couldn't score against nova's D and nova started hitting their 3s.

Yeah, that sounds right.

The game was neck-and-neck til around 8 minutes left in the 1st. I think PC had a 2 or 4 pt lead around 21-17. Every basket and possession on both sides was strongly contested. Then there were a couple of defensive lapses by the Friars, and Arcidiacono was left open and he nailed 2 quick three's, boom-boom in the blink of an eye, to give Villanova a 2 or 4 point lead themselves. Total morale killer based on the flow of the game at that point, with that quick 6 point swing.

VU just was relentless with a ton of weapons. The lead grew to around 8 points, but settled at 3 at the half.

Second half Villanova controlled much of the action, and the lead grew to around 10-12-14 points. A lot of half-court action, both teams slugging it out. VU focused on Dunn and Henton, and their defense was really suffocating (I think it was 48-34 at one point, so VU started the half on a 19-8 run). With around 8 minutes left maybe, Harris got hot for a 90 second stretch, Dunn made a steal on Arch for a dunk, and PC got it down to 6, and the crowd was going nuts... but VU immediately drained a 3 from the corner and went on a 6-0 or 8-0 run... exactly like the SJU game where Phil Greene IV hit a corner 3 backbreaker...

At that point PC kept fouling, but it was mostly Arch, and VU hit almost every FT. The game played out the last 4 minutes at around 10 points, with the lead never in doubt. PC got it to 6 on last second lay-ups and another 3 though.

Desrosiers and Chukwu had little impact. Cooley went with Bentil more at the 5, needing to provide some muscle. Villanova just has so many weapons, wave after wave, just relentless on both sides of the ball. VU had several possessions under 8 where they ran the shot clock down to :05, missed a 3-pointer, and got the offensive rebound, then ran the clock to :05 again, drove and got fouled... relentless...

Villanova came to play. Absolutely had complete focus and intensity. Game was chippy most of the time... had the standard Arcidiacono flops, the VU guards leading with their forearms and hooking around defenders, you know those expected things... Ochefu, usually doesn't open his mouth, let out some caveman roars after dunking, and there may have been some VU chest thumping... I think they scouted the "Jalen Reynolds/ JP Macura Playbook Of Annoying Behavior"... they even had 5 foot 6 inch Darrun Hilliard III trying to stare down Ben Bentil as Hilliard backed away from him. (I'm half joking here in this paragraph, more annoyed by the final score than anything).


It was all good though, and made it a fantastic game to watch. Crowd was really loud. Full house of 12,400. (Meanwhile, 40 miles up the road in Chestnut Hill, 5,400 snoozed through a Syracuse-BC game...!)

I think PC actually played really well...! We have some holes, but played a great game. I'm thinking, why can't PC play freakin cakewalk teams like Duquesne or St Joe's or Wake...?!!!

No reason why Villanova can't go on a Final Four run. They'd be a favorite in my opinion against anyone except Kentucky, or maybe one of those bruiser Big-12 teams. Virginia and Louisville wouldn't score more than 12 points against the Cats...!

[GumbyDamnit!]

I think a fair assessment BillyJ--other than the flops comments,etc. I saw a couple blatant fouls on CD that were not called and his elbow to Arch seemed to me to be intentional. I also thought the most egregious flop was when Ochefu got the rebound, spun around and Bentil fell back like he was hit by a freight train. But otherwise you were on point.

Let's talk about the chippiness though. I've noticed that games this year, night in and night out, do seem much more chippy than in year's past. We had them vs. Gtwn (1st game), X, SHU, SJU, last night. I don't think it's just a Nova thing as I have seen other games have their moments too. Wonder why? Maybe these round robin games are causing on court rivalries to flare up a bit. Last night did remind me of an old fashioned BE tilt. If you weren't ready to be a man, then you were going to struggle. Both teams went after it. The last 5 minutes took an hour but otherwise it was a very entertaining game, even when both teams struggled to score at times.

[Bill Marsh]

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the run down. I really hated to miss that game. Was hoping my meeting would end early enough soI could at least catch the 2nd half, but some people just droan on, love to hear themselves talk. Ugh!

[GumbyDamnit!]

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the run down. I really hated to miss that game. Was hoping my meeting would end early enough soI could at least catch the 2nd half, but some people just droan on, love to hear themselves talk. Ugh!

I think at the end of the day the two biggest factors in the game were Nova's D and their depth/balance. I think Jay knew that if you keyed on Dunn and Henton, and let others beat them, they had a good chance to win. Harris stepped up for PC but the other complimentary players seemed to wilt a bit. D&H's box scores probably didn't reflect how well Nova contained them. Both seemed to get a lot of points in the last 5 mins.

While on the Nova side they got contributions from just about everyone. Hoping the rematch will be equally as intense.

[milksteak]

Milksteak, I hope u didn't bet the rent money on those calls on the Nova game.

Fortunately, I don't bet on sports. My ego was the only thing to take a hit haha.

[MackNova]

Just glad I didn't come here and see complaining about the refs in the Nova-PC game. I'm a Nova fan, so I'm inherently biased, but I didn't think the refs tilted it one way or the other. Some questionable calls on both sides. Providence fans at the game were very salty about the refs.

As Gumby said, Nova just had too many answers. Every time Providence went on a mini-run, Nova had an answer with either a 3 or some free throws to take the crowd right out of it. It was beautiful to watch Nova have an answer every time Providence began to threaten, but it was even better to watch the defense not let Providence get in any sort of rhythm.
T
Great atmosphere though. If it were a 2-8 point game in the 2nd half instead of a 6-12 point game, it would have been exponentially louder. That was my first time rooting for Nova as a road team in a college basketball game (other than at the Garden vs SJU, which barely counts), and it was a lot of fun. Dunkin Donuts Center is a great venue.

It was a lot more fun than the last time I was at the Dunk when Omar Samhan knocked us out of the NCAAs....

Providence just needs more depth. Dunn is great. Henton is very good. Even Harris showed up yesterday. But that's not enough. Those freshmen will need to grow up quickly if Providence wants to make a serious tournament run. Dunn and Henton can carry you to the Sweet 16 with the right draw. But eventually you'll need more.

[RDinNY]

[Insert gratuitous shot at St. John's here]

[MackNova]

I was just saying that Villanova St. John's is a 65-35 fan split while Villanova-Providence is a 90-10 split. Many Villanova grads live in and around the city, so a ton of Villanova fans usually show up to the Garden. Being at the Garden, and while you're still outnumbered, you feel like there are a ton of other Villanova fans that have your back. While I certainly wasn't alone at the Dunk as a Nova fan, we were much fewer and farther between. Not taking a shot, that's just how it is from my perspective.

It's probably part of the reason Seton Hall wouldn't open up the upper level for the Villanova-Seton Hall game. I know a bunch of Nova fans (including myself) who would have gone to the game had it not sold out and been absurdly priced on StubHub.

[RDinNY]

Your post had absolutely nothing to do with St. John's and casually throwing in the shot was totally gratuitous. It added nothing to the message your post was trying to convey.

Hey listen, I'm just being sensitive.