No. 6/6 Villanova at Providence

When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.

Where: Dunkin Donuts Center (Providence, R.I.)

Television: Fox Sports 1 (Tim Brando & Bill Raftery)

Radio: Villanova IMG Network: 610 WTEL AM /villanova.com and TuneIn Radio (Ryan Fannon & Whitey Rigsby)

Series: Villanova leads 54-37

Game Notes

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VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Villanova Wildcats travel north to snowy New England for the first meeting of 2014-15 with the Providence Friars (17-7 overall, 7-4 BIG EAST) on Wednesday night.

"This has always been a tough place for us to play," noted Villanova head coach Jay Wright of the Dunkin Donuts Center. "A lot of that has to do with how good Providence is and we know it will be a great atmosphere in there."

The Wildcats outlasted the Friars, 82-79, in a double overtime thriller last February in Rhode Island. Providence got the better of the encounter two seasons ago, on Jan. 19, 2013, claiming a 69-66 victory in downtown Providence.

These two teams were both BIG EAST champions in 2014. The Wildcats claimed the regular season crown (16-2) while the Friars won the BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden in March by defeating Creighton in the final.

Villanova - which moved up one spot to No. 6 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls on Monday - has reeled off four straight victories since dropping a 78-58 decision at Georgetown on Jan. 19. In that span the Wildcats (21-2 overall, 8-2 BIG EAST) have limited foes to 52.5 ppg and have moved atop the BIG EAST in scoring defense (62.0 ppg) and defensive field goal percentage in league contests (.399).

Providence, meanwhile, upended Georgetown 74-71 in Washington, D.C. last week before falling at Xavier 78-69 on Saturday. Senior LaDontae Henton leads the BIG EAST in scoring at 20.4 ppg and sophomore Kris Dunn isn't far behind at 15.1 ppg. Dunn also leads the conference in assists at 7.5 apg.

"One of the biggest challenges for us is Providence's length," noted Wright. "They have length and skill at all five spots on the court."

Friars' freshman forward Ben Bentil is the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week.

For the Wildcats, junior Ryan Arcidiacono now has 971 career points and is closing in on becoming the 60th player in program history to score 1,000 or more points in a contest. Senior Darrun Hilliard, named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll Monday, has helped get the `Cats off to quick starts of late, scoring 34 points in the first halves of the last three games.

On Saturday, Hilliard dropped in 14 of his 15 points before intermission as the Wildcats built a 14-point cushion en route to a 69-53 triumph over the Hoyas before a sellout throng of 20,587 at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Wildcats are scheduled to be back on campus for a bit more than 24 hours after the Providence trip before departing Friday for Indianapolis. Villanova is at No. 18 Butler on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14) at 6 p.m. (CBS Sports Network).

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