Jan. 22, 2009

Recap | Box Score

TOP OF THE RANKINGS
The last three games Villanova has played against a team ranked No. 3 or higher in the Associated Press Top 25 poll have all been against Connecticut. Tonight's game marked the first such game since the two teams played a pair of memorable games during the 2005-06 campaign. The No. 4 Wildcats defeated the No. 1 Huskies that season on February 13 at the Wachovia Center, while No. 3 Connecticut returned the favor against No. 2 Villanova just 13 days later at Gampel Pavilion.

Villanova's Last Three Games against an Opponent Ranked in the Top 3
February 13, 2006 - No. 4 Villanova 69, No. 1 Connecticut 64 (Wachovia Center)
February 26, 2006 - No. 3 Connecticut 89, No. 2 Villanova 75 (Gampel Pavilion)
January 21, 2009 - No. 3 Connecticut 89, No. 20 Villanova 83 (Hartford Civic Center)

VILLANOVA VS. ALL RANKED TEAMS
With tonight's loss, Villanova falls to 0-4 against ranked teams this season and loses its ninth straight road game against a ranked opponent. Connecticut has won its past four home games against the Wildcats when it is playing as a nationally-ranked team.

VILLANOVA-CONNECTICUT SERIES NOTES
The Wildcats still lead the all-time series with Connecticut by a 32-27 margin, including a 27-24 record in regular season BIG EAST contests. Prior to tonight's game, Villanova had won three of the last four meetings in the series. However, the Huskies have won nine of the last 13 contests between the two and 15 of the last 22 games. The Wildcats had defeated Connecticut in each of the past two seasons but have not won three straight games against the Huskies since doing so between February 14, 1987 and January 20, 1988. Villanova also has not won consecutive road games against Connecticut since accomplishing that feat on December 13, 1986 and January 20, 1988.

WILDCATS SPREAD OUT OFFENSE IN THE FIRST HALF
Tonight's game featured a frenetic pace from start to finish and in the first half Villanova used the fast pace to its advantage, scoring 48 points to stay tied with the Huskies at halftime. All nine players that entered the game for the Wildcats in the first half scored points, with sophomore guard Corey Stokes leading the way with 12 points in the period. Villanova received a positive contribution from senior forward Frank Tchuisi late in the stanza. Tchuisi played the final 4:45 of the first half and tallied two points and one rebound while assisting a solid defensive effort by the Wildcats in the closing minutes of the half. Tchuisi's jumper with 2:15 to play in the period gave Villanova a 46-41 lead.

STOKES STROKES
Sophomore guard Corey Stokes scored 12 first-half points to lead Villanova in scoring for the period. He made all three of his three-point shots in the period and added three free throws when he was fouled on another potential three-point attempt. Many of Stokes' high-scoring games for the Wildcats have featured a strong start out of the gates. He has now scored in double figures 18 times for Villanova and in eight of those games has already been in double digits by halftime. Prior to tonight's game, the Wildcats had been 6-1 overall and 3-0 this season when Stokes scored in double figures in the first half of a game.

A READ ON REDDING
Junior guard Reggie Redding posted his second highest point total of the season with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting in 22 minutes. He also had four rebounds, two steals, one blocked shot and one assist and was one of five Villanova players to score in double figures in the game.

A TALE OF TWO HALVES
In the first half of tonight's game, there were eight ties and seven lead changes and the teams fittingly went into the intermission tied at 48-48. In the period, Villanova held the lead for a total of 13:16 and Connecticut held the lead for a total of 4:19, while the teams were tied for 2:25. Although the second half featured another two ties and three more lead changes, the Huskies held the lead for 17:12 of the stanza while the Wildcats led for just 1:54 in the period.

Another telling story of the two halves came in scoring contributions from the bench. The Villanova reserves outscored Connecticut's bench by a 22-4 margin in the first half, then got outscored by the Husky subs, 13-2 in the second half.

SECOND HALF RUN A TURNING POINT
Villanova led tonight's game 59-56 after a basket by junior guard Reggie Redding with 15:27 to play but then saw Connecticut go on a 19-5 run in a span of 7:24 to take a 75-64 lead with 7:42 to play. That lead by the Huskies marked the only time in the game that the teams were separated by 10 or more points. During the run by Connecticut, an intentional foul was called on Corey Stokes on a fast-break dunk by Jerome Dyson, who made the two ensuing free throws to put the Huskies ahead, 64-59.

HUSKIES TURNED UP THE DEFENSE
Villanova responded to the big Connecticut run with four straight points to get back to within 75-68 on a jumper by Reggie Redding with 6:54 to play. The Wildcats then had three chances to get even closer but missed a three-pointer and committed two turnovers before the Huskies restored a 77-68 margin.

In the closing minutes, Villanova eventually scored six straight points to get within 79-76 with 1:43 to play on two free throws by junior guard Scottie Reynolds.. After two Connecticut free throws made the score 81-76, the Wildcats missed two chances to get back to within one possession. By the time Reynolds hit a three-pointer with 28 seconds to play that made the score 84-81, the Huskies needed just one free throw on the other end from Kemba Walker to all but seal the outcome. The 89 points given up by the Wildcats were the most the team has allowed this season and marked only the third time in 18 games that Villanova has allowed 70 or more points.

FREE THROW STORY
The 31 free throws made by Connecticut were the most given up to an opponent this season by Villanova. The Huskies finished 31-of-39 (79.5%) from the line, including a steady xx-of-xx in the final x:xx. Prior to tonight's game, the most foul shots made against the Wildcats this year was 23, by Marquette on New Year's Day in the conference opener.

FIRST HALF FOUL TROUBLE
All five Villanova starters picked up two fouls in the first half, including a pair of early fouls on junior guard Reggie Redding and senior forward Dante Cunningham. Redding sat out the final 15:29 of the period with two fouls and Cunningham did not play the final 10:20 of the half. The Wildcats were outscored by four points during the first half when both of those players were on the bench. Entering tonight's game, Villanova had outscored its opposition by 230 points when at least one of Redding or Cunningham were in the game, but had only managed to break even when both players were on the bench.

Cunningham wound up fouling out of the game with 8:16 remaining and finished the night with just six points and four rebounds in a season-low 14 minutes. This marked the second conference game this season and only the third time overall that Cunningham has fouled out of on the year.