WVU’s win streak snapped
West Virginia's Darryl Bryant (right) and Villanova's Scottie Reynolds (left) fight for a loose ball in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Morgantown, W.Va. on Monday. AP
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Prior to Monday’s showdown between No. 5 West Virginia and No. 4 Villanova, the WVU Coliseum scoreboard read, “The snow will not stop us.”
The hot shooting of Villanova, though — that’s a different story.
West Virginia shot 41 percent from the field while Villanova hit 56.9 percent of its shots in a 82-75 Wildcat win in front of the third-largest crowd in Coliseum history (15,593).
“This was a great Big East victory for us,” said Villanova coach Jay Wright. “WVU is always one of the toughest places to play, and we’ve always had trouble scoring here with the way they play defense.”
While the Mountaineers had five players in double figures, they were as cold as the snow that blanketed Morgantown this weekend from beyond the arc and at the free-throw line. WVU missed 20 3-pointers and 14 free throws in the game.
Leading scorer Da’Sean Butler, just three days after scoring a season-high 33 points for the Mountaineers against St. John’s, was held to just 13 points.
“As far as me being a leader, I feel like I need to do a better job, especially tonight,” Butler said. “I probably talked and told people where to go, but as far as leading by example, I did nothing.”
While Butler struggled, Villanova guards Corey Fisher and Scottie Reynolds flourished against a pesky WVU defense. The duo combined for 38 points in the win, as the Mountaineers weren’t able to slow down the Wildcats’ powerful offense. Fisher and Reynolds were a combined 17 of 20 from the free-throw line.
“They’re good, especially when they are able to stop behind ball screens and make shots,” said WVU coach Bob Huggins. “We tried to use our length to make it hard for them to try to stay in front of them and try to make sure our guys stayed down because they are really good at pump faking and getting to the line.
“We didn’t do a very good job, obviously.”
West Virginia scored just 10 points in the first 10 minutes, while the WVU defense struggled to keep Villanova off the scoreboard. The Wildcats built up an 11-point lead before 10-minute mark of the first half. They took an 11-point lead in halftime.
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