 "Photo: Leann Arthur/DA")
Villanova has been known for its explosive and versatile offense.
Its flaws on defense, however, proved costly for the Wildcats in its latest loss Saturday against Georgetown.
Despite scoring 90 points, the No. 2 Wildcats fell to the Hoyas 103-90. The loss cost Villanova its 11-game winning streak and its undefeated Big East Conference record.
Villanova has allowed 70 or more points in 11 games this season, including nine of its 10 Big East games.
When the Wildcats (20-2, 9-1) take on West Virginia at 7 p.m. inside the WVU Coliseum, they will likely need their offense to bail them out once again. The Mountaineers have won 30 of their last 31 games when they score at least 70 points.
Villanova is only percentage points behind first-place Syracuse in the Big East standings, while West Virginia sits third. Villanova’s only other loss this season came against Temple Dec. 13.
Villanova leads the Big East in scoring, averaging 85 points per game, but finds itself 12th in the league, allowing 70.5 points.
The Wildcats allowed Georgetown to shoot more than 50 percent from both the field and beyond the arc while the Hoyas made 39 of 50 free throws.
The Villanova offense didn’t help itself either, however, as it committed more turnovers in the first half of the loss (16) than it made field goals (12).
The Mountaineers also had a rough opening half Saturday against St. John’s but rebounded after halftime for their sixth-straight win.
While WVU has trademarked its second-half comebacks this season, a deficit that gets too large may prove too difficult to overcome against the high-powered Wildcat offense.
The team is led by guard Scottie Reynolds.
The senior is fifth in the league in scoring (18.5 points per game), including a team-high 41.1 percentage from 3-point range.
Reynolds moved into fifth place on the school’s all-time scoring list with his 24-point performance against Georgetown. He also leads the team in steals.
Fellow guard Corey Fisher is also an offensive threat for the Wildcats.
Although not as sharp from the outside as Reynolds, Fisher is still shooting 44 percent from the field and averaging 13.2 points – second-best on the team.
Junior Antonio Pena is the third Wildcat averaging double-digits this season while also serving as the Wildcat’s main down-low threat.
Pena is averaging 11.1 points but is fourth in the Big East in field goal percentage (58.3 percent) and 10th in rebounds per game (7.6).
Villanova holds the series advantage 20-18 including taking four of the last five games, but West Virginia is 12-3 all-time against the Wildcats in Morgantown.
Last season, the Mountaineers’ pulled out a 93-72 victory over the Wildcats in Morgantown thanks to a 43-point performance from WVU’s Da’Sean Butler – the team’s current leading scorer.
brian.gawthrop@mail.wvu.edu
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