March 14, 2030
We watch the first two rounds of the Big East tournament before it's our turn to take the court at Madison Square Garden. Our opponent will be a South Florida team that won a wild, triple-overtime classic against Providence.
Big East Tournament Quarterfinal
(1) #2 Villanova 90, (9) South Florida 73
The Bulls, who have to be exhausted after their exertions of the night before, can't keep up with us tonight.
Five Wildcats score in double figures, led by
Avery Sullivan with 22 A sixth 'Nova player rebounds in double figures, and a seventh finishes with 9 points and 5 assists. But the Player of the Game is South Florida's
Bobby Judd, a senior who posts a double-double (24p/10r). His backcourt mate,
Moe Haberman, who scored 40 against Providence, is held to "only" 14 tonight; he averages 7 a game.
The four top seeds all win, so we'll face UConn in the semifinal. On the other side of the bracket, Georgetown plays West Virginia. The Hoyas stole the #1 ranking in the national polls from us; apparently the voters were extremely impressed with their 13-point victory over South Florida in their last regular season game.
Record: 29-2.
March 15, 2030
Big East Tournament Semifinal
(1) #2 Villanova 84, (4) Connecticut 76
Player of the Game
Corey Hicks scores 20 points and adds 6 assists as we advance to the Big East final.
The honor could have gone to
Avery Sullivan, with his 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
Tony Ezell (14) and
Blake Norton (12) also score in double figures, and Norton stars with 9 assists.
Lowell Welter (8p/12r/3b) fills the scoresheet nicely, too.
Sullivan jams a finger, so he'll be at less than 100 percent for the championship game. Needless to say, he'll start anyway.
Our opponent will be West Virginia, who beats Georgetown, 75-36(!!) in the other semifinal.
Record: 30-2.
March 16, 2030
Big East Tournament Championship
Code:
(1) #2 Villanova 77, (2) #5 West Virginia 73
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West Virginia (29-4, 16-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Chris Evan C 31 5-13 2-4 1 3 0 2 13
Booker Brent PF 37 2-6 2-3 1 10 2 2 6
Ronald Chavis SF 32 6-10 1-2 3 12 4 3 14
Charles Dennis SG 25 5-8 2-4 1 4 2 2 14
H. Middlebrooks PG 35 3-11 2-3 1 7 0 3 11
Rusty Lollar SF 25 2-6 4-6 1 1 2 1 8
Gavin Taylor C 5 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 1 0
Edward Trueblood PG 5 0-1 3-4 0 0 0 1 3
Hal Wall PG 3 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 2
Thomas Franks SG 2 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 0 2
Tony Corrales PF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 14 (C.Evan 1, B.Brent 3, R.Chavis 2,
C.Dennis 3, H.Middlebrooks 2, R.Lollar 3)
Blocked Shots: 14 (C.Evan 4, B.Brent 7, C.Dennis 1,
R.Lollar 2)
Steals: 4 (C.Evan 1, B.Brent 1, R.Chavis 2)
3P FGs: 7-16 (C.Evan 1-1, R.Chavis 1-3, C.Dennis 2-5,
H.Middlebrooks 3-6, R.Lollar 0-1)
Villanova (31-2, 16-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Avery Sullivan C 33 3-12 0-0 5 11 4 4 6
Lowell Welter PF 32 2-8 1-1 3 15 3 3 6
Asher Wise SF 34 5-9 2-2 0 3 2 3 13
Corey Hicks SG 22 3-10 0-0 1 2 0 4 9
Blake Norton PG 20 2-2 1-2 0 2 2 4 6
Tony Ezell SF 22 8-14 1-2 0 4 1 3 17
Justice Stafford PG 22 3-10 0-0 2 2 4 2 8
Clemens Schwaiger C 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Kris DeMello PF 4 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Peter Segal SG 7 2-3 4-5 0 2 1 2 10
Mark Jones SF 1 1-1 0-0 1 1 0 0 2
Turnovers: 10 (A.Sullivan 2, L.Welter 1, A.Wise 1,
C.Hicks 3, B.Norton 3)
Blocked Shots: 6 (A.Sullivan 5, L.Welter 1)
Steals: 6 (L.Welter 1, A.Wise 1, C.Hicks 1, B.Norton 2,
T.Ezell 1)
3P FGs: 10-28 (L.Welter 1-2, A.Wise 1-5, C.Hicks 3-8,
B.Norton 1-1, J.Stafford 2-9, P.Segal 2-3)
Player of Game: PF Tony Ezell (VLNV)
Villanova wins their third consecutive Big East conference tournament in a hard-fought game against a West Virginia team that is turning into a true rival. Veteran coach
Joseph Strickland always has the Mountaineers ready to play, and after routing Georgetown in the semifinal, they take the floor with the determination to avenge their defeat at our hands earlier this month.
The game is very close for 30 minutes. Then, we go on a 17-6 run over the next five minutes to gain control. It's a 15-point game with 3:00 remaining. Then, to the credit of Coach Strickland and his team, they come charging back, outscoring us 14-3 the rest of the way and making things far too interesting.
The Mountaineers do a very good job of neutralizing our usual top scorers. Fortunately for us,
Tony Ezell brings his scoring touch with him to Madison Square Garden, and we get an offensive explosion from
Peter Segal, who comes off the deep end of the bench with guns blazing.
Avery Sullivan can't shoot well with his hurt finger, but it doesn't prevent him from rebounding and blocking shots.
After the team poses with the Big East tournament trophy, they board the bus back to the Main Line. It's time to get ready for the Big Dance.
Record: 31-2.