Feb. 21, 2008
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery 
QUICK START: West Virginia missed its first five field goal attempts of the game and Villanova scored the first eight points in the opening 2:44. The points came on a pair of three-pointers by junior Dwayne Anderson and a jumper by junior Dante Cunningham. The Mountaineers got on the scoreboard with a basket at the 16:25 mark and the Wildcats led 8-2 at the first media timeout. This marked the third time in the last four games that Villanova had the lead at the first timeout of the game. Prior to that, the Wildcats had trailed at the first break in seven of their first nine conference contests. Anderson added two free throws and another three-pointer to stretch the Villanova lead to 13-2 just 4:55 into the contest.
DEFENSIVE DOINGS: Villanova held its opponent to 56 or fewer points for the third straight game. West Virginia shot just 35.6 percent (21-of-59) from the field in the game and just 10.0 percent (2-of-20) from three-point range. The Mountaineers entered the game averaging 8.0 made three-point field goals per game and ranked third in the BIG EAST in overall triples made with 201. Tonight, West Virginia was 0-for-11 from behind the arc in the first half and didn't hit its first three-pointer until the 18:44 mark of the second half. Over the last three games, the Wildcats have limited the opposition to 33.3 percent (50-of-150) shooting overall and just 19.7 percent (12-of-61) accuracy from three-point range. These efforts have come against teams that combine to shot .447 from the field and .355 from three-point range for the season. The 56 points scored tonight by West Virginia were 20 points below the team's season average.
STOKES CONTINUED HOT STREAK: Freshman guard Corey Stokes registered a career-high scoring output for the second straight game. In tonight's contest he scored 16 points and had five rebounds in 21 minutes. He went 5-of-12 from the field, 3-of-8 from three-point range and 3-of-3 at the foul line. He had previously scored a season-best 13 points against St. John's this past Saturday. Stokes already had 13 points at halftime of tonight's game. He entered the game at the 12:24 mark of the first half and scored all 13 of his first-half points over the next eight minutes. Over the last three games Stokes is averaging 12.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting 12-of-26 (46.2 percent) from the field and 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) from three-point range. He has upped his season numbers to 4.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.
ANDERSON HAS SEASON HIGH POINT TOTAL: Making his fourth consecutive start, junior forward Dwayne Anderson scored all of his season-high 17 points in the first half. He had 11 points in the game's first 4:55, a span in which he drained all three of his three-point attempts. Anderson eventually finished with a career-high five three-point field goals made and 5-of-7 shooting accuracy from deep. In his last five games Anderson is averaging 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while shooting 51.1 percent (23-of-45) from the field and 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from three-point range. Anderson had been shooting just 18.2 percent (2-of-11) from three-point range prior to this stretch.
FIRST HALF LEADS: For the second straight game Villanova opened up a lead of greater than 20 points in the first half. The Wildcats led by as many as 21 points in the first half against St. John's on Saturday (29-8) and tonight cruised into halftime with a 45-21 lead. The only previous times this season Villanova led by as many as 20 points in the first half came against Penn on December 1 and Columbia on December 22. The 21 points scored by the Mountaineers in the opening 20 minutes gave the Wildcats six straight halves of basketball allowing fewer than 30 points. The streak ended in the second half when West Virginia scored 35 points.
STAYING AHEAD: Tonight marked the first time in conference play this season that Villanova never trailed in the game. It is the fourth time overall the Wildcats have never tailed in a game this season (Stony Brook, Penn and Columbia).
THIS AND THAT: The 10 three-pointers made by Villanova were one off the team's season high for a conference game ... Redshirt freshman forward Antonio Pena had 10 points and nine rebounds in the game ... He scored in double figures for the eighth time in 25 contests and came one rebound shy of notching his second career double-double ... The Wildcats made 20-of-23 free throws in the game ... Villanova snapped a three-game losing streak against West Virginia and beat the Mountaineers for the first time since an 84-46 victory at the Pavilion on January 3, 2005 ... Villanova maintained a 20-plus point margin of victory despite not making a field goal in the final 5:20 of the game ... The Wildcats led by as many as 30 points (76-46) in the closing minutes before settling on the final margin ... The Mountaineers scored 10 of the last 12 points in the game.
