Feb. 1, 2009
Recap | Box Score | Quotes
PAVILION WIN STREAK
Villanova won its record 25th straight game in the Pavilion today, extending a school record set in a 76-57 win over St. John's on January 18. The Wildcats began the current streak with a 102-87 win over Notre Dame on January 17, 2007 and the winning streak includes 15 wins over non-conference opponents and 10 over BIG EAST foes. Villanova has not lost in The Pavilion since a 73-65 setback to DePaul on January 6, 2007.
SECOND HALF TURNAROUND
The Wildcats broke open a close game with an extended run in the second half, stretching a 41-37 lead with a 16-2 run that made the score 57-39 on a jumper by sophomore forward Antonio Pena with 7:27 remaining. During the run, Cincinnati made just one field goal in a stretch of more than seven minutes. Senior forward Dante Cunningham and sophomore guards Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes all had four points during the run, while Pena and senior forward Shane Clark scored two points.
DEFENSIVE DOINGS
The big run by Villanova in the second half was part of an overall strong defensive half for the Wildcats, who surrendered just 21 points and outscored the visiting Bearcats 41-21 after the intermission. Cincinnati made only 6-of-33 (18.2%) from the field in the final 20 minutes after shooting 11-of-26 (42.3%) in the first half. The Bearcats leading scorer coming into the game, junior guard Deonta Vaughn, was held to eight points on 3-of-14 shooting in the game. In the second half, he scored just three points on 1-of-10 shooting.
DOMINANT DUO
During key parts of the last two games against Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, the Wildcats have utilized a rotation with both junior Scottie Reynolds and sophomore Corey Stokes in the game at the same time. Such lineups have meant good things for Villanova this season. Through the end of today's game, the Wildcats are outscoring opponents by 148 points this season when both players are in the game together, compared with a scoring advantage of 26 points with all lineups where just one or neither of the team's two point guards are on the court.
HALFTIME TREND
The last play of the first half in today's game was a driving layup just before time expired by junior guard Scottie Reynolds that gave Villanova a 30-29 lead at halftime. When the Wildcats went on to win the game, they improved to 12-0 this season when leading at halftime. Villanova has now won 15 straight games when leading at the intermission dating back to last season.
TRY, TRY AGAIN
Although Villanova gave up 19 offensive rebounds to Cincinnati and the Bearcats had a 19-11 advantage on the offensive glass, the Wildcats actually outscored their visitors by an 11-8 margin in second-chance points. Villanova finished with a 36-33 overall rebounding edge and also outscored Cincinnati by a 28-14 count in the paint, as well as 21-13 off turnovers.
TOUCHING TWENTY
Senior forward Dante Cunningham scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting in today's game and also finished 5-of-6 at the free throw line. His performance marked the first time in the last five games that a Villanova player has reached the 20-point mark. It was also the 10th time this season in 21 games that the Wildcats leading scorer has had at least 20 points. Villanova is 7-3 when at least one player scores 20 points and 10-1 when its leading scorer has fewer than 20 points.
