Unless you don’t have a job, and have ESPNU, you probably didn’t watch the Nova game today. Dannie and I “watched” on separate GameCasts at work, and saw a very strange game unfold.
It ended with Villanova winning 69-68, but here’s how they got there….
- Corey Fisher goes 1-14 from the field. And scores 17 points. This is both horrible and good at the same time.
- Scottie Reynolds commits 10 turnovers, 4 less than the entire Mason squad.
- The game winning 3-pt shot was hit by Isaiah Armwood, a freshman forward taking his first shot of the game.
- Corey Stokes, the team’s leading scorer to date, scores 1 point, on 0-4 shooting.
- Mouph Yarou plays 0 minutes after being sent home due to a viral infection.
- Team shoots 59% from the FT line, usually one of Villanova’s strong points.
- Pena, King, Stokes and Sutton all foul out.
I have no idea how they won that game. And I don’t think Jay Wright does either.
I don’t mind these types of games early in the season. Shows the kids they aren’t as good as they think they are.
Nova plays again tomorrow against #21 Dayton – and will have to bring a lot better game to get the to Final on Sunday.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Both of your two criteria applied to me today. I caught the second half and at no point did I think they were going to win. Their shot selection seemed ill-advised and impatient and they couldn’t buy a bucket.
But it was nice to see them play a sloppy game and still have enough to pull out the win at the end. Then again, George Mason isn’t going to punish you for those mistakes the way a Kansas would. Play like this in March and they’ll get beat.
This is the nature of college basketball. Good teams always play like this in November and it’s usually out of their system come March.
Look at Michigan State, Kentucky, Kansas, Uconn, UNC. They have all had to pull out a tough game against a lesser opponent in the first week of the season.
I wouldn’t at all be worried about how they will play in March right now.
man, i love college basketball. that is all
Totally agree with your point Dannie and Pete. Unless you are a team like Purdue, just about every team (or at least every “good” team) has new key players or key players taking up different roles. There is a lot to figure out, and Nova is no exception. Stokes had been the leading scorer, so what happens then when he can’t shoot? UConn has been relying on Dyson for points, what happens when he isn’t shooting well like against Hofstra the other day
On a different note that will be an interesting team to watch. Dyson is a bona fide player, and Kemba Walker showed off his talent last year, but obviously had more of a limited role being a freshman and playing behind AJ Price. Stanley Robinson sure as hell can finish, but his perimeter game is really inconsistent – though with serious upside. It will be inetersting to see how those freshman (Oriakhi and Coombs-McDaniel) do, and what Ater Majok is all about when he comes next month. I could see them finishing in the top 3-4 in the Big East or in the bottom half. It is probably safe to say West Virginia and Nova round out the top but how the rest fall into place will be interesting. Georgetown and ND should be good, Cuse looked better than I thought (albeit, they lost an exhibition game to a non D-1 school). Pitt lost just about everyone, but I think you’d be hard pressed to find a coach that would really want to play Jamie Dixon’s club in February. Love the BIG EAST!
Villanova will have their hands full today with their matchup against Dayton. Nova will have the edge in defense, rebounding, turnovers and PPG. Dayton is more consistent with their field goal % and will look to capitalize with their shooting.