ROUNDBALL DAILY

DAILY DISH: Villanova is in with win over Georgetown

There’s something about Villanova and knocking off top-5 teams. The Wildcats have lost games to Columbia, Seton Hall and La Salle, but when they play a top-five team at the Wells Fargo Center, they ball out. With their season on the line against Georgetown on Wednesday night, Villanova (19-10, 10-8) came up huge. The Wildcats won, 67-57, ending the Hoyas’ 11-game winning streak and knocking Georgetown out of a (potential) (future) No. 1 seed, according to Bracket Pope Joe Lunardi.

Lunardi said he will also move ‘Nova out of the dreaded “Last Four In” position and solidly into the bracket after the win.

Jay’Vaughn Pinkston continued his solid run of nine straight double-figure scoring games by putting up 20 in the game, including 11-for-14 from the free throw line. ‘Nova shot a ridiculous 42 FREE THROWS as compared to Georgetown’s 8, so I’m not exactly sure how John Thompson III’s head didn’t explode into a million sweaty little pieces, like Gus Johnson in those Fox Sports commercials.

It’s hard to imagine that the selection committee could leave Villanova out of the NCAAs after this win, even if it does lose in the first round of the Big East tournament. Not many teams have beaten three top-five teams (Villanova also beat Syracuse and Louisville at home) this season, and even though the Wildcats have some puzzling losses, those wins should be enough carry them through.

OTHER NOTES: Villanova joins 06-07 Virginia Tech and 93-94 Wake Forest as the only unranked teams to defeat three top-five teams in a single season.

Conference tournaments started yesterday, but they really heated up today with quarterfinal rounds in the Patriot League, NEC, Atlantic Sun, and Patriot League. Spike Lee was courtside for the LIU/Quinnipiac quarterfinal game in Brooklyn. He witnessed a ridiculous foul-fest that saw six players foul out, including NEC Player of the Year Jamal Olasewere and Quinnipiac’s top four leading scorers. Can we replay that game with different refs?

 

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