Nov. 30, 2001
Check out the men's basketball notes for Saturday's non-conference battle between the Wildcats and the Bucknell Bison. Villanova enters the contest with a 2-1 overall record hoping to rebound from an overtime loss to La Salle. Click on the .pdf link below for the complete version of the game notes.
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Villanova Wildcats
(2-1 overall, 0-0 Big East)
Vs.
Bucknell Bison
(1-4 overall, 0-0 Patriot League)
Saturday, Dec. 1, 2001
The Pavilion (6,500)~4:00 p.m.
Villanova Radio Network
(WPEN 950 AM, WFIL 560 AM, WCOJ 1420 AM)Another Game To The Wire
For the second time in a row at the Pavilion, the Villanova Wildcats held the ball in their hands in a tie game with the clock winding down under ten seconds in regulation time.
Unlike last Saturday, though, this time the shot did not go down. A Gary Buchanan 10-footer in the lane went in and out and the Wildcats Big Five opener against La Salle headed to overtime. There the Explorers rode the work of Julian Blanks and Rasual Butler to a 61-58 victory over Villanova on Tuesday.
Said Jay Wright: "I'm dissapointed with the loss but not with the effort. I was pleased with that last shot and with Gary taking it."
Villanova had their chances in a contest that was tight throughout. A Blanks triple from deep tied the game at 48 with under one minute to play.
"I thought they were a little ahead of us, in the way they play each possession, being a little more tough-minded and a little more together," said Jay Wright. "I'm not disappointed. I'm disappointed in the loss, but I know who we are."
G Ball
It's only the first day of December but Gary Buchanan can look up and see his name atop the Big East scoring list today: the junior guard from St. Louis, Mo., is averaging 21.0 ppg, tops in the conference.
Despite his subpar shooting on Tuesday - Buchanan was only 4-of-16 from the field and 1-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc - he is still knocking down .444 of his field goal attempts and .400 of his 3-point attempts. Plus, he is 15-of-17 from the free throw line.
Buchanan now has 891 career points, tops among the current 'Cats. He is on target to become the first Villanova non-senior to scale the 1,000 point plateau since Kerry Kittles.
Injury Update
The injury list is down to one after Andreas Bloch saw his first action of the season against La Salle. Bloch, a sophomore forward from Wurmlingeu, Germany, missed the season's first two games with a severely sprained right ankle.
Freshman forward Chris Charles was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat last week in tests performed at Bryn Mawr Hospital. He has undergone further testing and phsyicians are in now evaluating his situation. Charles will dress today but is officially listed as doubtful. There is not yet a timetable for his return.
Wright Moves
Junior forward Ricky Wright delivered his second strong effort of the young campaign on Tuesday night. The native of East Chicago, Ind., topped the Wildcats with 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field and also collected nine rebounds. Ricky Wright also established a new career high with four blocked shots in the 61-58 defeat. On the season Wright is second on the club in scoring with 15.0 ppg and leads the Wildcats with an 8.7 rpg number.
The only game where Wright struggled came when he encountered foul difficulty in the win over Dayton last Saturday night. To this point Wright has continued the pattern of interior offensive efficiency that he and partners Michael Bradley and Brooks Sales established last winter. Bradley led the nation in field goal perccentage in 2000-01 while Sales and Ricky Wright both shot better than 58 percent from the field for the season. This year Ricky Wright is connecting on .714 of his attempts from the field.
Balance Please
One area that has proved problematic for the Wildcats in the early stages of the campaign is scoring balance. For example, in the win over Dayton only one player - Buchanan - reached double figures in scoring (30 points). In fact, Buchanan's 30 points were more than the rest of his teammates combined (29).
In 45 minutes against La Salle, only Ricky Wright and Buchanan reached double figures, with 18 and 13 respectively. Buchanan wouldn't have reached double digits without the extra five minutes of overtime.
Indeed, through three games only Buchanan has scored in double figures in every game. Ricky Wright has done it twice while Andrew Sullivan and Derrick Snowden each scored 10 points in the opening night win over Grambling on Nov. 21. Of the Wildcats 199 points this season, Ricky Wright and Buchanan have scored 108 of them. That's 54 percent.Meanwhile, no other 'Cat is averaging more than 7.3 ppg.
