January 4, 2034
@#12 Villanova 75, #20 Providence 67
Welcome to Big East basketball,
Mason Reynolds!
Our freshman guard scores 25 points, grabs 11 rebounds, and makes 2 steals as we defeat a very good Providence team at the Pavilion.
Chris Woolstenhulme adds 17 points and 5 boards from the bench.
Zach Cohen is good for 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
Noah Gardner has 10 points and 9 rebounds.
This team is really good at rebounding. We grab 55 today, our third game in two weeks in which we've had at least 50.
Record: 12-2 (1-0).
January 7, 2034
#12 Villanova 82, @#9 Louisville 75
The beat goes on for
Mason Reynolds and the Wildcats. Mason scores another 25 points and leads us to another crucial road win.
Other notable performances include those by
Noah Gardner (13p/8r),
Chris Woolstenhulme (12p), and
Savion Wells (7p/10r).
Zach Cohen (12p/9r/4b) scares us when he goes to the floor, holding his knee...
The diagnosis is fairly good, however. Zach has a less severe sprain, and he's listed as day-to-day. We'll see what he can do when Rutgers comes to call this week.
Record: 13-2 (2-0).
January 11, 2034
Code:
#7 Villanova 77, Rutgers 57
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Rutgers (7-8, 1-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Ellis Gray C 25 0-3 3-4 3 8 0 0 3
Norman Marshall PF 28 3-9 5-6 2 5 0 4 11
Jed McAnally SF 28 4-9 2-3 2 3 4 3 12
Arthur O'Conner SG 27 5-10 1-2 0 2 2 1 14
Jeramy Applewhite PG 30 2-6 0-0 1 1 2 1 5
Jason Mazza C 21 1-4 0-0 2 7 0 2 2
H. Baskerville PG 10 1-2 0-0 1 3 1 2 2
Joe Woods SG 12 1-2 0-0 0 1 0 2 3
Shawn Tait SF 10 1-3 2-2 0 1 0 0 5
Charles Searcy PF 9 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 15 (E.Gray 2, N.Marshall 2, J.McAnally 7,
A.O'Conner 3, J.Applewhite 1)
Blocked Shots: 12 (E.Gray 6, N.Marshall 2, A.O'Conner
1, J.Mazza 2, C.Searcy 1)
Steals: 2 (J.McAnally 1, H.Baskerville 1)
3P FGs: 8-22 (J.McAnally 2-6, A.O'Conner 3-6,
J.Applewhite 1-4, H.Baskerville 0-1, J.Woods 1-2,
S.Tait 1-2, C.Searcy 0-1)
Villanova (14-2, 3-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Zach Cohen C 29 0-6 0-0 2 9 1 1 0
Savion Wells PF 20 5-11 0-0 0 0 1 5 10
Noah Gardner SF 29 8-11 8-8 4 7 3 3 26
Mason Reynolds SG 25 2-8 0-0 3 4 3 4 4
Connor Baxter PG 33 3-7 0-0 1 2 6 0 7
C. Woolstenhulme PF 25 2-5 2-3 2 6 1 0 6
Trey Partridge SG 19 6-7 0-0 1 5 2 0 16
Kyle Gribble SF 9 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 0 3
Chris Ramos C 6 0-0 0-0 0 3 1 1 0
Charles Peterman SF 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Reed Weisberg SG 5 2-3 0-0 1 1 0 0 5
Turnovers: 8 (S.Wells 1, N.Gardner 3, C.Baxter 1,
T.Partridge 1, C.Ramos 1, R.Weisberg 1)
Blocked Shots: 6 (Z.Cohen 3, N.Gardner 1, C.Ramos 2)
Steals: 3 (N.Gardner 1, M.Reynolds 1, C.Woolstenhulme 1)
3P FGs: 9-20 (N.Gardner 2-4, M.Reynolds 0-4, C.Baxter
1-3, T.Partridge 4-4, K.Gribble 1-3, R.Weisberg 1-2)
Player of Game: SF Noah Gardner (VLNV)
I included the box score of this otherwise routine game for one reason. Look who the last player listed for Villanova is...
