Final: Villanova Can't Hang On Late, Loses At Louisville 84-74
by Chris Lane on Jan 25, 2012 9:09 PM EST
in Basketball Game Recaps
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PrintFirst things first so we don't have to mention it again. The officiating was terrible tonight, for both teams. There were multiple stretches where each team got a favorable whistle, and the officials robbed the fans of the game's two biggest impact players in Maalik Wayns and Chane Behanan. At one point, the ESPN crew mentioned that the officiating was good because each team was called for the same amount of fouls - 21. Seriously, that happened.
Back to the action. Villanova put together one of it's best first halves of the night, even with Wayns sitting for long stretches due to foul trouble. Villanova took a 44-39 lead into the halftime with a very balanced scoring attack that saw 6 players with at least 5 points, including James Bell who led 'Nova with 11 points and 8 rebounds.
After the break though, it was a different story after Wayns really put himself in foul trouble. More after The Jump.
Just 90 seconds into the second half, Wayns had been whistled for his 4th foul - at least one of which was a total blown call. That really stretched Villanova as Ty Johnson was forced into action and Rick Pitino put the press into play for the first time all game.
'Nova did not respond well with the lack of ball handlers on the court, and Louisville stretched out their lead to as much as 10. With no card left to play Wright finally brought Wayns back in with about 10 minutes left and he immediately sparked the Wildcats back into the game.
Villanova fell into old habits though late on, settling for missed jump shots instead of attacking inside, where they were dominating Louisville with the combination of Bell, Pinkston and Yarou.
In the end, Louisville started making shots as 'Nova's defense failed them, and Villanova just couldn't keep pace. It was an encouraging effort for stretches, but the continued decision making to shoot the ball from the perimeter when under pressure once again brought defeat.
Oh, and somebody tell Dominic Cheek to change his game plan. 1-8 from the floor. 0-6 from 3. 7-8 from the FT line. Now let's see, what should he be doing?
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No Wayns..No Can Win!
Very disappointing to see that absolutely no one or ones could replace Wayns. Was hoping Cheek and Yarou would ‘man’ up but not the case. We just are not that much of a worse team than them. Just have to beat Marquette!
by LauderdaleLegend on Jan 25, 2012 9:28 PM EST reply actions
They did well in the first half to replace him
The problem was the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Leading Man at The Nova Blog, SB Nation's Villanova Wildcats blog.
Wayns
If wayns goes pro were in for another long year next year
Johnson will improve
And Arch is the real deal coming in. So point guard shouldn’t be a huge issue. But scoring is sure to take a big hit.
Leading Man at The Nova Blog, SB Nation's Villanova Wildcats blog.
Wayns
will not go pro. It would be foolish.
by stokesfromfisher on Jan 26, 2012 7:55 AM EST up reply actions
Random Stats:
- According to ESPN, we are 7th in the nation in rebounds per game (at 40.8 per)
- Yarou is shooting 50% from the field on the season; Kennedy is not far behind at 49%, with JVP at 44%
- Dominic Cheek has made 5 fewer field goals than Yarou all season, despite having taken 35 more shots
- Bell leads the team in 3 point percentage at 35%; despite having made only 7 more 3s than Bell, Cheek has attempted 39 more 3 pointers
- Yarou is averaging 8.3 rebounds per game; to put that in perspective, no Villanova player has averaged more than 8 rebounds since the 2001-2002 seasons
- We are 15th in free throw percentage and 31st in rebound margin; we are also 146th in 3 point defense (opponents shoot 33.5%) and 257th in 3 point FG percentage
- To put that HORRIFIC 3 point shooting percentage in perspective: we are 257th out of 275 schools. There are only 18 Div I schools that shoot worse than us from 3
- We have attempted 422 3 pointers, tied for 62nd in the country, but only made 129; there is not a single team in the entire country that has attempted over 400 3s and made less than 130, except Hampton (who is #269/275 nationally in 3PM)
- Wayns and Bell have taken 485 shots, which is 118 more shots than all of our bigs (Yarou + JVP + Kennedy + Sutton) combined
I just don't understand..
why Cheek attempts so many 3FG? What’s the mindset? Usually, when I’m not good at something, I try to avoid doing it. Work on the range of the jumper in the off season. Until then, get to the rim or don’t shoot.
"Each one hopes that if he feeds the crocodile enough, the crocodile will eat him last"
by Esteban d' Amur on Jan 26, 2012 7:27 AM EST reply actions
Cats rotations on D
have been poor all season and once again last night. Especially late in the game last night Cats needed a stop and could not get it done. Louisville is not a good team either. They take early shots in the shot clock like we do.
Jay, if he hasn’t already, sit down with Cheek and remind him he can’t shoot 3’s like Bird use to do. But his poor shot selection and the inability to hit a 3 really hurts this team considering the minutes he plays.
This squad has potential, just needs to grow up.
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