Scottie Reynolds leads the team in scoring with 19 ppg
UConn 14-11, 4-8 @ Villanova 22-2, 11-1 7PM ET ESPN
Faced with likely having to win out the regular season in order to make the big dance, the Huskies’ NCAA tournament effectively starts tonight. 6 games, 3 two game tournaments…sound familiar? Might as well get the toughest one out of the way first, right?
The Huskies travel to the City of Brotherly shove to take on the 22-2 and Big East leading 11-1 Villanova Wildcats. ‘Nova is 12-0 at home, their lone blemishes coming on the road vs Temple and Georgetown.
Senior guard Scottie Reynolds leads the team in scoring with a career high 19 points per game. He’s also posting career highs in field goal percentage with .484, and three point shooting, with a .408 mark. Reynolds’ 51 made threes are tops on the team as well. He’s gone over 20 points 14 times this season, including a 36 point performance at Louisville on January 11th.
Junior guard Corey Fisher, a Bronx native, is also posting a career high in points with 14.2. His team leading 4.1 assists per game are also a career high. Fisher is shooting .473 from the floor and .378 from deep. He’s been especially hot lately, averaging 18.3 points over the past 6 games. He scored a season high 24 points in the February 6th loss to Georgetown.
Junior forward Antonio Pena, another NYC kid (Brooklyn), has seen a real jump in his production. He averaged a modest 5.1 points and 4.2 boards last season, but is averaging 11.1 points and 7.7 rebounds this time around. His season started with a bang, scoring in double figures in 9 of Villanova’s first 11 games, but he cooled in the middle portion of the schedule. Over the next 8 games he scored in double figures just once, and averaged just 6.8 points. He’s since heated back up, scoring in double figures in 4 of the last 5 games, and is averaging 12.4 points during that span.
Junior guard Corey Stokes is fourth on the team in scoring with 9 ppg. Stokes takes a lot of threes, his 109 attempts are second only to Scottie Reynolds, as are his 38 makes. He’s shooting .379 from the floor and .349 from three. Stokes has been up and down this season, but has scored in double figures in 3 of the last 4 games.
Conference Rank Comparison :
Scoring Offense
Nova 85.4 (1st)
UConn 71.2 (10th)
Scoring Defense
UConn 66.6 (10th)
Nova 72.5 (14th)
Free Throw %
Nova .757 (1st)
UConn .682 (8th)
Field Goal %
Nova .470 (4th)
UConn .455 (6th)
Field Goal % Defense
UConn .383 (1st)
Nova .405 (5th)
3 Pt FG % / Made Threes
Nova .379 (4th) – 188 (5th)
UConn .321 (13th) – 92 (16th)
Rebound Margin
Nova +7.5 (2nd)
UConn +2.5 (9th)
Turnover Margin
Nova +1.71 (5th)
UConn -1.92 (15th)
Once again on paper UConn doesn’t appear to have much of a chance, but against the nation’s elite, the Huskies have hung right in. They had a 3 point loss to Kentucky, a 3 point loss to Georgetown, and a 5 point loss to Syracuse. Tonight, hanging in won’t be good enough, the Huskies must win. UConn is still searching for it’s first road win (0-6) of the season…what better time than now? The tournament starts tonight…Ding, Ding.
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I will be watching and hoping for a surprise. Show some Husky Pride boys!