Jan. 8, 2006

The Wildcats made 71.4 percent (15-of-21) of their shots from the field in the first half, marking their highest field goal percentage in one half all season. Villanova also made 76.9 percent (10-of-13) of its shots from three-point range in the half. The 10 three-pointers in one half tied a school record and season high that was set earlier this season when the Wildcats made 10 first-half three-pointers against Lehigh on November 27.

Junior guard Mike Nardi scored a season-high 23 points in this afternoon's game. His previous season-high was 18 points against Rider on November 30. For the game, Nardi drained 7-of-8 shots from the field, all from three-point range. The seven three-pointers marked a new career-high for Nardi. His career high for points is 24, set against Boston College on January 14, 2004.

Sophomore guard Kyle Lowry distributed a career-best 10 assists in the game. Lowry had previously recorded seven assists in a game on three occasions, including earlier this season against Lehigh on November 27. Lowry had five assists in the first half and four in the second half. For the season, he leads the Wildcats with 43 assists, averaging 4.3 helpers per game.

Senior center Jason Fraser tied his season high with four blocks in this afternoon's game, all in the first half. Fraser also blocked four shots against Longwood in a 90-77 victory on December 10. His career high for rejections in a game is six, which he has done twice. In all, Fraser has blocked at least four shots in a game on 13 occasions in his career.

As a team, the Wildcats had a season-high nine blocks in the game. Previously, Villanova blocked eight shots against Longwood on December 10 (90-77 victory). The team's block total in today's game was the most since the Wildcats had 10 rejections against Penn on December 31, 2004 in a 74-64 victory at The Pavilion. Senior guard Randy Foye tied his career-high with three blocks in the game. It was the fourth time in his career that he has blocked three shots in a game.

Villanova committed a season-high 22 turnovers in losing their first game of the season. The Wildcats average just 13.7 turnovers per game for the season, but have averaged 19.0 turnovers over their past three games. The 22 turnovers this afternoon were the most for the Wildcats since the team turned the ball over 24 times against Virginia Tech on February 18, 2004.

Through the completion of this afternoon's slate of games, Villanova is the seventh team ranked in the Top 10 of the Associated Press poll to lose at least one game this week. Also losing this week were No. 2 Connecticut, No. 4 Memphis, No. 6 Illinois, No. 7 Michigan State, No. 9 Louisville and No. 10 Washington.

The loss in this afternoon's game ended a seven-game regular season winning streak against Big East opponents by Villanova. The Wildcats team record for consecutive regular season Big East wins is 10.