Dec. 29, 2008

Recap | Box Score | Quotes

PAVILION WINNING STREAK
With tonight's victory, Villanova has matched its longest-ever winning streak in The Pavilion. This was the 23rd consecutive win in the building for the Wildcats during a streak which began with a 102-87 win over Notre Dame on January 17, 2007. The team has not lost inside its on-campus home since a 73-65 defeat to DePaul on January 6, 2007. The previous 23-game winning streak in The Pavilion lasted from January 18, 1995 through January 8, 1997. Villanova is 8-0 in the building this season.

BIG FIVE TITLE
Villanova clinched the 2008-09 Big Five title with tonight's win as it goes 4-0 in City Series play for third time in the last four years. Including shared championships, this is the Wildcats 20th title in Big Five play, which is the second-most all-time behind the 25 titles won by Temple. Villanova has won 18 of its last 19 games in City Series play and is 25-7 (.781) against Big Five foes under eighth-year head coach Jay Wright.

BIG FIVE HISTORY
Villanova and Temple are the two winningest teams in Big Five play. The Wildcats have a record 117 wins in City Series play and the Owls are second with 113 wins. Villanova's all-time Big Five record is 117-83 (.585) and Temple is 113-84 (.574). Tonight marked the 200th all-time Big Five game for the Wildcats.

SECOND HALF RUN
The Wildcats never led in the first half of tonight's game but took control of the contest with a 23-2 run in a span of 8:39 in the second half. The spurt turned a game-high deficit of 32-24 into a 47-34 lead with 5:33 remaining. Sophomore guard Corey Fisher scored 15 of his career-high 23 points during the run, in which he made 4-of-4 three-pointers. Four straight three-pointers from Fisher and junior guard Scottie Reynolds kicked off a spurt of 14 unanswered points that launched the bigger run. A three-pointer by Fisher with 12:30 to play gave Villanova the lead for the first time at 33-32 and the Wildcats never looked back.

FISHER CAREER-HIGH
Sophomore guard Corey Fisher matched a career-high with 23 points in tonight's game. In XX minutes, he finished 7-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-4 three-pointers, and made 5-of-7 free throws. It was the third career game with over 20 points for Fisher, whose previous 23-point effort came against DePaul last season on January 3, 2008.

FISHER THREE-POINTERS
Sophomore guard Corey Fisher made 4-of-4 three-pointers in tonight's game en route to a career-high 23 points. The hot shooting from beyond the arc put a stop to a three-point shooting slump for Fisher, who had been 0-for-9 on three-pointers in the last seven games. Since making two triples in the first half against Towson on November 28, he had missed 11 straight from long distance. Fisher is now 9-of-30 (.300) from three-point range this season.

TEMPLE SCORING DROUGHT
After scoring 11 points in the first 4:42 of tonight's game and leading 11-5 with 15:18 left in the first half, Temple scored only 34 points the rest of the way in the game's last 35:18. In the second half, a 23-2 run by Villanova turned a 32-24 lead for the Owls into a 47-34 deficit. During the run, Temple went scoreless for a stretch of 6:18 and went 11:19 without a field goal from the 14:34 mark of the half until there was 3:15 remaining in the game.