The signs began to show late last season. After losing back-to-back heartbreakers to Rutgers and No. 4 Pittsburgh, Villanova squeaked through tight wins over Seton Hall and DePaul, two Big East bottom dwellers. Villanova stood at No. 14 in the country with a 21-6 record and was poised for a high seed.
Up next was a daunting four-game stretch against ranked conference foes, but two of those games were at home. After dropping a close game at home to Syracuse the Wildcats were spanked in each of the next three games, losing each by double figures. Their worst beating came against Notre Dame, who whipped the Wildcats by a 93-72 score.
Then South Florida stunned Villanova in the first round of the Big East tournament. Villanova head coach Jay Wright could not stop the bleeding as the Wildcats lost to George Mason in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
That six game losing streak sent Villanova into the offseason in a tailspin from which it has yet to recover. Despite a roster littered with four-star players, the underachieving Wildcats sit at 11-14 on the season and have a disastrous 4-9 conference record.
It is easy to see why the Wildcats are so bad this season. They do not shoot the ball well, they turn the ball over way too much, and they do not defend.
Despite ranking fifth in the conference at 72.7 points per game, Villanova has just four conference wins. Those wins are not overly impressive either, coming against DePaul, Seton Hall, St. John’s, and Providence. Three of those teams rank behind Villanova in the conference standings and Seton Hall is just 7-7 on the season.
A big part of the problem is the fact Villanova ranks 15th in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score a pitiful 71.8 points per game. Only DePaul has allowed more points to be scored against them this season. Villanova also ranks 12th in field goal defense and 14th in three-point defense.
To make matters worse, Villanova has not been able to shoot the ball this season. They rank dead last in the conference with a 41.5-percent field goal percentage. Villanova shoots a lot of three pointers but make their triples at just a 30.9-percent clip, good for 15th in the league. The Wildcats are 15th in the league in turning the ball over with a negative 2.16 margin. They have turned the ball over 34 more times than have dished out assists on the season.
With play like that it is hard to beat quality teams, and the Big East is loaded with quality teams this season.
Of course Villanova remains a dangerous team, one Notre Dame cannot overlook. At any minute their talented junior class, one that was composed if three Top 25 players, could erupt.
For Notre Dame’s sake the hope is that it does not happen tonight. One thing working in Villanova’s favor is the fact they are in fact 9-3 this season on their home court and have won two of their last three at home.
2011-2012 VILLANOVA WILDCATS
HEAD COACH: Jay Wright
ASSISTANT COACHES: Billy Lange, Doug West, Jason Donnelly
2011-2012 RESULTS (11-14 overall / 4-9 conference)
Monmouth W 106-70
LaSalle W 76-69 OT
Delaware W 79-69
vs. UC-Riverside * W 71-46
vs. St. Louis * L 68-80
vs. Santa Clara * L 64-65
Pennsylvania W 73-65
vs. Missouri # L 71-81
at Temple L 67-78
Boston W 68-43
at St. Joseph’s L 58-74
American W 73-52
at West Virginia L 69-83
at Marquette L 77-81
South Florida L 57-74
DePaul W 87-71
Syracuse L 66-79
at Cincinnati L 78-82
Seton Hall W 84-76
at St. John’s W 79-76
at Louisville L 74-84
Marquette L 78-82
at Pittsburgh L 70-79
Providence W 74-72
at South Florida L 51-65
* - 76 Classic
# - Jimmy V Classic
STARTING LINEUP
G Ty Johnson 6-3 Fr. 2.7 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 1.9 apg
G Dominic Cheek 6-6 Jr. 12.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.4 apg
G James Bell 6-5 Soph. 7.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.3 apg
F JayVaughn Pinkston 6-7 Fr. 9.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.1 apg
C Mouphtaou Yarou 6-10 Jr. 11.1 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 0.8 bpg
KEY RESERVES
G Maalik Wayns 6-2 Jr. 17.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.5 apg
G Achraf Yacoubou 6-4 Fr. 2.3 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.3 apg
G Darrun Hilliard 6-6 Fr. 5.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.1 apg
F Markus Kennedy 6-9 Fr. 3.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.8 apg
C Maurice Sutton 6-11 Jr. 2.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.3 bpg
BACKCOURT
There is a chance that Maalik Wayns, Villanova’s top scorer, could miss tonight’s game against the Irish. Wayns sprained his MCL against South Florida and did not play in Villanova’s 65-51 loss to South Florida. Wayns is fourth in the conference in scoring this season at 17.8 points per game. Without him in the game the Wildcats had a very difficult time putting the ball in the basket against the Bulls, scoring a season low 51 points in the loss. Villanova had scored at least 70 points in each of its previous seven games with their junior point guard. Wayns led the Wildcats in scoring in five of those contests, including 39 points against Cincinnati, 28 points against St. John’s, and 25 points against Seton Hall. Wayns is prone for blowup games where teams simply cannot stop him from getting to the rim. He is also prone to the occasional hot night from behind the arc, like his 6-for-13 performance against the Bearcats or his 3-of-5 games against Louisville, South Florida, and Monmouth. But for the most part Wayns struggles from behind the arc, shooting just 29.2-percent on the season. He is, however, one of the nation’s best free throw shooters, shooting 90.2-percent on the season.
