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Friars Win Ugly

Someone had to win. When the buzzer sounded, Providence was ahead 69-66 in a poorly played, over-whistled, Big East game with all the appeal of a rec league game. Missed lay-ups, bricked free-throws, sloppy passing, and constant fouling contributed to a practically unwatchable, mess of a game. Villanova falls to 11-7 and 2-3 in Big East play … given the upcoming schedule, Coach Wright needs a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
Goods:
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Other than Chennault and Bell, the team shot the ball well from the field
33.9% FG defense and 14.3% 3PFG defense
Not so goods:
25 turnovers - horrendous job against pressure - when the press was broken, point-blank lay-ups were missed
-12 turnover margin for Cats
Out-rebounded by a smaller Providence team - due to poor box-outs, no communication and butter fingers
9 assists on 22 made FGs
48 Providence FT attempts thanks to 32 Villanova personal fouls
Outscored by 12 at the FT line - would have been 20 if the Friars weren't masons from the stripe
Player Evals & Stats
Ryan Arcidiacono
26 Min, 3-6 FG, 0-2 3PFG, 4-4 FT, 1 Reb, 4 Asst, 5 TO, 0 Stl, 10 Pts
Made some brutal turnovers against the Providence pressure. However, a bright spot for Arcidiacono was the manner in which he created several scoring opportunities for himself inside the arc instead of relying solely on hoisting threes.
Darrun Hilliard
34 Min, 4-10 FG, 2-4 3PFG, 4-5 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Asst, 2 TO, 1 Stl, 0 Blk, 14 Pts
Other than his missed dunk on a wide-open breakaway, Hilliard played an okay game. He was one of the few Wildcats who showed an ability to make a positive move with a basketball off the bounce. Stroked the three-ball well. Needs to facilitate for others more effectively.
Jayvaughn Pinkston
24 Min, 8-10 FG, 1-1 3PFG, 3-5 FT, 4 Rebs, 0 Asst, 1 TO, 1 Blk, 1 Stl, 20 Pts
Scored the ball with efficiency. Continues to struggle with foul difficulties.
James Bell
20 Min, 1-6 FG, 1-6 3PFG, 0-0 FT, 3 Rebs, 1 Asst, 2 TOs, 1 Blk, 0 Stl, 3 Pts
Adds nothing to the Villanova offense and is too foul prone defensively to play starters minutes. If your offense consists entirely of deep, three-point jacks then the defense is getting exactly what it wants without having to exert any effort or gray matter towards guarding you.
Mouphtaou Yarou
13 Min, 0-5 FG, 0-0 FT, 1 Rebs, 0 Asst, 1 TO, 0 Blk, 0 Stl, 0 Pts
Got in early foul trouble and Coach Wright proceeded to cut his PT significantly. Shot and handled the ball as if it was some foreign object from Jupiter that he had never before touched with his hands. Given how much the staff has emphasized the basics (from shooting lay-ups to passing), it is stunning how many players missed lay-ups in this game.
Tony Chennault
21 Min, 1-5 FG, 0-2 3PFG, 0-1 FTs, 3 Rebs, 0 Stl, 3 Asst., 4 TOs, 2 Pts
Handled the ball poorly against the Providence ball pressure and displayed little ability to gain dribble penetration. Watching the game live it seemed as if Chennault played much more than 21 minutes. His shot selection was putrid. Missed a three point attempt that he misread as being about three balls outside of the right edge of the cup when in reality it was a straight putt.
Maurice Sutton
17 Min, 1-1 FG, 4-6 FT, 6 Rebs, 1 Asst., 4 TO, 2 Blks, 0 Stl, 6 Pts
Took a bunch of the minutes Yarou made available (through foul trouble and failure to finish on easy scoring opportunities). His contributions were both positive and negative as he did a nice job on the glass and scored the ball a little but his turnovers were brutal.
Daniel Ochefu
26 Min, 3-5 FG, 0-0 3PFG, 2-4 FTs, 3 Reb, 0 Asst, 3 TO, 1 Blk, 0 Stl, 8 Pts
Didn't play a bad game for a Frosh big, on the road relatively early in the Big East schedule. Needs to exhibit better ball control on his touches from scoring positions.
Achraf Yacoubou
18 Min, 1-1 FG, 1-1 3PFG, 0-0 FTs, 7 Rebs, 0 Asst, 0 Stl, 1 TO, 0 Blk, 3 Pts
Knocked down a deep trey, rebounded the ball like a banshee and contributed some defense. It appears to be time to give him more of Bell's minutes. There is not much difference in their passing and ball-handling skills and Yacoubou brings more positivity and aggressiveness to the court.
Mislav Brzoja
1 Min, 1 TO
In one minute of play he contributed the obligatory turnover and exhibited the deer in the headlights look that is the hallmark of this team's offense.
Villanova has demonstrated that it does not have the requisite talent on the roster to compete for a postseason bid this season. The goal from here on out is to focus on development of those players who will be asked to blend with the new talent on next year's roster and attempt to rescue a program trapped in the quicksand of mediocrity.
Both Providence and Villanova need to step up their games if the "Basketball 7"'s new league is to become a success. A basketball purist watching this game garnered little in the way of enjoyment - poor fundamentals, poor decision-making, hacking & fouling … the play elicited more head-scratching and LOL moments than it did instances of saying "wow" or "nice play".
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