Villanova Basketball

Duke, Iowa State, Villanova Win Conference Tournament Titles

... down in the second half to beat both No. 10 Louisville and No. 6 North Carolina to get to the finals at Barclays Center and then came from eight back with 11:35 left to beat the Irish. BIG 12. No. 23 Iowa State 80, No. 11 West Virginia 74: Monte Morris scored 17 points, Deonte Burton and Matt Thomas helped him deal with the Mountaineers’ attacking defense, and the Cyclones won their third Big 12 Conference tournament title in four years. Burton had 16 points and Thomas finished with 12 for the fourth-seeded Cyclones (23-10), who will enter the NCAAtournament as one of the nation's hottest teams. They've won nine of their last 10 games. Iowa State has never lost in four appearances in the Big 12 title game, while the Mountaineers (26-8) remain without a conference tournament title of any kind since winning the Big East in 2010. Jevon Carter had 18 points for West Virginia. BIG EAST. No. 2 Villanova 74, Creighton 60: Josh Hart scored 29 points and the Wildcats (31-3) won the conference tournament tile to probably lock up the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Hart, the conference player ...

Last Year's Star, Ryan Arcidiacono, Likes Villanova's Chances This Year

... every guy on that team is — there's no Daniel who’s 6-11 and can still guard the point guard,” Arcidiacono says. “Everyone is 6-2 to 6-7 with Mikal (Bridges), so they all have to know all the personnel. They all have to be able to guard every single position. I think that their defense is taking a step up in the sense that they're doing different things than they were last year. “On the offensive end — that’s where they're even tougher in the fact that there's no Daniel who's down on the block or ready to catch an alley-oop or catch a little bounce pass for a dunk. There's five people on the perimeter you're going to have to guard, which creates more lanes for everyone to drive.”. Villanova Wildcats head coach Jay Wright and guard Ryan Arcidiacono celebrate during last year's title run. (Photo: Aaron Doster, USA TODAY Sports). Defense, certainly, has always been a point of pride with anyone associated with Villanova basketball. So it comes as no surprise that, when discussing the leadership of current seniors Josh ...

The Philly College Basketball Conference Tourney Cheat Sheet

... Owls will get bounced in the first round against East Carolina, when the two play Thursday, Mar. 9 at 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU. If the Owls prevail, they’ll face top-seeded SUM at noon this Friday on ESPN 2. So the dreams of Temple making a run to the dance will likely end there. Update: Temple lost to ECU. Penn will be hosting the Ivy League tournament at the Palestra. Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports. The Quakers qualified for the new four-team Ivy League tournament, being held at the Palestra on March 11 and 12. Penn gets ostensibly a home game against top-seeded Princeton at 1:30 p.m. this Saturday, before 2 nd-seeded Harvard faces 3 rd-seeded Yale. Both games will be on ESPNU. The winners then face off at noon on Selection Sunday, with that game airing on ESPN 2. La Salle. The Explorers are 15-14 and the 8 th seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament , which gets underway Wednesday in Pittsburgh with two games between ...

Villanova's Hart A Force As Top Player Of The Year Candidate

... A. Doubt," Hart said. "With her, it's crazy. Everybody wants a picture, everybody wants something. Me, maybe like every 20 or 30 minutes someone would come up and ask for a picture or something.". "Her life is hectic, like every 2 minutes they want a picture.". When Hart tried to wave over some friends, the Secret Service kept a better eye on him than NBA scouts. "You just see 30 guys looking at you, looking at her," he said. "I was like, uhh, how the heck are you going to do this? She can't move without someone looking at her. It's crazy.". Hart has thrived this season under the scrutiny (minus round-the-clock protection) that comes with trying to lead the Wildcats (28-3) to back-to-back national championships. He led them with 18.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, shot 41 percent on 3 s and will likely win Big East player of the year on Wednesday. Hart, who turned 22 on Monday, has morphed from freshman reserve to NBA draft pick. "I don't think I ever thought he'd be a national player of the year candidate," coach Jay Wright said. "I just thought, if he does everything and he listens to everything, he can be a pro.". He almost didn't make it to Villanova, ...

New Finneran Pavilion Renderings

... a full teardown and rebuild to add seating would cost well over $125 million. With all of the other University projects currently being undertaken, borrowing for this project is not feasible. Therefore, the project needs to be funded entirely by donor support. While we have made significant progress toward our $60 million goal, we are still actively fundraising for the project. It’s something we know, but it still hurts. This is the flagship sport that the school has stated drives notoriety. But it will likely always come secondary to academics and the arts at Villanova. This isn’t Ohio State or Alabama. Hell, it isn’t even Notre Dame. It’s Villanova. It hurts to say, but the administration just can’t see - or refuses to acknowledge - the revenue and visibility that sports drive in America. A lot of this has to do with Bill Finneran’s donation and the timeline associated with it. I think if Villanova could have raised $125 million ...

Villanova's National Championship Recreated With Legos

... daughter was born right at the beginning of March Madness. I remember watching non-stop basketball in the hospital and the first few days of bringing her home. Maybe that's part of the reason her and I have shared a special bond when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. Last year she picked @novambb to win the whole thing and I picked @unc_basketball I'll never forget watching her reaction to the final 10 seconds of that game. This year for her birthday I wanted to do something special for it. So I told her I was going to make a Lego re-enactment video dedicated to her. Happy Birthday Jovie! I hope this year is as magical as last year. ". Jacobs followed through, and for Jovie's 11 th birthday, he created the re-enactment Lego-style. From Marcus Paige's double-pump shot to Kris Jenkins' buzzer-beater, Jacobs nailed the final seconds of one of the most exciting finishes in Final Four history. He ...

Big East Champ Villanova Looks Primed For Another Run

... conference play. A neutral court conquest over Vanderbilt, a pair of Ws against Xavier and Creighton teams missing their respective star point guards due to injury and an upset of Villanova stood as the shiniest bullet points on their résumé. For the vocal pack of college basketball observers lamenting the state of the bubble this year, Marquette offered prima facie evidence of the exceedingly low level to which the committee is stooping to fill out the field of 68. But if you’re looking for a lower-seeded team to pick to slay a powerhouse in the first round, you should try to ignore all of that once you start breaking down matchups. The Golden Eagles are really compelling as an upset pick. This probably feels like a bad idea, for a couple of obvious reasons. For one, Marquette’s recent track record doesn’t suggest it can pull off this sort of thing. The Golden Eagles have dropped six of their last 11 games, including one at lowly St. John’s, and they were just ...

Villanova Player Comparisons

... exact), but all these numbers show why Bridges is already being talked about by NBA scouts. Other comparisons include ‘07 Lee Cummard (BYU), ‘12 Bud Thomas (Mercer), ‘14 Isaiah Williams (Iona), and ‘08 Derrick Brown (Xavier). Eric Paschall is playing like ‘10 Kevin Jones (West Virginia). Kevin Jones started to become a dominant offensive force for the 2010 West Virginia team that won the Big East Tournament and went to the Final Four. Just like Nova’s RS Sophomore, he had the body of a linebacker mixed with the athleticism of a guard. Paschall is also starting to show offensive outbursts, including his team leading 19 points in Nova’s last game against Creighton. Although the plan was never to plant Paschall in the paint coming into the year, he’s finally adjusted to the new role as his fouls have come down and his defense has improved. Other comparisons include ‘14 Alex Poythress (Kentucky), ‘16 Mark Donnal (Michigan), ‘07 Mark Egerson (Georgetown), and ‘07 Marcus Landry (Wisconsin). Donte Di Vincenzo is playing like ‘15 Josh Hart (Villanova). In 2015, ...