Jan. 17, 2010
Recap | Box Score | AP Photo Gallery 
BIG EAST START
Villanova is now 5-0 in BIG EAST play and has matched its best start to the conference season since 2002-03. That year the Wildcats opened league play 5-0 before eventually finishing 8-8. Villanova needs one more win to tie the best-ever team start in BIG EAST play. The 1981-82 and 1982-83 teams each opened conference play with a 6-0 record.
GEORGETOWN SERIES
Today's win snapped a five-game losing streak to Georgetown over the last three years. Two of the five losses in that span were in the BIG EAST Championship and Villanova had not defeated the Hoyas since January 8, 2007 when it won 56-52 at the Verizon Center. The losing streak started later that season when Georgetown posted a 58-55 win at the Wachovia Center on February 17, 2007. Six of the last seven meetings between the teams have been decided by five points or less. The Wildcats are now 3-3 against the Hoyas at the Wachovia Center and ninth-year head coach Jay Wright is 6-7 (.462) against Georgetown as Villanova head coach.
WACHOVIA CENTER
Villanova improved to 26-23 (.531) at the Wachovia Center with today's victory, which was the fourth in the last five games in the building for the Wildcats. Their only loss in the last five games was last season to Georgetown, 56-54 on February 28, 2009. Villanova has won three straight games in the building, including last season's NCAA Tournament games against American and UCLA. This is the fourth win streak of at least three games in the venue for the Wildcats. Villanova is 17-19 (.472) in BIG EAST games at the Wachovia Center, 10-13 (.435) versus ranked teams in the building, 19-15 (.559) there under Jay Wright and 16-8 (.667) since the start of the 2004-05 season. Of the 49 games the Wildcats have played at the Wachovia Center, 49 have been decided by single digits. Villanova is 14-14 in these games, including 10-10 in games decided by five or fewer points.
SELLOUT CROWD
A sellout crowd of 20,016 saw today's game at the Wachovia Center. The game marked the 10th regular season sellout in the arena for Villanova, which has averaged 16,814 fans per game in the building since playing there for the first time in 1996.
RANKED TEAMS
Villanova played a ranked team for the first time this season and improved to 137-222 (.382) all-time against nationally-ranked opponents (based on Associated Press Top 25 polls). The Wildcats are 31-40 (.437) versus ranked opponents under head coach Jay Wright and 9-5 (.643) against ranked foes since the start of last season. When Villanova is ranked higher than its opponent in a game where both teams are ranked, the team has a record of 12-6 (.667) under Wright. Villanova is 10-3 (.435) versus ranked teams at the Wachovia Center.
REYNOLDS CONTINUES HIS TEAR
Fresh off scoring 36 points on Monday night at Louisville, senior guard Scottie Reynolds recorded 12 of the first 16 Villanova points in the game and wound up scoring 27 points on the afternoon. Reynolds has scored 20 or more points in eight of his last 10 games to increase his season scoring average to 19.3 points per game. He is averaging an astounding 24.4 points per contest against conference opponents.
