March 21, 2002

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2002 National Invitation Tournament
Villanova Wildcats
(19-12 overall, 7-9 Big East)
Vs.
Temple Owls
(17-14 overall, 12-4 Atlantic Ten)

Friday, March 22, 2002
Liacouras Center~7:05 p.m.
Villanova Radio Network
CN8
(WPEN 950 AM, WZZD 990 AM)


Tech and the Turnovers
It was the line on the final boxscore that immediately raised eyebrows among those who have followed Villanova's season-long struggle with turnovers.

"Three?" asked Ricky Wright incredulously. "Coach (Jay Wright) is going to have a baby."

Well, probably not. But the fact that the Wildcats committed a season low three turnovers had much to do with their ability to withstand a late push from Louisiana Tech and emerge with a 67-64 victory at the Pavilion on Tuesday night in second round Owens Corning NIT action.

"That was good to see," said Jay Wright.

The three turnovers were a season-low. In fact, prior to Tuesday night, Villanova had not committed less than four in any half this season, let alone a full 40 minutes. The turnovers were the fewest by a Villanova team since the 1988-89 squad committed a single miscue in a 63-47 victory over Davidson on Nov. 27, 1988, a span of 413 games. That allowed the 'Cats to overcome a night where they connected on just .371 of their field goal attempts and were outrebounded for only the sixth time all season, 42-41. Of course, there were some anxious moments down the stretch when the Bulldogs closed fast after trailing 65-55 with just over two minutes remaining.

"This was a good win for us," said Jay Wright. "It's tournament time and you have to take them however you can get them.

"I am a fan of the game, a fan of good players and that's why I liked this Louisiana Tech team. I watched their game tapes and some of you might ask, 'why didn't they press?' That is not the way they play and you have to give them credit because they won 22 games and almost beat Oklahoma on the road. They have great confidence in the way they play and are very disciplined. Beating a team like that is a great victory for us."

The Training Room
On Monday afternoon it was learned that senior guard B.J. Johnson will be lost to the 'Cats for the remainder of the 2001-02 season. Johnson, a native of Greensboro, N.C., suffered a fractured right cheekbone when he was hit by an inadvertent elbow during a practice session. In his three seasons on the Main Line, Johnson played in 29 games, including 15 this year. He started once and made some key defensive contributions down the stretch this year for Villanova.

In addition, freshman forward Chris Charles has been ruled out of the Temple game due to the reccurance an irregular heartbeat that kept him out of Villanova's first six games this season. Charles, whose heart arrhythmia corrected itself in December, has been evaluated this week in tests at Bryn Mawr Hospital and his status for any further Wildcat action this season is unclear at this time.

G Ball
Junior guard Gary Buchanan - "G" to his teammates - enjoyed another strong outing in the 67-64 win on Tuesday night. Buchanan finished the night with 21 points. It was the 15th time this year that the native of St. Louis, Mo., has topped the 20-point plateau for the Wildcats. On the season he leads Villanova in scoring with an 18.1 ppg average and minutes with 1,089 (35.1 mpg). In five career NIT games Buchanan has averaged 19.8 ppg. On Tuesday Buchanan established the single season Villanova record for most 3-point field goals in a season. He now has 98, bettering the mark established by Eric Eberz in 1994-95 of 94. Buchanan has made 98 3-point field goals this season while the rest of his teammates have combined for 81 triples. Over the course of his three seasons on the Main Line Buchanan is 246-of-633 (.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 95 career games at Villanova, this product of St. Thomas More has reached double figures in 71 of them. In three seasons on the Main Line Buchanan has amassed 1,388 points. If he scores four points tonight he will move past Kenny Wilson into 25th place on the all-time list at VU. With 10 points, he can move ahead of Eberz into 24th place on the same chart.

Sales Report
The anchor around which this Villanova team is built is senior center Brooks Sales.

"I understand people are sick of hearing me say this," said Wright in the aftermath of Thursday's win, "but Brooks Sales is our most valuable player. He does everything for us. His attitude is tremendous. I would take 13 Brooks Sales' on my team any time."