Sully Stuff
After a sophomore season in which he only played 192 total minutes (and only 14 in the last eight games), junior forward Andrew Sullivan is now an integral part of the rotation.
Sullivan played a career high 39 minutes against La Salle. Through three games he is averaging 33 mpg and is nearly halfway to his total of minutes played for all of 2000-01. On Tuesday he chipped in with four points and six rebounds before fouling out.
"Andrew is someone we are counting on to be aggressive defensively and on the glass," stated Jay Wright. "We need him to be a terrific defender and rebounder for us."
Johnson's In The Mix
Guard B.J. Johnson was a walk-on for his first two seasons at Villanova but earned a scholarship this year. Already he has played more meaningful minutes in 2001-02 than at any other point in his Wildcats career.
"B.J. has great enthusiasm and understands what it means to play Villanova basketball," said Jay Wright.
Johnson made a pair of critical free throws in Saturday's win over Dayton and saw brief action in the La Salle contest. Jay Wright often turns to Johnson when he wants a defensive boost. Johnson has appeared in every Wildcat game this season, the first time he has ever seen action in three consecutive contests at Villanova.
Free Throw Proficiency
One area that has helped the Wildcats in their two wins is free throw accuracy. Villanova has made 53-of-65 from the line, including 14-of-17 (.824) in the win over Dayton. Through three games, Villanova is connecting on .815 of its attempts from the line.
Ironically, though, the Wildcats proficiency has been outdone by their three opponents. La Salle, which entered the game shooting free throws at a .628, was 14-15 from the line. In all, Villanova's foes are 38-41 (.927) from the line.
Monitoring the Turnover Column
It was virus which tormented the Wildcats in 2000-01 and it has made its appearance again this season. On Tuesday Villanova committed 20 turnovers. In three games the 'Cats have committed 54 turnovers - 18 per outing. That is just slightly off the pace of last season, when Villanova established a new school record with 569 assists or 18.3 per contest.
One good sign is that point guard Derrick Snowden's assist-to-turnover ratio on Tuesday night improved significantly. Snowden contributed six assists while being charge with three turnovers.
Defensive Upgrade
While the Wildcats scoring output is down - Villanova is averaging 66.3 ppg in three games - its efforts on the defensive end have more than compensated for that. Villanova's opponents are connecting on .383 of their attempts from the field and averaging only 62 ppg.
Ratings Winner
According to numbers provided by Comcast SportsNet, the show "Inside Villanova Basketball With Jay Wright" is a hit with local audiences. Tuesday's 30-minute program, which aired on CSN prior to tipoff of the La Salle contest, was credited with a .8 rating. According to officials at the network, that is the highest rated 30-minute program of its kind in the past five years on CSN.
The program takes a brief hiatus until Jan. 17, when it will return with seven new episodes featuring the Wildcats head coach as he takes you behind the scenes of Villanova Hoops.
The Matchup
Villanova vs. Bucknell
All-Time Series: VU Leads 10-8
Last Meeting: Villanova 80, Bucknell 41 (1948)
Last Bucknell Win: 43-32, Dec. 8, 1945
Wright vs. Bucknell: 1-0 Notebook: The series resumes after a dormant period of 53 years ... Wright was a starting point guard for the Bison from 1979-83 ... Villanova and the Bison first met in 1927 with Villanova winning 27-20 ... The Wildcats lead the series 10-8 but the teams have not met since Feb. 27, 1948 ... The Bison come in after a 71-62 overtime win over Cornell on Monday with a 1-4 record ... Pat Flannery is in his 13th season and owns a 204-137 career record ... The Bison were 14-15 in 2000-01 ... Guard Bryan Bailey (18.3 ppg) and forward Boakai Lalugba (16.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg) lead the Bison ... Villanova last faced a member of the Patriot League in 1999-2000, when it downed Lafayette 74-70 in the season opener.
