Villanova's Mid-Season Recap: Can They Be a Top Contender?

The Wildcats have come a long way since having their pre-season tournament taken right out of their hands after a late foul call sent NC State to the free throw line, and gave the Wolfpack a victory over a fiery 'Nova team. 

Villanova has been led all year long by young players who bring energy and quickness to the floor and excite fans wherever they play. 

The most talented of the "young guns" is Sophomore Scottie Reynolds a 6'2 (barely) guard out of Herndon, Virginia. Scottie has averaged 34 minutes a game while scoring 17 points and adding four assists per game. He's been the MVP so far. 

Villanova moved on to the regular season still feeling a little ill about their loss to NC State. Despite crushing Penn 87-61 in their first game, Villanova found themselves in an extremely tough game five nights later with a scrappy LSU team in the Big East-SEC Invitational. Led by Junior guards Terry Martin and Marcus Thornton, the Tigers overpowered the Wildcats for the first 32 minutes of the game, building up a 21 point lead. With most of the fans either leaving or just booing, Villanova coach Jay Wright turned to the team's new freshman sparkplug, Malcolm Grant. Grant led the Wildcats back into the game hitting a few Three pointers, and even a four point play. Villanova finally pulled ahead with nine seconds remaining a junior Dante Cunningham's layup. En route to a 68-67 comeback victory. The nation now understood how much heart this team really had.

Villanova went on to win their next four games beating, Temple, Hartford, Columbia, and La Salle leading into their Big East schedule.  

The opening game of 'Nova's Big East schedule was supposed to be a push over. However it turned out to be exactly the opposite. The 'Cats traveled over to the Windy City to square off with a DePaul team picked to finish in the bottom four of the Big East (not even making their conference tournament). The Blue Demons came out flying on this night, and outlasted Villanova 84-76. Every starter for DePaul scored in double figures. The Wildcat family was shocked. They would return home three days later to play against an injury plagued Pittsburgh. The 'Cats desperately needed a win, and with Pitt not having Levance Fields, or Mike Cook, winning was a strong possibility.

The Pavillion on the campus of Villanova was the setting for this Big East rivalry. This game would be the Panther's conference opener, and they needed a strong start. The score was deadlocked ten minutes thru, when Scottie Reynolds picked up two fouls within 50 seconds. Jay Wright made a wise decision and went with the sparkplug Malcolm Grant off the bench. The six foot Grant out of Brooklyn, New York showed some of that New York City toughness, scoring 11 points in the first half to keep the Wildcats close with Pittsburgh. After one, the score was 30-30. The second half was obviously crucial.

With fellow freshman Corey Fisher's play not pleasing to coach Jay Wright, Grant got a chance to play hero in another game. grant added another eight points in the second half, including a big three pointer to put the 'Cats up by six. Nova went on to squeak this all important game out by a score of 64-63. Villanova was alive again.

If the 'Cats were alive, they went extinct the next week. Villanova turned in another poor effort against another Big East basement dweller in Cincinatti. Villanova went on to lose a tough game against the Bearcats 69-66.

The Wildcats returned home and got revenge in their next game against DePaul, winning 76-69. They followed up that victory with a huge road test against Syracuse winning 81-71.

So I ask, in a season filled with such inconsistency, can Villanova ride this roller-coaster deep into March? The answer lies within the next two months.