Dec. 3, 2004

Villanova vs. Temple Game Notes
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VILLANOVA, Pa.--Villanova men's basketball game notes for Saturday's game between Villanova (1-0) and Temple (1-3) in the Big Five Classic. Game time from The Palestra is approximately 3:30 p.m. Complete game notes can be accessed via the PDF link within this release.

Men's Basketball Game Notes

Villanova (1-0 Overall, 0-0 Big Five)

Temple (1-3 Overall, 0-0 Big Five)

TOP STORIES

Villanova makes its first of three regular season appearances at Philadelphia's famed Palestra as part of the Big Five Classic. The `Cats were 2-0 in the building in 2003-04, chalking up wins over La Salle and Penn last December. Villanova is 4-2 in the Palestra since Jay Wright became head coach in 2001, including 3-0 in the Classic. It has won eight of its last 10 games at the Palestra, with the only defeats administered by Penn in 2001 and Saint Joseph's in 2003. It owns an all-time mark of 268-131 (.672) at the Palestra.

Junior guard Allan Ray was an efficient offensive force in Villanova's 66-41 season opening victory over the University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Nov. 23 at the Pavilion. He connected on 9-of-13 field goal attempts, including 5-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc in just 26 minutes of action. He also chipped in with six rebounds, three assists and one steal in the win. As a result of his exploits, Ray shared Philadelphia Big Five Player of the Week honors with Penn's Mark Zoller.

Next up for Villanova is a Tuesday night contest with Monmouth at the Pavilion at 7:30 p.m. The Wildcats then return to the Palestra next Saturday at 3:00 p.m. to meet another Big Five rival, La Salle.

VILLANOVA NOTEBOOK

Setting a Tone
In its first official action of the 2004-05 Villanova hoped to establish early that it meant business against the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

It didn't take long.

After the Wildcats controlled the opening tip, sophomore guard Mike Nardi fed Curtis Sumpter a perfect lob. Sumpter slammed the ball home to the delight of the sellout crowd at the Pavilion.

With only 2:27 gone in the first half, Villanova owned a 10-0 lead. By halftime the lead had grown to 41-16 and the outcome was never in doubt. The `Cats ultimately grabbed a 66-41 win, their 18th victory in 19 season openers played since the Pavilion came on line on Feb. 1, 1986.

"This game was a good start for us," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "I liked our defensive intensity. That's something we really wanted to try and work on. We rebounded the ball well. We got a little sloppy offensively in the second half. There was a stretch (where) we were stuck on 66 for a long time, but that's because we had expended so much energy defensively.

"Overall, I was pleased with the effort for the first game, but there's still a lot of work to do."

"It feels really good to play the first game," stated junior guard Randy Foye. "We jumped on the other team early when the game started. It was a good step for us to come out and be able to play hard for long periods of time during the game."

With the win, Villanova improved to 19-2 in non-conference games at the Pavilion since Wright became head coach in 2001.

"It felt good getting out and playing a game," stated Wildcats junior guard Allan Ray. "We were practicing for almost a month and there was a lot of adrenaline just being able to go out and play against another team.

"The way we started off basically said what our game plan was. We got into them and jumped on them early. The biggest thing we focused on was coming out and pressuring them to turn the ball over and give us easy baskets on the other end."

A Change of Pace
Does a year make a difference?

From a scheduling standpoint, it does at Villanova.

In 2003-04 the Wildcats began the season against Temple at midnight at the Liacouras Center. That commenced a six day span in which Villanova played five games across five time zones with a roster depleted by injury and suspension.

The span between Villanova's opener and its second game in 2003 was 37 hours.

The wait between Villanova's first and second outings in 2004-05 was a mere 260 hours (11 days).

Last year the `Cats traveled 3,000 miles to reach their destination for game two. This time it's a 30 minute ride by coach bus.

Sumpter's Surge

Most athletes who have participated in trials to determine berths on national teams can attest to the inherent pressure. The time frame to impress the powers that be is typically quite brief and any stretch of poor play can prove costly.

Even by those standards, however, Curtis Sumpter's July was unlike most. The native of Brooklyn, N.Y. was one of 24 collegians invited to East Rutherford, N.J. to bid for a spot on the United States junior national team.

By all accounts, Sumpter performed well. He survived the first cut only to be eliminated from consideration two days prior to the team's flight left for Nova Scotia, site of the World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Tournament.

One day later, though, Sumpter was summoned back to New Jersey. An injury to Eric Williams of Wake Forest had created an opening and Sumpter returned, ultimately earning a spot on the team.

The United States eventually claimed the gold medal and the product of Bishop Loughlin High School had himself a most productive offseason experience.

Sumpter opened the campaign with a productive 14-point, six rebound effort against UMBC. He saw 32 minutes of action and came up with a pair of steals.

Last season, Sumpter played a pivotal role in VU's 73-48 victory over Temple, contributing 14 points and nine rebounds and solid defense in the win.

Austin Answered the Call
Senior forward Marcus Austin (Irvington, N.J.) spent most of the 2003-04 campaign, watching from the bench in street clothes as he nursed a fractured bone in his foot. Eventually the injury required surgery.

In his return to active duty, Austin gave the Wildcats a first half lift off of the bench. He was fouled twice going to the basket off of feeds from Curtis Sumpter when Villanova beat pressure up the court and converted three of his four free throw attempts.

By night's end, Austin had chipped in with five points, six rebounds and a career-high three blocked shots in the 66-41 win over the Retrievers.

"Marcus did a really good job," Wright stated. "He really sparked us in the first half. There was a sequence in the first half where our starters were doing a good job but they got a little tired. Marcus came in and really pumped us up defensively. He got some rebounds and deflections and wound up being our leading rebounder in 14 minutes. That's a pretty good effort."

