VILLANOVA BASKETBALL NovaBasketball @NovaMBB #GoNova @NovaMBB 2020-21 SCHEDULE & RESULTS GAME 22 | NEW YORK, N.Y. | BIG EAST TOURNAMENT DATE OPPONENT TV TIME/RESULTS VILLANOVA WILDCATS 2K EMPIRE CLASSIC (16-5, 11-4 BIG EAST) Nov. 25 vs. Boston College ESPN W 76-67 Head Coach: Jay Wright Nov.26 vs. Arizona State ESPN W 83-74 Record at VU: 488-187 AIR FORCE RESERVE BASKETBALL HALL OF March 11, 2021 | 12:00 P.M. | TV: FS1 FAME TIP-OFF TOURNAMENT Announcers: Tim Brando & Jim Jackson Nov. 28 vs. Virginia Tech ESPNU L 83-71 OT Radio: 95.7 Ben FM - Play-By-Play: Ryan Fannon Analyst: Whitey Rigsby Dec. 1 vs. Hartford ESPN2 W 87-53 IT’S WORTH NOTING... Dec. 6 @ Texas ESPN W 68-64 ~ Villanova enters the BIG EAST Tourna- the last 145 weeks, including the last 32 in Dec. 11 @ Georgetown* FS1 W 76-63 ment as the No. 1 seed after wrapping up a row. its seventh BIG EAST regular season title in Dec. 16 Butler* FS1 W 85-66 the last eight seasons with a 72-60 victory ~ Robinson-Earl enters the postseason on over No. 14 Creighton last week. Since the a roll of three consecutive double-doubles. Dec. 19 Saint Joseph’s FS1 W 88-68 BIG EAST reconfigured ahead of the 2013- The product of Kansas City, Kan., has Dec. 23 @ Marquette* FS1 W 85-68 14 season, Villanova owns a 114-27 (.809) averaged 14.3 rebounds per outing over that record in conference regular season play. It stretch. For the season, J-Rob as he is called Jan. 19 Seton Hall* FS1 W 76-74 has won 10 or more league games for nine by his teammates, averages 15.2 points and consecutive seasons. 8.4 rebounds per outing. Jan. 23 Providence* Fox W 71-56 Jan. 30 @ Seton Hall* Fox W 80-72 ~ Senior guard Collin Gillespie and sopho- ~ Villanova produced a nine-game winning more forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl were streak that began on Dec. 1 and ended on Feb. 3 @ St. John’s* CBS SN L 70-59 both chosen first team All-BIG EAST in vot- Feb. 3. Since the start of the 2013-14 season, ing by the league’s coaches. They become the Wildcats have had a winning streak of Feb. 7 Georgetown* Fox W 84-74 the 12th and 13th Wildcats honored with at least nine games (seven of the past eight Feb. 10 Marquette* FS1 W 96-64 selection to the postseason BIG EAST First campaigns). The only exception was 2019- Team since 2013-14 season. Robinson-Earl 20, where the longest run of consecutive Feb. 13 @ Creighton* Fox L 86-70 was a unanimous selection. victories was seven. Feb. 20 Connecticut* Fox W 68-60 ~ The Wildcats played all but 12 minutes of ~ Like most Division I teams, the Wildcats Feb. 23 St. John’s CBS SN W 81-58 Saturday’s 54-52 loss at Providence without have seen plenty of upheaval in their sched- their starting backcourt. Collin Gillespie ule due to COVID-19. Villanova has been Feb. 28 @ Butler* CBS L 73-61 suffered a torn MCL in his left knee in a through three pauses since practice formally March 3 victory over Creighton. Then, Jus- began. The first got started on Sept. 23, the March 3 Creighton* FS1 W 72-60 tin Moore sprained his left ankle with just second on Dec. 27 and the third on Jan. 4 March 6 @ Providence Fox L 54-52 under six minutes to play in the first half after only one day of practice following the against the Friars and did not return. Moore second pause. Villanova went 27 days be- Mar. 11 vs. Georgetown/Marquette FS1 12:00 P.M. is officially listed as doubtful for the BIG tween games from Dec. 23-Jan. 19. It played EAST Tournament. only three games in the month of January. Postponed and not rescheduled: at DePaul, vs. ~ Villanova was a constant in the Top 10 of ~ Senior forward Jermaine Samuels Jr. both major polls from start to finish of the averaged 13.2 points and 4.7 rebounds over DePaul, at Xavier, vs. Xavier; at Connecticut; vs. 2020-21 regular season. The Wildcats are at Nova’s final nine games. The honorable No. 14 this week, falling four spots after a mention All-BIG EAST selection comes to Virginia. 