Feb. 7, 2009

Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery

WACHOVIA CENTER HISTORY
Villanova moved back over .500 all-time in the Wachovia Center with today's victory and is now 23-22 (.511) in the building. That record includes a mark of 16-18 (.471) in regular season BIG EAST games and an 8-13 (.381) record against nationally-ranked opponents. Syracuse marked the fourth consecutive ranked opponent to play the Wildcats at the Center.

VILLANOVA-SYRACUSE WACHOVIA NOTES
Saturday afternoon's game marked the ninth meeting between Villanova and Syracuse at the Wachovia Center. Syracuse has won five of the nine games, although the Wildcats have now taken three of the last four contests at the venue. The Orange won last year's game 87-73 on February 2, 2008. Syracuse has been nationally ranked for five of the nine games played at the Wachovia Center between the teams, including once at No. 8, twice at No. 20 and twice at No. 21.

FEBRUARY RECORD
Villanova has won all three games it has played since the calendar turned to February, and the Wildcats are now 27-9 (.750) in the month dating back to 2005.

FIVE-GAME BIG EAST WIN STREAK
For the first time since the 2005-06 season, Villanova has put together a string of at least five consecutive BIG EAST victories. The Wildcats have responded from a 2-3 conference start to improve to 7-3 against league foes and a fifth-place position in the standings. Back in 2005-06, Villanova produced an 11-game winning streak in BIG EAST play. The Wildcats won their conference opener and lost the next league game before embarking on their streak.

REACHING THE CENTURY MARK
Prior to today's 102-point outburst against Syracuse, the previous game in which Villanova reached triple digits against a conference opponent came in a 102-87 win over Notre Dame at The Pavilion on January 17, 2007. That game marked the beginning to the Wildcats' still-current school record win streak in The Pavilion, which currently stands at 25 games.

CUNNINGHAM TIES CAREER HIGH
Senior forward Dante Cunningham scored 31 points to match the career high that he set earlier this season in a win over Fordham on November 17. In today's game, Cunningham shot 12-of-15 from the field and made 7-of-12 free throws to go along with nine rebounds, three assists, one blocked shots and two steals. Villanova has had four individual 30-point games this season, with Cunningham and junior guard Scottie Reynolds having two apiece.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR CLARK
Senior forward Shane Clark posted his best game of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes. Clark went 6-of-9 from the field (6-of-7 inside) and seven of his 10 rebounds were on the offensive end. He also had three assists and two blocked shots while recording his first double-double of the season and the fifth of his career. Clark is averaging 6.4 rebounds per game over the past five contests.

HIGH SCORING AFFAIRS
Villanova won today's game by a 102-85 score after posting a 94-91 win at Providence earlier in the week. The last time the Wildcats scored over 90 points in consecutive BIG EAST games came on January 19, 2003 and January 22, 2003 when Villanova won at Rutgers (110-89) and defeated Boston College (94-83) at The Pavilion. (Courtesy of Delaware County Daily Times, Terry Toohey)

A DAY TO REMEMBER AT THE WACHOVIA CENTER
From a statistical standpoint, Saturday's game between Villanova and Syracuse produced a number of noteworthy stat lines. Among them:

• The 102 points are the most ever scored in the Wachovia Center by Villanova and mark only the second time the Wildcats have surpassed 90 points in the building. The team previously scored 93 points in a 93-90, double-overtime win over Georgetown on January 30, 1999.
• Villanova shot 54.5 percent (36-66) from the field on Saturday, its highest single-game field goal percentage in the venue. Previously, the Wildcats had shot .538 (28-52) on March 19, 2006 in an 82-78 win over Arizona in the second round of the 2006 NCAA Chamionship.
• The 17-point final margin in today's game was the largest since Villanova defeated No. 2 Kansas by 21 points (83-62) on January 22, 2005. Since that game, the Wildcats had gone 11-7 in 18 games at the Wachovia Center and none had been decided by more than 15 points. Of the 45 games Villanova has played here, 26 (58%) have been decided by single digits. Incidentally, that win over Kansas is often looked at as a key moment that jumpstarted Villanova's current run of success. The Wildcats are 105-37 (.739) since that game, compared with 79-63 (.556) in the equivalent number of games before the contest against the Jayhawks.
• Senior forward Dante Cunningham recorded the first-ever 30-point game by a Villanova player in the Wachovia Center. The team's previous high-scoring player at the Center was Gary Buchanan, who scored 28 points in a 79-70 win over Connecticut on February 15, 2003.