Villanova dismisses Providence

Villanova 82
Providence 73
(box score)

Providence: 13-6 (3-3 BE)
Villanova: 13-5 (14-5, 3-3 BE, 3-0 B5)

Next game: at Notre Dame, 01/27 @ The Joyce Center.

The dreaded "letdown" after beating two ranked teams at home is always possible, especially when your team travels to the Dunkin' Donuts Center for a game against the tough Providence Friars. Thankfully, no such letdown occurred, and the 'Cats won their third straight game, four out of their last five.

Victory tonight came sloppily for the Wildcats, who committed 19 turnovers. Villanova did force the Friars into 22 turnovers of their own, however. The 'Cats shooting was fairly good at 53.3 percent from the field, but Providence shot an even-better 55.3 percent. Villanova won the battle of the boards by a 33-23 margin.

The win pulled Villanova to an even 3-3 in conference play. Next up for the Wildcats is a grudge match against Notre Dame in South Bend, on Saturday. If Villanova manages a win there, the team will certainly be ranked in the top 25 come Monday afternoon.

Onto the player grades. As always, click "READ MORE" below for player performance grades and analysis.

• Scottie Reynolds (S, 40 min)

  Reynolds has officially taken the team onto his shoulders. He is the floor leader of the Wildcats and the team's best scorer. He scored 20 -- leading the team -- on good shooting. Reynolds was 7-14 from the field, including 2-4 from the three. He shot 4-5 from the foul line. Reynolds also led the team in assists, with 6, and pulled in 3 rebounds. One eye-popping stat was his 9 turnovers, but a few of those were charging calls that were dubious at best. Reynolds played a great game aside from the turnovers, which plagued both teams tonight.
  Grade: B+




• Mike Nardi (S, 39 min)

  Nardi has really found his stroke. This was his best scoring game of the new year. Mike shot a blazing 7-10 from the field, including an excellent 5-6 from the three-point line, for 19 points total. He had 4 assists and 2 rebounds. He committed 3 turnovers, including a crucial misdirected inbounds pass during crunch time, but otherwise had a good game.
  Grade: B+




• Reggie Redding (30 min)

  Redding had his best game of the season tonight. He played tenacious defense in his career-high 30 minutes, leading the team in steals with 4. He also had 3 rebounds and an assist to go with his 5 points. What's more, he looked fantastic in breaking the Friars' press, and had zero turnovers even while facing Providence's cranked-up pressure defense. He still hasn't found his three-point shot (0-3), but watch out when he does.
  Grade: B+




• Shane Clark (S, 27 min)

  Clark had a solid all-around game tonight, doing a little bit of everything. He shot 5-10 from the field, scoring 11 points. He also co-led the team in rebounds with 6. He added a steal, an assist, and committed 2 turnovers in his 27 minutes. His 0-4 three-point shooting tonight leaves a lot to be desired, but Clark is getting it done where it counts, on the defensive end. One adjustment that could be made is to not channel the ball to Clark in the press-breaking defense, as his dribbling ability is a liability against a pressure defense.
  Grade: B-
  
  

• Will Sheridan (S, 23 min)

  Sheridan shared the team lead for rebounds, pulling in 6, but was very quiet from the offensive end. Will shot 2-7 for 4 points, and grabbed 2 steals while committing just 1 turnover. All in all a solid but quiet game for Sheridan.
  Grade: C+




• Dante Cunningham (S, 17 min)

  Cunningham's minutes tonight were severely limited by early foul trouble. Nonetheless, Dante was able to put up some decent numbers in his 17 minutes. He scored 13 points on efficient 5-7 shooting, and grabbed 5 rebounds. He continues to lead the team in steals for the season, adding 2 tonight. He also had a spectacular block. Dante is by far our best low-post player, and his skills should come in handy for the post-season run.
  Grade: B




• Curtis Sumpter (16 min)

  Sumpter returned to action tonight after sitting out the last game with a bruised leg. The injury does not seem to have fully healed, as Sumpter was limping up and down the court and was very limited in his lateral motion. His offensive game was sharp as he scored 7 points on 3-5 shooting, including a beautiful three pointer. His defensive prowess, however, suffered, no doubt due to the injured leg.
  Grade: C+




• Casiem Drummond (7 min)

  Casiem's efforts were fairly quiet in his 7 minutes of play. He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting, and added a rebound, an assist, a steal, and a turnover. His defense looked good.
  Grade: C




• Incomplete grades:
  Bilal Benn (1 min).



• Did not play:
  Dwayne Anderson (CD), Frank Tchuisi (CD), Ross Condon (CD), Andrew Ott (RS), Antonio Pena (RS)