54-52 loss at Providence. Since the start of Madison Square Garden with 813 points in the 2013-14 regular season, Villanova has 111 career games as a Wildcat (7.3 ppg). been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 137 of LAST GAME STARTERS All home game played at the Finneran Pavilion (MSG) games played at Madison Square Garden * BIG EAST Conference games #5 Justin Moore #10 Cole Swider #14 Caleb Daniels #23 Jermaine Samuels #24 Jeremiah Robinson-Earl So. | G Jr. | F R.Jr | G Sr. | F So. | F MEDIA INFORMATION Listen Live to every Villanova radio broadcast Media Contact: Mike Sheridan ([email protected]) via: villanova.com/TuneIn Michelle Ruel ([email protected]) Download the free TuneIn Radio app Phone: 610-519-4145/Fax: 610-519-7323 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT: NO. 1 VILLANOVA (16-5, 11-4 BIG EAST) NATIONAL RANKINGS NEWS AND NOTES ASSOCIATED PRESS Another Injury Presents Itself As part of that stretch, Moore went to the 1. Gonzaga (61) 1573 sidelines after getting tangled up with Provi- 2. Baylor (2) 1510 Villanova fought its way back from a 17-point dence’s David Duke near midcourt. He never 3. Illinois 1438 halftime deficit but fell just short Saturday in returned to the game and spent the second 4. Michigan 1382 half watching from the bench. 5. Iowa 1314 a 54-52 loss to Providence. A basket off an of- 6. Alabama 1239 fensive rebound by Friars guard David Duke 7. Houston 1173 with 2.8 seconds left was the difference. The Friars held a 38-21 lead at halftime. Prov- 8. Arkansas 1046 idence connected on 16-of-26 from the field 9. Ohio State 1032 Jermaine Samuels was at the center of the in the period (.615). Meanwhile, the Wildcats 10. West Virginia 919 furious Wildcats’ comeback. He finished with were 6-of-28 from the field (.214), including 11. Kansas 873 2-of-11 from beyond the arc. 12. Oklahoma St. 851 21 points, including two clutch free throws 13. Texas 802 that tied the game at 52 prior to the final 14. Villanova 729 Providence offensive possession. A good look Providence held an 18-4 first edge in points 15. Florida State 687 at a 3-pointer by Jeremiah Robinson-Earl just scored in the paint. 16. Virginia 531 before the horn sounded was a touch long. 17. Creighton 510 With Arcidiacono starting the second half 18. Loyola Chicago 488 19. San Diego State 462 Villanova lost sophomore guard Justin in Moore ‘s spot, Villanova put together a 20. Texas Tech 389 Moore, tasked with serving as Nova’s pri- charge, pulling to within 38-32 four minutes 21. Purdue 389 mary ballhandler in the aftermath of Collin into the period. But though the defense re- 22. Virginia Tech 266 Gillespie’s knee injury, in the first half with a mained strong, Villanova slipped into another 23. Colorado 209 scoring drought which facilitated a 6-0 spurt 24. USC 175 sprained left ankle. Sophomore Chris Arcid- 25. Oklahoma 172 iacono stepped into the void and performed before a Jermaine Samuels drive for two and admirably. a free throw pulled Nova back to within 44-35 Others receiving votes: BYU 93, Oregon 67, UConn with 10:21 to play in the period. 53, Clemson 25, Wisconsin 24, Tennessee 14, Wichita State 13, St. Bonaventure 11, Winthrop 7, VCU 4, LSU “I was really proud of him,” said head coach 2, UC Santa Barbara 1, San Diego 1, Michigan State 1 Jay Wright of Arcidiacono. “Our problem was The Wildcats stymied the Friars defensively not missing Collin at the point guard spot. We and Samuels carried them back. He scored had problems with offensive execution but five consecutive points to put Villanova into USA TODAY COACHES POLL. none of it was his fault. He was great getting the lead at 50-49 with 3:41 to go. But Provi- us into offense. dence managed to get one more score than 1. Gonzaga (31) 775 the ‘Cats in those final minutes and walked 2. Baylor 740 off the court with the victory. 3. Illinois 689 “We had our chances. We had free throws, 4. Michigan 687 shots at the rim. It just wasn’t meant to be. 5. Alabama 610 That’s sports sometimes. It’s hard to accept Villanova sank just 7-of-14 free throws in the 6. Iowa 584 that. I thought our effort in the second half second half. 7. Houston 572 was great. I just was really disappointed in 8. Arkansas 489 the way we started. I was really surprised at “That’s playing on the road,” said Wright. 9. West Virginia 483 10. Ohio State 395 the way we started.” “We just haven’t been able to get that vibe on 11. Villanova 384 the road this year. We force a miss at the end 12. Kansas 383 An 11-0 spurt by Providence after a and don’t get the rebound. If we had gotten 13. Florida State 363 game-opening basket by Jeremiah Robin- that, we would have had the last posses- 14. Oklahoma State 340 son-Earl helped the Friars gain the advantage sion in a tie game.