Ain't It Sweet? Villanova Dancing It's Way to The Sweet 16 Beating By UCLA

 There were two significant figures in Villanova history in attendance at today's game. The 1971 Villanova Wildcats who lost the NCAA Championship to UCLA and Rollie Massimino, the coach who led the 1985 Wildcats to one of the greatest upsets in NCAA history.

This could have provided an extra spark for Villanova as they brought they intensity from the beginning of the game all the way to the end in an 89-69 routing of UCLA.

It also provided a great farewell at the Wachovia Center for all of the Villanova seniors as they were cheered at the end of the game. Before I get to the all around stats of every Villanova player, I would like to congratulate one specifically.

Jason Colenda, a walk-on player scored his first two points at the end of the game today with 27 seconds left when he got to the free throw line.

Player Reviews:

Villanova

Dante Cunningham: 18 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists.

Cunningham had a great game and was probably the player of the game. He played tough defense (just like the rest of the team) and like the stats show scored 18 points, which was good enough to lead the team for the second game in a row.

Dwayne Anderson: 10 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 assists.

Anderson had a good game as well and played great defense. Three steals and 11 rebounds on the defensive side of the ball. One play does stand out though. With around six minutes left in the game, Darren Collison brought the ball down the court and from behind Anderson dove and hit the ball.

Corey Fisher: 13 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal.

Fisher seemed to make everything fall. He made some crazy, acrobatic shots and played overall a great game. Fisher was one of the unsung hero of this game.

Reggie Redding: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals.

I'm going to start off by saying that I may have downed  Redding's play in my preview for this game by saying he only had four points and four rebounds though, and hopefully, he can be more productive this game. But of course he was more productive and played a great game.

Scottie Reynolds: 11 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, and 1 steal.

Ehh, Scottie had an alright game. Maybe I am being hard on him but I think as a senior and team captain he should be more productive in big games. Now they didn't need him as much today but against either Duke or Texas I am looking for him to be a lot more productive.

UCLA

Darren Collison: 15 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, and 2 steals.

Anyone who watched this game knows that Collison struggled, even from the free throw line where he was 90% on the season. 40% field goal percentage I wish him the best of luck in the NBA because he is a good player.

Josh Shipp: 18 points, 0 rebounds, 2 assists, and 0 steals.

Shipp did everything he could to help the Bruins in this game but just like the rest of the team, he was thrown off by Villanova's defense. Just like Darren Collison, Shipp should go on to the NBA and be a great player.

Nikola Dragovic: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 0 assists, and 1 steal.

Ivan Drago, I mean Nikola Dragovic had an alright game but was in foul trouble early on. He had a bad game too though but he should be coming back again next year for another shot at the NCAA Tournament.

Alfred Aboya: 9 points, 8 rebounds, 0 assists, and 0 steals.

Aboya along with Dragovic was in early foul trouble and had to sit out the final seven minutes of the first half with three fouls. The third senor on this team I also wish him good luck. He may not be drafted by the NBA although like Collison and Shipp he had a productive college career.

Jrue Holliday: 4 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals.

It is obvious that the tough Villanova defense really threw off the freshman even more than the rest of the team. Having the same amount of points as rebounds is not a good way to end a season. But as I said he is a freshman and will have three more years of college basketball ahead of him.

Well the true key to this game was Villanova taking it to the hoop and not settling for the outside shots on offense and the great defensive play.

Villanova now gets ready for the Sweet 16 and will play either Duke or Texas in Boston.