March 13, 2002
Villanova men's basketball game notes for the Wildcats' NIT first round game. Villanova will square off against Manhattan College on Thursday, March 14, at 7:30 p.m., at The Pavilion in Villanova, Pa. Click on the pdf link below for a complete version of the NIT game notes.
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2002 National Invitation Tournament
Villanova Wildcats
(17-12 overall, 7-9 Big East)
Vs.
Manhattan Jaspers
(20-8 overall, 12-6 MAAC)
Thursday, March 14, 2002
The Pavilion~7:35 p.m.
Villanova Radio Network
(WPEN 950, WZZD 990 AM)Garden Drama
The ending last Thursday night was one that was all too familiar to Villanova basketball fans. In a season where close games have been the norm - 12 contests have been decided in the final possession of regulation - it was almost a foregone conclusion that the Big East quarterfinal duel between Villanova and Connecticut would fall into the same category. And so it did. Ben Gordon's rainbow 3-point field goal with 11 seconds left lifted the Huskies to a 72-70 advantage. On the subsequent possession, Wildcat sophomore guard Derrick Snowden found junior backcourt mate Gary Buchanan coming off a screen at the top of the key. Buchanan's 3-point field goal, though, fell short and Villanova's bid for an upset of the East Division champions had failed.
"We've lost games like this in different ways," said Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "I felt we played good defense. Gordon hit a good shot and we contested it. Sometimes we didn't execute as well down the stretch as we would have liked. We got three shots we wanted but didn't make them.
"We wanted to win this tournament. We wanted to be good enough to do it. But when you see the loss here, you realize you're just not good enough yet. But we're close, and that's the way I want to look at it."
"The guys gave their heart and soul out there," added senior center Brooks Sales. "That's all the coaching staff wants, that's all I want. That's the way the cards fell, but we've got to be happy with the effort."
In opening round Big East action, Villanova defeated Syracuse 78-64. It marked the fifth consecutive season in which the `Cats won their first round Big East Tournament game before falling in the quarterinals.
The Training Room
The one-week layoff between Villanova's exit from the Big East Tournament and this evening's National Invitation tussle has allowed the `Cats to tend to their wounds. Buchanan suffered a strained right achilles tendon that forced him to miss the last 11 minutes of VU's 67-61 win over Syracuse on Feb. 28. But Buchanan has played all three games since and is expected to be available for tonight, barring a setback. The rest of the Wildcats are all expected to be available.
Bounding Brooks
It has been a remarkably consistent campaign for the man Jay Wright fingers as his club's indispensable figure.
"I cannot say enough about what Brooks Sales has done here, throughout his career and for us this year," said Jay Wright. "He's helped us as a staff by doing all the little things we want our players to value. There is no doubt that he is our most valuable player and we are going to miss him next season."
The native of Bloomfield, Conn. delivered his ninth double-double of the campaign in the 72-70 loss to Connecticut on March 7. Sales finished that contest with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
As noted on page one, Sales is 14 points shy of the 1,000-point plateau. In addition, he has collected 828 career rebounds and needs seven to catch George Raveling for ninth place on the all-time Wildcat list. With 10 more caroms he would move past John Pinone into eighth place on the career list. If Sales contributes 14 points during the NIT he would become only the 8th player in Villanova history to finish his career with 1,000 points and 800 rebounds. The others are Howard Porter, Jim Washington, Harold Pressley, Jack Devine, Jason Lawson, Ed Pinckney and Pinone. Sales also has 108 career blocked shots, which places him sixth on the all-time Villanova list in that category. And if you are looking for the hottest Wildcat at the free throw stripe, go no further than this man. Since the start of Febraury, Sales is 41-of-47 at the line (.872). In his last seven games he is 31-of-34 (.912) and his last miss at the stripe came at 7:07 of the first half against Syracuse at the First Union Center on Feb. 28. Sales brings a streak of 17 consecutive made free throws into tonight's game. For the season he is connecting on .781 of his free throw attempts.
Glass Works
Defense and rebounding have been keys to any success Villanova has enjoyed in 2001-02. The Wildcats have outrebounded opponents 38.0-32.4 for the season. Sales leads the way at 9.0 rpg while Ricky Wright brought down 8.2 rpg. In its two ConAgra Foods Big East Tournament outings, VU won the battle of the boards. On the season, Villanova was outrebounded only five times in 29 games: vs. Dayton on Nov. 24, vs. Virginia Tech on Jan. 30, vs. Miami on Feb. 5, vs. UCLA on Feb. 9 and vs. Syracuse on Feb. 28. Interestingly, all five of those games were played at home.
