Turnovers Doom Cats

Temple dominated the Wildcats in the second half at the Pavilion last night to post a 76-61 win. Villanova fell to .500 on the season and 0-2 in Big Five play by committing an abundance of turnovers, suffering a long FG drought and struggling to stop dribble penetration by Temple in the second half. The Owls turned a +10 turnover margin into a +14 FG attempt margin and a 15 point scoring edge from beyond the arc.

Goods:

Out-rebounded Temple 41-38

Out-shot TU from the floor 44.7% to 42.6%

The first half featured good play from VU at both ends of the floor

Bell being more aggressive off the dribble

Not so goods:

The 10 minute dry spell without a FG was a killer

Half as many assists as TU and twice as many turnovers

Only 9 Assists and a whopping 20 turnovers

Shot selection

Movement without the ball

Too much ball-handling by the bigs 20 feet from the basket

Poor post feeds

Player Evals & Stats

Ryan Arcidiacono

36 Min, 2-7 FG, 1-5 3P, 4-4 FT, 2 Rebs, 2 Asst, 3 TO, 0 Stl, 9 Pts

He had a better floor game than in some of his recent outings but still struggled to get the deep ball to drop. He again did all of his scoring in the first half and shot his free-throws well.

Darrun Hilliard

27 Min, 2-9 FG, 0-2 3P, 2-5 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Asst, 1 TO, 1 Stl,1 Blk, 6 Pts

Didn't shoot it well and despite having only one turnover he didn't handle and distribute the ball strongly either.

Jayvaughn Pinkston

17 Min, 1-4 FG, 0-0 3P, 3-5 FT, 6 Rebs, 0 Asst, 2TO, 0 Stl, 5 Pts

His playing time was limited due to foul troubles. Needs to get more touches on offense. His presence was missed on offense.

James Bell

34 Min, 5-8 FG, 1-3 3P, 4-4 FT, 3 Rebs, 3 Asst, 3 TOs, 2 Stl, 15 Pts

Other than his turnovers off of poor passes to the interior. Bell had a solid game. He was assertive off the bounce, played active defensively and chipped in on the glass.

Mouphtaou Yarou

30 Min, 3-7 FG, 0-0 FT, 5 Rebs, 2 Asst, 4 TO, 0 Blk, 0 Stl, 6 Pts

Where this game fell short for Yarou in comparison to the solid efforts he posted in the last two games was in the one-dimensional nature of his offense. He essentially did nothing but pop quick release, mid-range jumpers. He did nothing in the lane and didn't make himself available for passes by cutting to the rim. These shortfalls led to him not getting to the foul line at all after feasting there against Vandy.

Tony Chennault

13 Min, 4-7 FG, 2-3 3PFG, 0-0 FTs, 0 Rebs, 0 Stl, 0 Asst., 1 TOs, 10 Pts

It was nice to see Chenault knock down a couple of jumpers and lead a positive Wildcat run mid-way through the second half. His on-the-ball defense was good and he took good care of the rock - especially in comparison to his peers. An effective 13 minute run.

Maurice Sutton

20 Min, 2-2 FG, 1-2 FT, 6 Rebs, 1 Asst., 2 TO, 4 Blks, 1 Stl, 5 Pts

Made a difference on the defensive end of the floor, rebounded the ball well and finished strong when he got the ball inside. Wouldn't hurt to play him more minutes ...

Daniel Ochefu

14 Min, 0-0 FG, 0-0 FTs, 2 Reb, 0 Asst, 3 TO, 1 Blk, 1 Stl, 0 Pts

… nor would it hurt to get some more minutes for Ochefu. The frosh big needs some seasoning prior to next season when he will play mega minutes. Though at times the speed of the college game seems a little much for him, he continues to progress forward. His turnovers were the result of him being asked to handle the ball 20 feet from the basket. It is a mystery why Coach Wright didn't rescue him from a double team in front of the VU bench in the second half when Temple was making the primary run that put the game away. Instead, Wright saved that one to call down 14 or so points after a meaningless Sutton dunk with a buck and a half left on the game clock.

Achraf Yacoubou

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

Yacoubou continues to provide a positive spark off the bench. Contributes defense and rebounding while continuing to shoot the ball well.

Mislav Brzoja

DNP - Coaches Decision

The Cats next play on Saturday night at 8:00 against Penn at the Palestra.