Villanova at Maryland In DC's Verizon Center

Villanova (7-0) takes on its first opponent on the opponent's home court.  This will be an important data point in the maturation of a quite new and different Villanova basketball team which finds itself ranked number three in the nation.  The game takes place in DC's Verizon center at 7:30 p.m.  Villanova is no stranger to the Verizon Center with a 6-1 record against Georgetown there.

'Nova is still led by 6-2 senior guard, Scottie Reynolds from Herndon, VA, just outside DC.  However, the other starters and their very important new sixth man are generally new to that role.

Maryland (5-2) led by 6-6 Senior guard, Greivis Vasquez, also has a bit of a new dimension to its game that will be important.  Maryland has lacked big men.  This year, it has two freshman.  Coach Gary Williams is getting a combined 40.7 minutes in the post out of 6-9 Jordan Williams and 6-8 James Padget.  They make an excellent addition to last year's club.

These two teams match-up pretty well.  Villanova starts three very high-powered guards and has two more backing them up.  Among these five guards, Villanova is getting 48.1 of its 80.6 average points per game out of its back court, 60 percent.

Maryland too generally rotates five guards who account for an average of 47 points of Maryland's 75.3 points per game, 62 percent.  So, a key factor in tonight's 7:30 game will be which team has a better shooting night.

Maryland's new and improved front court will face an interesting new front court for Villanova.  Antonio Pena, a 6-8, 235 pound enforcer, has played against everyone the Big East has to offer.  No fear.  He is averaging 13.4 points and 10.6 rebounds.

Villanova's very highly ranked 6-10 freshman C/F Mouphtaou Yarou is possibly out for the season.  However, Jay Wright has been getting pretty good presence out of 6-11 sophomore F Maurice Sutton.  Sutton is from Largo, Maryland just outside DC.  He is green as he was redshirted last season.  Sutton is a good defender and shot blocker, but he needs to play with his back to the basket.  While brand new to a starting role, Sutton has had eight blocked shots in his past two games.

Maryland doesn't have a sixth man who is as prolific as 6-6 forward, Taylor King a transfer from Duke and McDonald's All American (of which Villanova has five).  King is a 6-6, 230 pound power forward who is a deadeye shooter.  He is averaging 11.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game off the bench.

Villanova has more firepower than Maryland, and that might enable them to overcome Maryland.  However, this is a young team, and their assist to turnover ratio is 0.93 versus 1.39 for Maryland.  Villanova was a better ball handling club when Reggie Redding, who is out this semester, was bringing down the ball.

The other concern for this very talented young Villanova squad is fouls.  Villanova averages 21.0 fouls per game, and Maryland averages 16.1.  That is a dangerous differential for Villanova on an opposing court.  Pena and Sutton must avoid fouling out in order for Villanova to maintain its strength up front.

The line on the game is Villanova by 1.0-1.5.  It should be quite a show. Wouldn't miss it.