Bryant Comes Alive
When Villanova gets points from its bench, sophomore Reggie Bryant is usually the man most responsible. After a tough February, the native of Baltimore responded with a pair of strong games at Madison Square Garden last week. In two games, Bryant totaled 25 points, including 13 in the loss to Connecticut on March 7. The UConn game was unique in that it marked only the second time all season where the `Cats were beaten when Bryant reached double figures in the scoring column. Villanova is 10-2 when Bryant reaches double figures this year. Most encouraging for Bryant was his work from beyond the 3-point arc in New York. He was 6-of-12 (.500) in the two games last week. In the seven games leading up to the Big East Tournament, Bryant was 3-of-26 (.116) from deep. Bryant averages 8.4 ppg on the season.
Sully's Been the `Cats Silencer
Andrew Sullivan is Villanova's top perimeter defender and he spent most of his time in New York shadowing Syracuse's Preston Shumpert and Connecticut's Caron Butler. Foul trouble limited Sullivan to 19 minutes against Syracuse and it wasn't a coincidence that Shumpert ended the night with 21 points. Against UConn, though, Sullivan was a hindrance to Butler, who connected on only 5-of-17 field goal attempts.
"Andrew is unique in that at 6-7 he can guard smaller players," said Jay Wright. "That's been a big step for him to close out."
Sullivan contributes in other areas too. He chipped in with nine points in the win over Syracuse on March 6 and added nine rebounds againt UConn on March 7. The native of London, England is the only Villanova player to start all 29 games this year and he is the club's top field goal percentage shooter at .568. He averages 6.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per outing.
Snow Flurries
Sophomore point guard Derrick Snowden has shouldered a hefty burden all season long as Villanova's lone point guard. Although he has endured some bumps, he has developed a penchant for coming up big when the Wildcats are most in need of help. The product of Archbishop Spalding High School in Baltimore made the game-winning basket at Notre Dame on Jan. 2 and the basket that forced overtime on Feb. 16 against Georgetown (Villanova went on to win the game, 83-72, in overtime). Over the last seven games, Snowden is 28-of-56 (.500) from the field and 7-of-12(.583) from beyond the 3-point arc. He has averaged 12.9 ppg in that span and has boosted his season scoring average to 10.1 ppg. In those seven games, Snowden has also averaged 4.4 assists per game. The 6-0 native of Baltimore leads the Wildcats in that category with 118 (4.1 apg).
Buchanan's a Deep Threat
Villanova's top perimeter threat in 2001-02 has been junior guard Gary Buchanan. The native of St. Louis averages 17.8 ppg, connecting on .432 of his field goal attempts and .439 of his 3-point field goal tries. Over the course of his three seasons on the Main Line Buchanan is 239-of-615 (.389) 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. In 93 career games at Villanova, this product of St. Thomas More has reached double figures in 69 of them. In three seasons on the Main Line Buchanan has amassed 1,345 points. He is now 26th on the all-time list at Villanova. Buchanan, however, did have an uncharacteristically bad night at the free throw line against Syracuse on March 6, connecting on 3-of-6. He has dipped below 90 percent at the line (.899) for the first time since February 2000.
The Matchup
Villanova vs. Manhattan
All-Time Series: Manhattan leads 11-8
Last meeting: Villanova 73, Manhattan 71 (March 1, 1965)
Last Manhattan win: Man. 52, VU 48 (Dec. 6, 1947)
Wright vs. Manhattan: 1-3 Notebook:
Jay Wright was three years old the last time these two schools met ... That contest was also an NIT matchup, won by the Wildcats at Madison Square Garden ... Among the standouts on that Villanova team were Bill Melchionni and Jim Washington ... This is Villanova's 15th appearance in the NIT ... The Wildcats are 5-5 lifetime in postseason NIT games played at the Pavilion ... Villanova defeated Delaware 72-63 and fell to Kent State 81-67 when it last played a postseason NIT game at the Pavilion during the 1999-2000 season ... Wright faced the Jaspers four times during his stint as head coach at Hofstra ... The Jaspers captured the ECAC Holiday Festival in December.