One year and two days after he last played,
Reed Weisberg returns to action tonight! Authentic as can be, Reed pulls the cord on two triples in 5 minutes, hitting one of them.
Noah Gardner pays tribute to his classmate and teammate with a Weisbergesque 26 points, featuring a perfect 8-for-8 at the line.
Record: 14-2 (3-0).
January 14, 2034
#7 Villanova 70, @Seton Hall 55
And
Ernest Adcock returns to action today, starting at point guard and scoring 16 points in a successful visit to Seton Hall. The senior guard also hands out 4 assists and makes 2 steals.
Reed Weisberg shows signs of rust in his first start of the year. He takes only 5 shots, making one (a three) and scores 5 points.
Mason Reynolds (16p/10r/4a) plays especially well. He's remaining in the starting lineup for now, with
Noah Gardner joining
Chris Woolstenhulme and
Connor Baxter to form a scary-good reserve squad.
Record: 15-2 (4-0).
January 18, 2034
#2 Villanova 93, @Marquette 64
For the first time in over a year, the "Player Notes" section of my game screen doesn't contain the name of an injured Villanova player. Our fully healthy team travels to Milwaukee and routs Marquette.
Again, it's first year
Mason Reynolds who provides the spark. He finishes with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals.
Reed Weisberg shows signs of finding his range, scoring 15 points and hitting 3 of 9 three-point attempts.
Zach Cohen (13p/8r/3b) and
Chris Woolstenhulme (11p/4r) deliver the kinds of performances we've come to expect from them.
Record: 16-2 (5-0).
January 21, 2034
@#2 Villanova 85, St. John's 56
Savion Wells is one of the key players in the gameplan I've created for the Wildcats. Tonight he redeems my choice, scoring a career-best 28 points on 12-for-17 shooting as we knock off the Red Storm.
The 7'0" forward also snags 8 rebounds, second on the team to
Zach Cohen's 11. Cohen blocks another 5 shots, too.
Reed Weisberg scores 14 points, and
Ernest Adcock hands out 5 assists.
While we're at it, Syracuse is at Georgetown, beating the Hoyas in a gnarly 57-43 contest. We end the day's action in sole possession of first place in the Big East. And, guess where we're going next?
Record: 17-2 (6-0).
January 25, 2034
@#8 Georgetown 80, #2 Villanova 69
By halftime, the game is a rout, with the Hoyas leading 51-28. Their fans howl their delight as they watch their favorites smack their rival in the face.
We don't concede, however, and we rally back to within 8 points with five minutes to play. That's as close as we can come.
We shoot 23-for-69, and an even uglier 8-for-32 from three-point distance. We turn the ball over 18 times. The Hoyas to do us what we to do opponents when we're playing at our best.
Reed Weisberg (18 points) and
Mason Reynolds (14) are our double-figure scorers.
We're 17-3, and we'll end the week ranked in the top 10 again. It's far from dark days, but the loss still stings.
Record: 17-3 (6-1).
January 28, 2034
@#2 Villanova 62, #15 West Virginia 36
For the first time since his return, I feel like we get to see some vintage Reed Weisberg. The senior sharpshooter hits 5 of his 11 triples, scores 22 points, and grabs 5 rebounds.
Zach Cohen's 5 blocks and
Ernest Adcock's 3 steals highlight a defensive effort that thwarts the Mountaineers again and again. We force this very good team into 23 turnovers.
Cohen also has 9 rebounds, Adcock hands out 6 assists, and Savion Wells scores 14 points.
Making the day even nicer is the news that Louisville beats Georgetown in a battle of Top 10 teams. The Hoyas are a game behind us again, and now we're sharing the top spot with Pittsburgh...whom we play next.
Record: 18-3 (7-1).