Jan. 23, 2002
Check out the Villanova men's basketball game notes for Thursday night's Big East battle between the Villanova Wildcats (10-5, 3-3) and the Miami Hurricanes (17-2, 4-2). The two teams will square off on Thursday, Jan. 24, at Miami Arena in a 7:35 p.m. tipoff. Click on the pdf link below for a complete version of the game notes.
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Game Notes
Villanova Wildcats (10-5 overall, 3-3 Big East)
vs.
Miami Hurricanes (17-2 overall, 4-2 Big East)
Thursday, Jan. 24, 2002
Miami Arena~7:35 p.m.
CN8 TV (Jay Randolph & Doris Burke)
Villanova Radio Network
(WPEN 950 AM ,WZZD 990 AM)
Tonight's Top Stories
Near Miss: On Sunday afternoon the Wildcats were defeated 65-63 when St. John's guard Marcus Hatten made a jumper with 8.4 seconds left in regulation. Of Villanova's 15 games to date in 2001-02, eight have been decided in the last possession of regulation, including the last five in a row.
January Sales: Senior center Brooks Sales posted his 15th career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds at St. John's. Sales has five double-doubles this year and is averaging 9.0 rpg to lead the 'Cats.
Homeward Bound: This ends a series of three straight Big East road games for Villanova. The Wildcats return to the Pavilion on Monday night at 8:00 p.m. to meet the Saint Joseph's Hawks. The game is the final Philadelphia Big Five contest of the year and will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
Villanova Media Relations
Director of Media Relations- Dean Kenefick
Director of Publications- Mike Sheridan (Men's Basketball Contact)
Asst. Director of Media Relations: Jon Gust
Media Relations Assistant: Kevin Fischer
Media Relations Assistant: Lauren Pellicane
Media Relations Secretary: Leslie McNamee
Media Relations Office: (610) 519-4120
Media Relations FAX: (610) 519-7323
For updated Villanova statistics please visit the Big East web site at www.bigeast.org. Game notes can be found at www.villanova.com.
Wildcat Notes
Cardiac Cats, The Saga Continues
For Villanova, January has been all about close calls.
Of the six Big East games, the Wildcats have played to date, five have been decided in the last minute. Only the 76-57 opening night victory over Providence at the Pavilion did not go down to the wire.
The latest chapter came on Sunday.
Villanova trailed by 11 points in the first half before rallying to cut the margin to three at halftime. Then the Wildcats moved ahead and built their own 11-point edge at 46-35 before St. John's stormed back. In the end it was a game of lead changes that was not decided until Reggie Bryant's long field goal attempt off a rebound was partially blocked by Sharif Fordham, giving the Red Storm a 65-63 win.
"I've said this so much that our beat writers are tired of hearing it, but we've been losing in good games - overtime, five points, two points," said head coach Jay Wright. "We've been in good games. We just haven't learned how to win against the big-time teams in tight games yet."
"It's just like every game we're in is close, but the guys are giving a good effort," added senior center Brooks Sales. "Down the stretch we're trying to execute. Sometimes the play gets away from us, but you can't let that hold you back. Everybody on the team contributed in some way, and that's all you can ask for."
Three Villanova players led the Wildcats with 14 points apiece, including Sales, Derrick Snowden and Ricky Wright. Marcus Hatten scored 29 points, including the gamewinner with 8.4 seconds left, for the Red Storm. More on the Cardiac Cats
Here is a recap of the Cats' close calls in 2001-02:
Nov. 24 vs. Dayton: Reggie Bryant drops in a baseline jumper with .7 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 59-57 victory over the Flyers at the Pavilion.
Nov. 27 vs. La Salle: A Gary Buchanan jumper in the lane caroms off the iron in the final seconds, forcing a 47-47 contest into overtime. La Salle pulls away on the strength of free throws from Rasual Butler to a 61-58 win.
Dec. 5 vs. Pennsylvania: Two Andy Toole free throws with 42 seconds left in regulation knot the game at 64. In overtime two more Toole free throws with 12 seconds left give the Quakers a 75-74 edge and a Ugonna Oneykwe blocked shot on Villanova's final field goal attempt gives Penn its the victory.
Dec. 8 vs Temple at the Palestra: With the game tied at 66, Derrick Snowden made a jumper to push the 'Cats into the lead with 21 seconds left, 68-66. A double-team from Brooks Sales and Andrew Sullivan then forced Owl guard Lynn Greer into a turnover with six seconds left. Snowden then added a pair of free throws to ice a 70-66 win.
Jan. 6 at Notre Dame: Snowden makes two big plays to help Villanova to a win. First he makes a short shot with 26 seconds left to lift the Wildcats to a 73-72 advantage. Then he hounds Irish guard Chris Thomas into a tough field goal attempt that Bryant rebounds for the 'Cats. Bryant makes one of two free throws and Villanova escapes with a 74-72 win.