Securing the Basketball
If there is any one statistical category that has vexed Villanova in recent years, it can be found in the turnover column. The `Cats were guilty of 569 turnovers in 2003-04, placing them at the bottom of the Big East Conference in that department.

In its season opening win, though, Villanova showed a different look. The Wildcats committed just 14 turnovers and compensated for that by dishing out 17 assists.

There were 15 times when VU was credited with more assists than turnovers in 2003-04 and the `Cats were 11-4 in those games.

Villanova's primary ballhandlers, Mike Nardi and Randy Foye, combined for 13 assists and only one turnover. Ten of those assists belonged to Nardi and marked the seoncd time in his collegiate career he has reached double digits in assists. The other occasion took place last season at the University of Redlands in a frantic contest where he was credited with 13 assists in a 114-103 VU triumph.

As for Foye, he contributed three assists and zero turnovers.

Captain's Called

Earlier this week head coach Jay Wright announced that Foye, Ray and Sumpter have been selected as team captains for the 2004-05 Wildcats.

The honor is a first at the collegiate level for Foye and Sumpter. Ray shared captain duties last season with teammate Derrick Snowden.

Triple Time

One reason the Villanova offense prospered in the first half against UMBC was its ability to convert 3-point field goals. The `Cats hit 8-of-14 from beyond the 3-point arc against the Retrievers' matchup zone and ended the night at 10-of-24 (.417) from deep.

Ray and Foye were especially proficient from long range. Ray converted 5-of7 from deep while Foye was 4-of-7 from outside the arc.

Villanova ranked fifth in the Big East Conference in 3-point field goal percentage in 2003-04 (.359). In addition, Ray ranked fifth in the individual 3-point field goal percentage among Big East athletes at .392 for the season.

Mark Your Calendars

On Jan. 15, 2005 Villanova will honor the 1985 NCAA Championship team on the 20th anniversary of its remarkable achievement. The Wildcats host Georgetown at 2:00 p.m. that afternoon in the Pavilion. This marks the Hoyas first visit to the Villanova campus since the formation of the Big East Conference.

The head coach of the '85 squad, Rollie Massimino will be joined by the members of that unit for a ceremony at halftime of that contest. That evening a Gala Dinner will take place to honor the team. Tickets are available for the event. The cost is $250 per person and can be purchased through Villanova's Block V Club.

In addition, on Jan. 14 Villanova will release a special DVD on the '85 team hosted by CBS and ESPN announcer Bill Raftery.

Injury Index

Injuries were a major theme of Villanova's pre-season.

In the last week of July senior forward Marcus Austin underwent surgery to remove a screw from his left foot. The screw had been inserted during surgery to repair a fracture back in February but had broken apart over the course of the summer. Austin spent the month of August rehabilitating the foot before resuming basketball activities in early September. He rejoined workouts in early October.

On Aug. 26 incoming freshman guard Kyle Lowry suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Lowry spent the next three weeks building strength in the muscles surrounding the ligament before undergoing surgery on Sept. 24. The surgery was successful and Lowry has made good progress in the early stages of his recovery. However, Lowry's status remains in doubt for the balance of 2004-05.

During the first week of practice, Nardi was sidelined by a sprained left foot. He did not participate in the Blue vs. White scrimmage on Oct. 23 and missed two weeks of practice before returning. When Nardi did return, he collided with guard Randy Foye in practice, sending both to the sidelines. Foye suffered a mild concussion. Both resumed practice after missing three days of action.

Wildcat reserve Michael Claxton missed nearly three weeks of fall practice with a dislocated shoulder.

By Oct. 18, swelling in Jason Fraser's knee forced him to the sidelines.

On Oct. 22, he underwent arthoscopic knee surgery to remove loose cartilage from his left knee. It marked his third knee surgery in the past 18 months and his second on the left knee. He also missed nine of VU's first 10 games last season with a stress fracture in his left heel. Fraser returned to practice on Nov. 15 and was on the floor for 12 minutes in the season opener against UMBC.

Philadelphia Big Five

The historic tradition known as the Philadelphia Big Five continues in 2004-05. Villanova and its City Series rivals - La Salle, Penn, Saint Joseph's and Temple - will play a complete round-robin schedule.

Villanova begins the Philadelphia Big Five portion of its slate on Dec. 4 against Temple. That game is part of a tripleheader which also features Pennsylvania and La Salle in the opener with Drexel and Saint Joseph's in the evening battle. The `Cats and Owls square off in the second game of the afternoon session, scheduled to get underway at approximately 3:30 p.m.

The `Cats then face La Salle on Dec. 11 at the Palestra with Penn scheduled to visit the Pavilion on Dec. 31. Villanova completes the City Series on Feb. 7 when it returns to the Palestra for a nationally televised (ESPN2) tussle with Saint Joseph's.

In the Pavilion

Villanova has capitalized on its homecourt advantage since the Pavilion opened its doors on Feb. 1, 1986. The Wildcats are 162-50 (.764) in the Pavilion all-time.

With its victory over UMBC on Nov. 23, VU improved to 18-1 all-time in home openers at the Pavilion. The only loss came to Seton Hall in 1991. Since Jay Wright assumed command of the program in 2001-02, the Wildcats are 19-2 (.905) against non-conference opposition at the Pavilion.

On The Air

"Talking Villanova Basketball with Jay Wright" returns to WNTP Radio (990 AM) on Dec. 8 from 6-7 p.m. at its new location, the Great American Pub in Conshohocken, Pa.

The next edition of "Inside Villanova Basketball with Jay Wright" airs on Comcast Sports Net on Dec. 13.