Panthers Dump Nova

Poor second-half defense, turnovers, ineffective shooting, and a poor rebounding effort doomed the Wildcats this evening in a 58-43 loss to Pittsburgh at the Pavilion. 'Nova combined solid first half defense, 14 points from Darrun Hilliard and a competitive effort on the glass to take a 23-22 lead at half-time. After extending that lead to seven, Villanova went cold for the better part of seven minutes to fall behind again. The Cats had one run left in them which they parlayed into a 43-43 deadlock after a fast-break basket by James Bell. Unfortunately that was all the scoring the Wildcats would do as the Panthers finished the game on a 15-0 run to send the Cats to 11-6 overall and 2-2 in Big East play.

Goods:

Hilliard's 3-3 from beyond the arc in the first half

First half defense

Not so goods:

18 turnovers

Second half defense - had difficulty containing the dribbler and helping the helper

Only 1 offensive rebound

Abused on the glass 28-46

14-44 shooting from the floor

Only 8 bench points - all from Pinkston

Only Hilliard made more than 2 FGs for the Cats

No answer for Pitt's extended defensive pressure - at some point VU needs an answer because all opponents will be extending on them

Player Evals & Stats

Ryan Arcidiacono

34 Min, 2-10 FG, 1-7 3PFG, 2-2 FT, 0 Reb, 2 Asst, 6 TO, 2 Stl, 5 Pts

He followed up his poor second half against Syracuse with a poor 40 minutes against Pitt. Arcidiacono is struggling to get dribble penetration and make good decisions against ever increasing ball pressure being applied by Big East opponents. Struggling shooting the ball from beyond the arc.

Darrun Hilliard

26 Min, 4-7 FG, 3-3 3PFG, 3-3 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Asst, 1 TO, 2 Stl, 0 Blk, 14 Pts

His first half shooting from beyond the arc and 14 point total kept Villanova in the game. Disappeared on the offensive end in the second half. Hilliard is not doing a good job of driving and dishing.

Jayvaughn Pinkston

20 Min, 2-6 FG, 0-1 3PFG, 4-6 FT, 5 Rebs, 1 Asst, 2 TO, 0 Blk, 0 Stl, 8 Pts

Continues to be fairly productive on the offensive end in limited minutes. Rebounded the ball more effectively in this game.

James Bell

30 Min, 2-6 FG, 1-4 3PFG, 0-0 FT, 5 Rebs, 2 Asst, 1 TOs, 1 Blk, 4 Stl, 5 Pts

Though he didn't contribute much offense, Bell provided a nice effort on defense and took better care of the ball than he normally does.

Mouphtaou Yarou

30 Min, 2-8 FG, 3-4 FT, 5 Rebs, 2 Asst, 3 TO, 1 Blk, 0 Stl, 7 Pts

Didn't get his mid-range jumper going and had trouble securing the ball in traffic in the lane.

Tony Chennault

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

Chennault does not do a good job of putting pressure on opposing defenses. Takes very few trips to the FT line for a guard who handles the ball a reasonable amount. When he drives he either looks for his own shot or has to stop and find a guard to get the ball back out to - sadly, Arcidiacono is similar on his dribble-penetration attempts. A rather unproductive 20 minutes.

Maurice Sutton

7 Min, 0-2 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Rebs, 0 Asst., 0 TO, 1 Blks, 0 Stl, 0 Pts

Barely worked up a sweat in seven minutes of action. It appears that Yarou as the 4-man and Ochefu being developed for the future will result in a permanent reduction in Sutton's minutes.

Daniel Ochefu

23 Min, 2-2 FG, 0-0 3PFG, 0-1 FTs, 8 Reb, 1 Asst, 3 TO, 2 Blk, 1 Stl, 4 Pts

Cats could have used the front end of the one-and-one he missed. Ochefu was the Cats bright spot in this game from a rebounding perspective. Could have used some more touches on offense. Continues to contribute defensively.

Achraf Yacoubou

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

Hard to imagine he played 10 minutes without getting a shot off - given his lack of shyness when it comes to launching the deep ball.

Villanova let a golden opportunity to move to 3-1 in the league slip away with a lackluster second half performance. The Saturday, 4PM game with Providence looms large as the Cats desperately need a win before the Louisville, Syracuse, @ Notre Dame gauntlet has to be run. At this point, the majority of the team is "due" to have a decent shooting game.