If he cannot go the Wildcats will have to rely on freshman Ty Johnson, an extremely talented and long point guard who has struggled with his shot all season. Johnson also struggles running the Wildcat offense, evidenced by his eight turnover performance against DePaul. Johnson has 47 assists and 43 turnovers on the season. Wing player Dominic Cheek has started to come into his own as a scorer this season, averaging 12.4 points per game on the season. Cheek is an athletic leaper that has yet to develop consistency with his jump shot. In a conference that possesses solid length on the wing Cheek has struggled to consistently get to the rim. Combined with his inefficiency as a shooter it has resulted in a lot of up-and-down for the junior. When he is on he can fill it up, as Cheek has scored at least 17 points on eight occasions this season. The problem is he has also been held to single digits on nine other occasions. Cheek is a streaky shooter from behind the arc. Sophomore swing man James Bell is another player that came to Villanova with one of the top prep billings in the country. Bell struggled as a freshman and played just 9.1 minutes per game. He got off to a solid start as a sophomore but saw his minutes diminish once Villanova got to conference play. Bell has started to heat up a bit in the last couple of weeks. He dropped 18 on Cincinnati and scored in double figures in five straight games, showing signs of an emergence the Wildcats desperately need. Freshmen Darrun Hilliard and Achraf Yacoubou provide depth to the backcourt.
FRONTCOURT
Villanova has always been a perimeter oriented basketball team under Jay Wright, but if the Wildcats are going to get their season turned around the frontcourt has to step up and carry a bigger load. There are strong signs that that is going to happen. Freshman JayVaughn Pinkston is averaging 9.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, which is a solid season for a first year player. But his game has started to take off during conference play. Pinkston has scored in double figures in all but four conference games after reaching that feat just twice during non-conference play. The rugged freshman has averaged 12.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in Big East play. He has also had four double-doubles in conference play, including a 28-point, 14-rebound performance in a win over Providence. His 23 points and 11 rebounds also fueled a win over Seton Hall and Herb Pope. Pinkston is starting to show flashes of becoming a standout interior player in a league filled with such players.
Junior Mouphtaou Yarou came to Villanova with a big-time reputation but did not do much as a scorer during his first two seasons in Philadelphia. A strong rebounder from the moment he got on campus, Yarou is starting to develop a more well-rounded offensive game. As a junior the Benin, Africa native is averaging 11.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He began the season on fire, scoring 24 points and grabbing 10 boards in a season opening win over Monmouth. Yarou had double-doubles in three of Villanova’s first four games. The 6-foot-10 center has not been as strong in conference play. Yarou has not shot the ball well in Big East play and has struggled to get into a flow as the backcourt has continued to struggle with consistency with the ball. He was solid Villanova’s recent win over Providence, scoring 17 points and grabbing eight boards. Junior big man Maurice Sutton has never really been a factor for the Wildcats, but over the last four games the 6-11 center has scored in double figures twice and had 11 points and 10 boards in a tight loss to Marquette. 6-foot-9 center Markus Kennedy, a Philadelphia native, provides solid depth and rebounding inside.
