[Rosiak's Blog] Game 24: Villanova

[ToddRosiakSays]

Game 24: Villanova


Feb. 9, 2009 6:50 p.m.  




MU opened Big East play with a 79-72 victory over Villanova on Jan. 1.

Since then both teams have been playing some of the best basketball in the conference. The 10th-ranked Golden Eagles, of course, were on a 12-game winning streak and atop the standings until their hiccup at South Florida on Friday.

The 13th-ranked Wildcats, meanwhile, have rattled off five consecutive victories, including a 67-57 decision over No. 4 Pittsburgh, and a 102-87 drubbing of No. 23 Syracuse on Saturday.

This one is being played at the Pavilion, where Villanova has won 25 consecutive games and sold out 92 in a row coming in. MU, of course, beat the Wildcats at the Wachovia Center last season, 85-75, behind a 25-point outing from Dominic James.

"They're a team that's being a lot more aggressive," said Jerel McNeal, who can break the all-time scoring record with 21 points. "They're in a groove, in a rhythm right now, and they're rolling. They've been playing unbelievable lately. We've got to come out and match their intensity and toughness, and try to come out of there with a big road win."

Coach Jay Wright has instituted a couple changes to his starting lineup since the teams' New Year's Day meeting, going bigger and more defensive with Shane Clark and Dwayne Anderson replacing Antonio Pena and Corey Stokes.

Stokes now comes off the bench with Corey Fisher to give the Wildcats some instant offense. Clark, Anderson and Dante Cunningham are all active bodies who have been playing well together.

Cunningham, in particular, had a good game the first time around with 16 points and eight boards. Fisher put up 21 points.

James, meanwhile, did a solid job defensively on opposing point guard Scottie Reynolds.

As a team, Villanova forced MU into a season-high-tying 19 turnovers.

"I know this: if we turn the ball over as much as we did in that first game, we won't come out of there with a win," said McNeal. "You can't turn the ball over 20 times on the road and expect to win -- especially against a team who I thought was good the first time but I think has gotten better over the course of the last couple weeks. And they're a really tough team to beat at home.

"So we're going to have to take care of the ball a lot more, and hopefully be able to turn them over a lot more times than we turn the ball over."

McNeal also said he likes how the Golden Eagles have responded the past couple days in practice, in the wake of the upset at USF.

"I wouldn’t say re-focused. Your focus has to be at an all-time level each and every night or you’re going to get beat. But it pointed out the things, the corrections that we definitely needed to make and get back to doing that we were doing early on in our win streak and throughout our win streak. It’s sort of a wakeup call for everybody, but at the end of the day it’s a great situation anytime you can lose a game and still be in the race for first place.

"We’ve got seven games left in the conference season, and it’s a great situation. It helps you get re-focused by losing…It was a situation where you live and you learn and you’ve just got to continue pushing on throughout the season. College basketball is all about how you respond to the ups and downs, and that’s what makes great teams great."

You can find Villanova's game notes and stats here.

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http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/39340227.html

[MR.HAYWARD]

Well said By jerel, unfortunately I would have felt even better hearing those words from the mouth of Dominic James.