Jan. 9 vs. Boston College: A dramatic Troy Bell jumper ties the game at 69 with six seconds left in regulation. A Villanova turnover gives the Eagles one last shot, which is missed. The Eagles pull away in overtime for a 88-81 triumph.
Jan. 17 at Virginia Tech: The Hokies tie the game when center Terry Taylor converts one of two free throws to knot matters at 75 with 34 seconds left. Villanova holds for the last shot, which Ricky Wright takes and misses. But Sales is there to collect the carom and put it into the basket with 1.5 seconds left, giving Villanova the win.
Then came Sunday's nip and tuck affair.
This recount also doesn't include the Jan. 13 game vs. Connecticut at the First Union Center when the Wildcats had a chance to tie the game with under one minute remaining. However, Gary Buchanan's triple try failed and the Huskies went on to win 70-65.
It is noteworthy that Villanova's five losses have come by a total of 18 points.
Sales On
Senior center Brooks Sales has been an unsung contributor over the course of his four years on the Main Line. Lately, though, his production has thrust him into the spotlight more than in the past.
In addition to his game-winning basket at Virginia Tech, Sales has been a dominant performer on the glass of late. The native of Bloomfield, Conn., has averaged 11.5 rpg in his last four Big East outings, reaching double digits in all four games.
Over that same span he is averaging 14 ppg. Sales established a new career high with 22 points in the Jan. 13 loss to Connecticut.
"Brooks is so important to us because he does all of the little things that we value as a program," said Jay Wright. "A lot of times he is the guy who blocks out so that someone else can get the rebound or sets the screen that frees a shooter to make a three. Brooks has done a great job for us all year long."
Sales' recent burst has pushed his season scoring average to 10.2 ppg and he is averaging 9.0 rpg, which ties him for fourth in the Big East Conference for all games. He converts .521 of his field goal attempts and has made 30 of his last 33 free throw attempts (.909) to improve his overall percentage from the line to .757. Sales is one of five Wildcats - Buchanan, Bryant, Ricky Wright and Snowden are the others - shooting 70 percent or better from the line. Overall Villanova is connecting on .759 of its free throws, tops in the Big East.
Snow Showers
Although his final field goal attempt - one that could have forced an overtime if it had fallen - failed, Derrick Snowden continued with his imporved play at St. John's. The native of Baltimore, Md., scored 14 points and added two assists in 39 minutes against the Red Storm.
Snowden started the year very slowly after a strong summer tour of Italy with the Wildcats in which he averaged 15.3 ppg. The sophomore point guard made just 8-of-33 from the floor (.242) to open the season and was plagued by turnovers.
In the time since, though, Snowden has made progress.
Over the first six Big East games he is averaging 11.3 ppg and 4.1 apg. Plus, he is 26-of-54 (.481) from the field in that span and has improved his overall field goal percentage to .430. He is averging 9.1 ppg for the season and is one of only two Wildcats - Bryant being the other - who have more assists than turnovers to their credit. In Snowden's case he has 60 assists and 54 turnovers.
Snowden's Baltimore pal, Bryant hasn't been as fortunate.
After a strong burst that took his season scoring average above the 10 ppg mark, Bryant has slumped lately. This Baltimore native and graduate of the St. Thomas More School in Connecticut has scored just 17 points in his last four games (4.2 ppg) after reaching double figures in the previous six games and has made just five of his last 27 field goal attempts (.185).
Interestingly, in games Bryant reaches double figures Villanova is 6-1. When he fails to reach that figure, the 'Cats are 3-4.
Storm on the Glass
For only the third time this season Villanova did not win the battle of the boards. St. John's and the Wildcats each collected 32 rebounds.
Villanova leads the Big East in rebounding margin, as it averages 38.7 caroms per outing and surrender an average of 29.3 rpg.
Injury Update
Senior guard B.J. Johnson has been sidelined for the past eight games with a fracture of the third metatarsal bone in his left foot. He has returned to practice however and is listed as probable for the Miami game.
Jair's Journey
Sophomore center Jair Veldhuis has left the men's basketball team and will transfer to the University of Nevada, it was announced prior to the VMI game on Dec. 22.
Veldhuis, a native of Amsterdam, Holland, played in five games this season for a total of 32 minutes. He averaged 1.2 points and 0.4 rebounds. As a freshman in 2000-01 he saw action in six games.
"Jair has made a decision about his future and we respect that," said Jay Wright. "We thank him for his contributions to Villanova basketball."
Triple Threats
Villanova continues to lead the Big East Conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.424), despite a 2-of-8 effort on Sunday against St. John's.
Gary Buchanan and Reggie Bryant have done the bulk of the heavy lifting in that department. Buchanan is 44-of-89 (.494) from beyond the arc while Bryant is 23-of-49 (.469) from deep. Snowden is the only other Wildcat with more than one triple and he has eight.
Villanova has taken 184 3-point attempts. Only UConn has launched fewer among Big East Conference clubs.
