Bleacher Report - Villanova Basketball

Villanova-George Mason: 'Cats Survive Scare from Patriots

Steve Chott — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:12:16 -0500

Early on in this college basketball season, the No. 6 ranked Villanova Wildcats were almost knocked off by the George Mason Patriots in Puerto Rico. The Wildcats squeaked away with a 69-68 win thanks to some freshman heroics.

The game was won on a late three by freshman Isiah Armwood, who played a total four minutes.

The three were the only points he made.

Armwood was only in the game because Antonio Pena and Taylor King had both fouled out.

The Wildcats struggled at times, shooting 35.8 percent from the field and hitting 59 percent of their free throws.

Even though they played a bad game, no credit should be taken from the Patriots who played their hearts out and almost came away with the win.

The Wildcats will play the Dayton Flyers in the semifinal of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tomorrow at afternoon at 3 p.m. EST.

Dayton upset Georgia Tech in the opening round of the tournament.

Read more Villanova Basketball news on BleacherReport.com

Villanova Claws Out Last Second Victory Over George Mason

David Miller — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:16:54 -0500

George Mason led Villanova by four points with under a minute to play. The Patriots were up 9 on the Wildcats at the half and led by as many as 12. It looked like George Mason might just have a little Cinderella magic left in the tank after their recent magical run to the Final Four.

It was not to be. With just over thirteen seconds to play in the game the clock stuck midnight and Cinderella was not able to complete the upset over the 5^th ranked Wildcats.

The dagger came in the form of a three pointer from ‘Nova freshman Isaiah Armwood who was only playing late in the game because the Cats were in big time foul trouble. Corey Stokes, Maurice Sutton, Antonio Pena, and Taylor King had all fouled out of the game. Villanova was already missing starting forward Mouph Yarou who had to fly home from Puerto Rico before the game with a viral infection.

Villanova looked nothing like the team that shot over 59 percent from the field against Penn on Monday night. Even their usually well-dressed coach Jay Wright had traded in his designer suit for a white short-sleeved polo shirt.

It was one of the worst games they have played in recent history. However, in the end the good teams find a way to win. After Armwood knocked down his three-pointer the Wildcats went into lock-down defensive mode and the Patriots, who had the ball with thirteen seconds to play trailing by only one point, were not able to get a shot off.

This game was anything but pretty. With George Mason attempting to once again for a Cinderella upset, Villanova looked more like the ugly step-sisters.

The Wildcats shot just 35 percent from the field (on 19 of 54). It didn’t get any better from the free-throw line where Villanova missed 16 of 39 to shoot just 59 percent.

‘Nova’s guards were able to get to the bucket all day but couldn’t get the ball to go down. Corey Fisher was the only Wildcat was first half double digit scoring and all 10 points came from the free-throw line (where he was 14 of 18 for the game). He finished with 17 points on a 1 for 14 shooting night from the floor. He also had 6 rebounds, 5 of which were on the offensive glass.

Corey Stokes, who was averaging 17 points a game, missed all four shots he took, hit one free-throw and fouled out with one point and six rebounds.

Antonio Pena added another double-double before fouling out totaling 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Taylor King, who got the start in place of Yarou and did not have a field-goal in the first half, scored eight points; Maalik Wayns added nine; and Sutton and Armwood scored three a piece.

Senior guard Scottie Reynolds led Villanova with 18 points. It was his assist that led to Armwood’s game winning shot.

There were over 50 fouls called by the refs in this game and because of all the game stoppage and foul trouble, neither time was really able to get into a flow for more than a few minutes at a time.

George Mason shot 40 percent from the field (19 of 47) and 73 percent from the charity stripe (27 for 37).

The young Patriots team, consisting almost entirely of freshman and sophomores, was led by Ryan Pearson with 14 points and eight rebounds. Cam Long and Andre Cornelius added 13 points each.

Villanova won the war on the glass edging out George Mason 36 to 27.

It has often been said that the great teams find a way to win. Only time will tell if this Villanova team falls into that category; but today, in Puerto Rico, with half of their team fouled out, they got a game winning three-pointer from a freshman coming off the end of their bench. It was his only shot attempt of the game.

It may not have been a Cinderella ending for George Mason, but Isaiah Armwood should sleep comfortably in his glass slippers tonight.

Villanova will take on Dayton tomorrow in the second round. Dayton downed Georgia Tech 63-59 in their first round match up today.

Read more Villanova Basketball news on BleacherReport.com

Penn-Villanova: Wildcats Maul the Quakers

David Miller — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:22:25 -0500

Things stayed civil for the peaceful Quakers of UPenn for a few moments; they even managed to take a 5-4 lead over Big-Five rival Villanova. Then, as quickly as the game began, it was over.

Villanova did not come out with a lackluster first half effort like they did in their season opener against Fairleigh Dickenson. The Wildcats’ starting five quickly opened up a lead and did not look back.

Villanova's sixth man Taylor King entered the game and quickly pulled down three offensive rebounds and drained a three-pointer. He had six points and six rebounds in the first half alone.

In their second game of the season, the Wildcats showed why they are ranked in the top five, and quickly took control.

'Nova led the Quakers by 30 points at the half (55-25). The leading scorer at the half was freshman Maalik Wayns with 10 points; eight other Wildcats had also scored.

Villanova’s bench scored 27 points against F.D.U. in their opener. Against Penn, the bench scored 26 in the first half alone and finished the game with a ridiculous 46 points!

In the second half, Villanova opened with a 7-0 run to stretch the lead to 37. It would get as high as 47 as the Wildcats shot 59 percent from the field (including 11-of-21 from three-point range).

'Nova had 10 players score in this game and finished with six players in double figures (including two more with seven points). The Wildcats played so well that coach Jay Wright didn’t call a single time-out in either half.

With 7:30 left to play in the second half and Nova up big, Wright once again opted to play five freshman at once. For the second straight game the Villanova students chanted, “They’re all freshman!” as the Wildcats’ talented underclassmen showed flashes of things to come in their future at Villanova.

Even walk-on’s Russell Wooten and Jason Colenda got some minutes at the end. Wooten grabbed an offensive rebound and finished it with a lay-up for two points; Colenda did not score (the only other Nova player without a point was freshman Isaiah Armwood).

When the final buzzer sounded, Villanova had outscored Penn 103-65. It was an astounding 103 points, +24 in rebounds (43-19), and zero time-outs for the Wildcats.

Wayns led the 'Cats with 16 points. Corey Stokes, Taylor King, and Scottie Reynolds all added 14. King had seven rebounds, Stokes had five, and Reynolds added five assists. Corey Fisher dropped 13 points and dished eight assists. The sixth leading scorer, F Antonio Pena, finished the game with a double-double: 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Dominic Cheek and Maurice Sutton each added seven points with Sutton pulling down five rebounds as well.

Mouphtauo Yarou, who started the game, added four points and five rebounds.

The Quakers were led by Darren Smith with 21 points, and Rob Belcore with 16 points.

This is the deepest team Villanova has had anytime in recent history (possibly ever) and they are still without senior guard Reggie Redding. Redding will return for the beginning of the Big East season and will add another tough defender to this already loaded team.

The Wildcats are a mix of gritty upperclassmen and talented young players who look to make a lot of noise this season. They next travel to Puerto Rico to play George Mason (2-0) on Thursday afternoon at 2:00 PM.

Only time will tell how good this 'Nova team can actually be, but if this game was any indication, it should be a wild season for these Wildcats.

Read more Villanova Basketball news on BleacherReport.com