Jan. 29, 2002

Click on the .pdf link below for a complete version of the men's basketball game notes for Villanova's game on Wednesday against Virginia Tech. The Wildcats (11-6, 3-4 Big East) and the Hokies (6-12, 0-7 Big East) meet for the second time this season at the Pavilion. Villanova won the first match-up 77-75 on a last second shot by senior Brooks Sales.

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Villanova Wildcats
(11-6 overall, 3-4 Big East)
Vs.
Virginia Tech Hokies
(6-12 overall, 0-7 Big East)

Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002
The Pavilion~7:35 p.m.
Villanova Radio Network
(WPEN 950 AM)


A Big Five Surprise
Over the course of its 47 years, the Philadelphia Big Five has been known for its intense backyard rivalries and close contests. Indeed, in Villanova's first three Big Five games this year, the game hung in the balance on the final possession of regulation. No one expected anything less on Monday night when St. Joseph's, ranked No. 10 in the preseason, came into the Pavilion. Yet the Wildcats applied terrific defensive pressure, made open shots and cruised to a 54-35 lead at intermission. The gap grew to 74-41 with just over 11 minutes remaining and ended in a 102-73 Villanova victory.

"That was unbelievable," said Wildcats first-year head coach Jay Wright. "The only thing we expected was the unexpected. And we got more. I feel bad for them (the Hawks). I thought they might be a little tired coming off Saturday's game against Penn. They looked a little weary.

"I have watched a lot of Big Five games and so when we were up 19 at the half, I thought, `OK this is another classic Big Five game where they are going to make a great push at us.' But the guys did a great job of keeping the momentum. I'm proud of our effort."

"They showed they were more hungry for it," St. Joseph's center Damien Reid. "You've got to compliment the players, compliment the coaching. They did a great job. They gave it to us."

"All the pieces fell together today," said Villanova center Brooks Sales. "Derrick (Snowden) took care of the ball, we made the extra passes, dove on loose balls. Everything worked our way. It's the first game all year that we put it all together for 40 minutes."

G Whiz
Wildcat junior guard Gary Buchanan has been forced to endure a few changes this year. The new coaching staff has asked Buchanan to drive the ball more than he had in the past and raise his defensive skills. And, with former teammates Malik Allen and Michael Bradley drawing National Basketball Association paychecks and not deflecting defensive attention from him, Buchanan has faced an array of defenses designed to slow him. A low point came last Thursday, when the St. Louis native connected on just 3-of-12 field goal attempts in a 76-58 loss to Miami. Buchanan, though, responded to adversity in style. He led his team in scoring with 28 points, including seven 3-point field goals. That latter mark establishes a new career high in that category. It also ties him with Eric Eberz, Doug West and Chris Walker for the school record for triples in a single game. Over the course of his three seasons Buchanan is 202-of-515 (.392) from beyond the 3-point arc. The Villanova record for 3-point field goals in a career belongs to Kerry Kittles, who made 278 from 1992-96. The all-time 3-point field goal percentage champion at Villanova is Mark Plansky. Plansky, now an ESPN Regional Television analyst, connected on .451 of his triple attempts from the inception of the line in 1986 to his graduation in 1988. Buchanan has scored in double figures in six consecutive games and 16 of the 17 Villanova has played in 2001-02. In 81 career games on the Main Line, this product of St. Thomas More has reached double figures in 59 of them. He averages 19.1 ppg on .472 shooting from the field. In addition he is 54-of-113 (.478) from beyond the 3-point arc. On Dec. 28 against Delaware State, Buchanan went past the 1,000-point mark for his career. (Fittingly, the points came on a 3-point field goal). The St. Louis native now has 1,153 points and on Monday passed former Wildcat great Jim Washington for 37th place on the all-time school list. Harold Jensen, with 1,155 points, is next up in 36th place. The only flaw in the Buchanan column on Monday was at the free throw line. He missed his sixth free throw of the campaign (65-71, .915 on the season) and has now missed a free throw in each of his last three games. In three seasons, Buchanan has missed a total of 17 free throws (231-of-248, .931)