On Tuesday, Sales scored six points and grabbed the night's most important rebound when he grabbed Gerrod Henderson's miss with less than two seconds remaining in regulation. Sales ended the night with 10 rebounds. Those ten caroms moved him past John Pinone into 8th place on the school's all-time list. The product of Northwest (Conn.) Catholic High School now has 1,009 career points and 847 career rebounds. He is one of only eight men in Villanova history with at least 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 111 career blocked shots, which places him sixth on the all-time Villanova list in that category. One area where Sales did cool off on Tuesday was at the free throw line, where he was 0-of-5. Entering the game he had connected on his previous 17 free throws in a row. On the year Sales is shooting .755 from the charity stripe.

Road Rage
To advance to New York, Villanova will have to halt a road losing skid that presently stands at six games. The Wildcats actually began the year in grand fashion on the road, taking their first two Big East road contests at Notre Dame and Virginia Tech in January. But since then Villanova has endured a series of near-misses away from home.They include:

On Jan. 20 a Marcus Hatten basket with 11 seconds left gave St. John's a 65-63 victory at Madison Square Garden over the 'Cats.

At Connecticut on Feb. 11 Villanova was trailed 42-40 with just over two minutes left. But All-American Caron Butler came up with two huge plays down the stretch and the Huskies prevailed 46-40.

On Feb. 19 at Providence, Villanova was down three with less than three minutes remaining. John Lenihan, however, made a couple of huge baskets and the Friars made free their free throws en route to a 72-64 win.

Finally, on Feb. 23 at Boston College an obscure freshman named Andrew Bryant came off the bench to drain five 3-point field goals in the second half to erase a 10-point Villanova lead. The Wildcats dropped a 69-67 decision to the Eagles.

On the year Villanova is 2-7 on the road, though the 'Cats did earn neutral court victories over Temple at the Palestra and Syracuse in the Big East Tournament. A seven game road losing streak would mark the longest skid since Villanova lost 10 straight away from home during the 1974-75 campaign.

Reggie's Rolled
When Villanova needs an offensive lift off the bench, it turns to sophomore guard Reggie Bryant. On Tuesday, Bryant contributed 10 points and three rebounds in 30 minutes of action against Louisiana Tech. Villanova is 12-2 when Bryant reaches double figures in scoring this year. Postseason play apparently agrees with Bryant. In two Big East Tournament contests and two NIT encounter this season, he is averaging 12.5 ppg. In that span he is 11-of-25 (.440) from beyond the 3-point arc. That's a marked improvement from where Bryant was: in the seven games leading up to the Big East Tournament, Bryant was 3-of-26 (.116) from deep. Bryant averages 8.7 ppg on the season and is connecting on .376 of his 3-point field goal attempts.

Snow Flurries
Derrick Snowden continues to thrive down the stretch. On Tuesday he scored 14 points and added four rebounds in 37 minutes of activity in the win over Louisiana Tech. Over the last nine games, Snowden is 40-of-76 (.526) from the field and 11-of-19(.579) from beyond the 3-point arc. In VU's first 16 games this season, Snowden was 8-of-41 (.195) from 3-point territory. In the 14 games since then, he is 15-of-29 (.517) from that distance. On the season he is 23-of-70 (.329) from deep. Snowden's scoring average has risen to 10.5 ppg.

The Matchup
Villanova vs. Temple
All-Time Series: Temple leads 37-36
Last meeting: Villanova 70, Temple 66 (Dec. 8, 2001)
Last Temple win: Temple 69, VU 66 (Dec. 15, 1999)
Wright vs. Temple: 1-0


Notebook: These two Philadelphia Big Five rivals square off for the second time this season ... This is the first time the two schools have faced one another in the NIT ... The squads last collided in the postseason in the 1970 NCAA Tournament at the Palestra, with Villanova downing the Owls 77-69 ... Villanova's only previous NIT action against a Big Five school was an 86-84 loss to La Salle at the Pavilion in 1987 ... With its two wins in the 2002 Owens Corning NIT Villanova is now 22-15 lifetime in this event ... The last time VU advanced to the NIT Final Four was in its 1994 run to the NIT championship ... Ricky Wright scored 18 points and Reggie Bryant tied his career high with 17 points in the Dec. 8 win over the Owls.