No. 16 seed Lafayette vs. No. 1 seed Villanova

When: Thursday, 6:50 p.m.

Where: Consol Energy Center (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Television: TBS (Brian Anderson, Steve Smith, and Lewis Johnson)

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

Series: Villanova leads 7-1

Game Notes

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PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Villanova Wildcats arrived in a familiar city here on Tuesday after decades visiting to face the University of Pittsburgh when it was a member of the BIG EAST. This is the first stop here since the Panthers exited the BIG EAST in 2013.p> It's a different scenario on this occasion, however, as the Wildcats get set to meet old friend Fran O'Hanlon and his Lafayette Leopards in second round action Thursday night. O'Hanlon, of course, is a former standout point guard for the Wildcats (1967-70) whom the school honored prior to Lafayette's 2013 visit to the Pavilion.

Lafayette is the Patriot League champion and Wright noted that Villanova was tested twice earlier this season by other programs in that conference, including Lehigh on opening night in Allentown (a 77-66 Villanova victory) and against Bucknell at the Pavilion (a 72-65 win that was tied with 1:51 to play on Nov. 20).

The Wildcats also downed the Leopards 75-59 to open the 2013-14 regular season in the aforementioned matchup on campus.

"These are the kind of teams that give you trouble because they are going to come out and shoot the three's and spread you out," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "If you chase them they will just back-door cut you and they are good at it. They played here last year and they had a lead late into the second half until we were able to pull away at home. I am sure they will be confident and our guys have a lot of respect for them because they remember that game."

The Wildcats captured the BIG EAST regular season and tournament championships. On Monday, they moved up to No. 2 in the weekly Associated Press poll, matching the highest spot the program has ever attained in that ranking. Then they were awarded a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in school history (2006) on Selection Sunday. They have already established a new single season program record for victories (32).

Expectations have a way of attaching themselves after such achievements but Wright likes how his group, led by seniors Darrun Hilliard and JayVaughn Pinkston, has handled it all.

"I don't think they fear anything this year," Wright noted. "They have already failed -we failed last year - and I think they have already realized that they lost but now they have come back. That is really how they have approached every big game this year. They just went out and played with confidence and I think that they will do the same thing in this game."

Tipoff is set for 6:50 p.m. Thursday. Fans in Pittsburgh can also view Wednesday's public practice session at the Consol Energy Center at 4:25 p.m.

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