Strong Sales
His numbers aren't the most in posting on the stat sheet but no Wildcat has played better in January than senior center Brooks Sales. The Bloomfield, Conn., native was at it again on Monday. Sales led the Wildcats with eight assists and ten rebounds. In addition, he made countless little plays that contributed to the victory. Sales has reached double figures in rebounding in each of the past six games. In the month of January he has averaged 11.6 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per outing. Sales also now has 850 career points. In addition, he has moved into 14th place on the Wildcats' all-time rebounding list with 723 caroms. Five more boards will draw him even with Tom Greis (728) in 13th place and 16 more will move him alongside Hank Siemiontkowski (739) in 12th place. Jay Wright doesn't need to check the record book to understand the impact that this senior co-captain has made at Villanova.

"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 one of his teammates gets 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."

Triple Threat
A 3-point shooting slump that plagued the `Cats came to a sudden end in the win over Saint Joseph's. Villanova converted a season-high 14 triples and needed only 24 attempts (.583) to get it done. Over the course of the previous five games, the Wildcats were just 20-of-75 (.267) from 3-point territory. This dropped their once national leading percentage to .424 from a high of just under 50 percent in early January. The bulk of the damage was done by Buchanan but it was noteworthy that four other Wildcats made a three: Reggie Bryant, Derrick Snowden, Andreas Bloch and Tom Grace. On the year Buchanan and Bryant have combined to make 81 of Villanova's 96 threes.

Reggie's Revival
Another bit of good news for Villanova on Monday night came courtesy of Bryant. The sophomore guard tied a career-high with 17 points, including four-of-seven (.571) on 3-point tries, and displayed the kind of vitality that has been critical off the bench to Villanova. The previous five games represented a tough stretch for the Baltimore product. After watching his scoring average rise to 10.3 ppg in early January, Bryant scored just 19 points in his the five games leading up to Monday (3.8 ppg). In that stretch he connected on 6-of-34 (.176) from the field and three of 21 (.143) in that span from beyond the arc. Bryant averages 9.4 ppg. His effort indicated the essential role he plays on the Main Line. How critical is underscored by this stat: in games where Bryant reaches double figures in points, Villanova is 7-1. When he fails to reach that level, the `Cats are 3-5. (Bryant sat out the Bucknell game due to what Jay Wright described as a "minor violation of team rules".)

Sully Was Solid
One key to the win over St. Joseph's was the work of junior forward Andrew Sullivan, especially at the defensive end. Sullivan was instrumental in holding Hawk star Marvin O'Connor to 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field.

"He's the kind of guy who can really get it going," said Jay Wright. "So we put so much of our effort into not allowing him to get going. Andrew did a great job, and we kept putting fresh bodies on him."

Sullivan added eight points in 22 minutes for good measure. He is the only Villanova player to start all 17 games this season. The Wildcats are limiting opponents to a field goal percentage of .388 on the season. That's a marked upgrade from last season's figure of .431. The Wildcats have also been much better lately in taking away the 3-point field goal. St. Joseph's converted just 7-of-24 from deep (.292) and teams are shooting .347 from deep. Earlier in the month that number was up near 40 percent.

Injury Update
Senior guard B.J. Johnson returned to action at Miami after missing eight games with a fracture of the third metatarsal bone in his left foot.

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."

The Matchup
Villanova vs. Virginia Tech
All-Time Series: Villanova leads 6-0
Last meeting: VU 77, VTU 75 (January 15, 2002)
Wright vs. VTU: 1-0

Notebook:
The two teams meet for the second time in 15 days ... The Wildcats edged the Hokies 77-75 when Brooks Sales grabbed a rebound of an errant Ricky Wright shot and put it into the goal with 1.5 seconds left at Blacksburg, Va. ... Gary Buchanan scored a career high 34 points on Jan. 15, the second straight time he has gone over the 30-point barrier against the Hokies ... In three career games against Virginia Tech, Buchanan averages 25.3 ppg ... The Wildcats are now 3-0 lifetime against the Hokies in Big East Conference competition ... A year ago the `Cats rallied from a 23-point deficit early in the second half to post an 86-74 victory ... Buchanan and Michael Bradley combined for 59 points ... The rally represents the biggest second half rally in Big East Conference history.