Friars Top Cold-Shooting Cats

Providence finished a season sweep of Villanova with a 55-52 win by virtue of a late three-point basket. The three-ball helped the Friars hold off a furious, Wildcat nine-point run that turned a 52-43 Providence lead into a 52-52 tie with under a minute remaining. The Villanova defense got torched again from beyond the three-point line in what was otherwise a strong showing on the defensive end. Offensively, the Wildcats shot a tepid 27.5% from the field and were outscored by 24 points from beyond the three-point arc.

In general, Providence passed the ball and attacked the Villanova defense more effectively than Villanova attacked the Friar defense. The Providence shooting percentage advantage in this game was primarily due to ball and player movement yielding higher quality looks from beyond the arc than the looks Villanova's offense created.

Goods:

Out-rebounded the Friars

Forced 21 turnovers

84.6% FT shooting

Not so goods:

Poor 3PFG defense

Shot only 2-15 from beyond the arc

Another Frosh lit up 'Nova from deep - this time Fortune 5-5 from three

Chennault and Pinkston both with 5 FG attempts

8-32 (25%) FG shooting from the guards

Player Evals & Stats

Ryan Arcidiacono

38 Min, 2-7 FG, 1-5 3PFG, 0-0 FT, 1 Reb, 2 Asst, 1 TO, 3 Stl, 5 Pts

Upped his defensive effort. Continues to struggle to create offense in the half-court and to shoot the ball with any consistency from the outside.

Darrun Hilliard

36 Min, 3-13 FG, 1-5 3PFG, 10-10 FT, 2 Reb, 1 Asst, 5 TO, 2 Stl, 0 Blk, 17 Pts

Hilliard took it upon himself to try to create scoring opportunities off the dribble in the half-court offense. Feasted at the free-throw line while struggling to finish in traffic on his forays into the lane. Uncharacteristically committed five turnovers - in part because he was the focus of plenty of attention from the Providence defense.

Jayvaughn Pinkston

20 Min, 2-5 FG, 0-1 3PFG, 5-5 FT, 4 Rebs, 2 Asst, 5 TO, 0 Blk, 1 Stl, 9 Pts

Pinkston struggled in this game with turnovers, defense and fouls. The limited minutes limited his contributions to the offense ... against a Providence defense that has had difficulty stopping Pinkston in the past.

James Bell

23 Min, 2-5 FG, 0-2 3PFG, 3-3 FT, 2 Rebs, 1 Asst, 4 TOs, 0 Blk, 2 Stl, 7 Pts

Bell got himself in foul trouble in the first half and then emerged to provide assistance during the last ditch effort to salvage a win. Needs to avoid the foul problems and become more consistently assertive on both ends of the floor for the full 40 minutes.

Mouphtaou Yarou

34 Min, 4-9 FG, 2-4 FT, 14 Rebs, 0 Asst, 1 TO, 2 Blk, 2 Stl, 10 Pts

Another double-double for Mouph who now has 925 career points and 718 rebounds (20th on the all-time, Villanova rebound list). Missed some chippies but was the only Wildcat to shoot above 40% from the floor. Solid game.

Tony Chennault

15 Min, 1-5 FG, 0-1 3PFG, 0-0 FTs, 0 Rebs, 1 Stl, 0 Asst., 0 TOs, 2 Pts

MAde a nice drive through traffic to the rim for a lay-up in the first half. Ineffective on offense otherwise. Played okay defense.

Maurice Sutton

2 Min, 1-2 FT, 1 Rebound, 1 TO, 1 Pt.

Sutton provided a quality two minute run.

Daniel Ochefu

24 Min, 0-5 FG, 0-0 3PFG, 1-2 FTs, 12 Reb, 2 Asst, 0 TO, 0 Blk, 3 Stl, 1 Pts

This game was a golden opportunity for Ochefu to step up and make positive difference on the offensive end against a team that is a bit under-sized and was experiencing some foul difficulty. He tried to put too much relish on a hot dog dunk in the first half and couldn't buy a bucket in the lane despite grabbing a half dozen offensive rebounds. Passed the ball well.

Achraf Yacoubou

8 Min, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3PFG, 0-0 FTs, 0 Rebs, 1 Asst, 0 Stl, 1 TO, 0 Blk, 0 Pts

An unproductive eight minute run.

Villanova next takes the court at DePaul on Tuesday night at 7PM. DePaul is desperate for a home win in the Big East and Villanova is now desperate for a win to stay afloat in the middle of the Big East standings. 'Nova is 13-9 overall and 4-5 in Big East play.