Where: Wells Fargo Center – Philadelphia, PA
When: 1:00pm EST
How: FOX (Joe Davis & Jim Jackson with Molly McGrath)/WEEI 103.7 FM and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV
Game Notes
- Providence and Villanova will meet for the 95th time on Sunday with the Wildcats leading the series, 57-37. The Friars played the Wildcats three times last season with Villanova coming out on top in all three contests, including the semifinals of the Big East Tournament, 63-61. Providence last defeated Villanova on February 3, 2013 in a road game played at The Pavilion on Villanova’s campus.
- Villanova is 17-2 (7-0) on the season. The Wildcats are led by Jay Wright, who is in his 15th season at the helm of the Villanova and is the longest tenured head coach in the Big East. The Wildcats have defeated Xavier, Seton Hall, and Marquette at home and Creighton, Butler, Georgetown and Seton Hall — their latest game on January 20th — on the road. The Wildcats are led in scoring by junior Josh Hart, who averages 15.5 points/game. Senior Daniel Ochefu is the leading rebounder, averaging 8.1 rebounds/game.
- The Friars slipped again in this week’s polls after a 1-1 week that included a road win at Creighton and a home loss to Seton Hall. Providence is 16th in the AP Poll and 17th in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. The Friars are in the AP top 25 for the 8th straight week. That’s the first time Providence has accomplished that since they were in the AP Top 25 the final 8 weeks of the 2003-04 season. A road win at the 4th ranked Wildcats would go a long towards moving Providence back into the top 10.
- Kris Dunn is closing in on some career milestones. Dunn currently has 965 points, 460 assists, 416 rebounds and 175 steals. Should Dunn get to the 1,000 point, 500 assist and 200 steal clubs, he would become the only player in school history to have accomplished all of those feats. 500 rebounds is also within his grasp. Dunn would have to average 7.0 rebounds/game over the final 12 games to do it in the regular season.
- This game was postponed due to an impending snow storm expected to hit Philadelphia beginning on Friday evening.
- Opening Line: (16) Providence +13 at (4) Villanova 1/24/16
Game Preview
Providence got back on track on Tuesday night with a home win against Butler to sweep the season series against the Bulldogs. Villanova hasn’t fallen off track yet in Big East play. The Wildcats have been tested their last two times out, but each time they managed to pull out the win. Their most recent game was a 2-point win at Seton Hall on Wednesday. Both teams have had to sit on ice — literally — an extra day since the game was postponed until 1pm on Sunday.
The probable starters according to the game notes and prior box scores are:
Providence
- Kyron Cartwright – #24 – Sophomore
- Kris Dunn – #3 – Junior
- Junior Lomomba – #32 – Junior
- Rodney Bullock – #5 – Sophomore
- Ben Bentil – #0 – Sophomore
Villanova
- Jalen Brunson – #1 – Freshman
- Ryan Arcidiacono – #15 – Senior
- Josh Hart – #3 – Junior
- Kris Jenkins – #2 -Junior
- Daniel Ochefu – #23 – Senior
Providence is the best team in conference play at defending the 3-point line. The Friars have only allowed teams to shoot 22.2% against them in their 6 league games. Villanova has been middle of the pack in 3-point offense at 34.8%, which is right around the national average. Villanova certainly can get hot from beyond the arc as they did against Xavier in their Big East opener (52.0%) and their last time out at Seton Hall (52.6%), but Providence has shown they can defend the perimeter in terms of shooters. Where the Friars have struggled, most egregiously against Marquette and Seton Hall, is in allowing perimeter players to penetrate the defense and get easy scores at the rim. Providence needs to play a low turnover game on offense and keep Villanova’s guards and wings from getting inside. A big battle to watch in this game will be the one between Daniel Ochefu and Ben Bentil. Whoever gets the better of that matchup may be the key to winning the game.
Prediction: Providence 70 Villanova 69
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