MELTDOWN 'Nova embarrassed by winless Rutgers in blowout Big East loss

Rutgers 80
Villanova 68
(box score)
(ESPN video highlights)

Rutgers: 9-11 (1-6 BE)
#18 Villanova: 13-4 (3-3 BE, 3-0 B5)

Next game: vs. Notre Dame, 01/26 at the Wachovia Center.

The wheels came off for Villanova tonight.

The Wildcats suffered easily their worst loss of the Jay Wright era, getting blown out by a Rutgers team that was previously winless in conference play, and widely regarded as one of the worst teams in Division 1 basketball.

When all is said and done this year, the loss may rank as the one of the worst in school history.

It's difficult to describe just how bad this loss is. The defeat will no doubt have huge implications for Villanova's NCAA Tournament hopes. The Wildcats can also kiss their #18 ranking in both major polls goodbye, as the team is sure to drop out of the top 25 regardless of what happens against Notre Dame on Saturday.

Granted, Villanova is a young team still trying to come together, and bad losses can be expected to emerge from inexperience. This loss doesn't end the season, and the 'Cats may yet achieve great things in 2008 and beyond. I don't know if anyone, however, thought this team could lose to Rutgers.

Rutgers entered the game on a 6-game losing streak and with an RPI well in the 200s. Previously in the season, Rutgers had lost to teams like St. Peter's, Nebraska, and Rider, with that last loss coming at home. Before giving DePaul a scare in Chicago last weekend, Rutgers failed to score more than 50 points in four of its last five games.

The NJ Institute of Technology, with its 0-20 record and RPI of 335, held Rutgers to just 65 points and a 10-point victory last month. Villanova allowed Rutgers 80 points and lost by 12. NJIT doesn't even have a conference to call home in Division 1 and still outperformed VIllanova against the common opponent.

Villanova started off the game flat, as usual, and fell behind by 14 after five minutes, with the scoreboard showing the ridiculous number of 16-2 at the 15:08 mark.

While Villanova wound up trailing by eight at the half, many Wildcat fans might have expected a come-from-behind victory similar to those against LSU, DePaul, Syracuse, and Bucknell.

The Wildcats, however, had other plans. Villanova showed no signs of life whatsoever until the 5:11 mark of the second half, when Jay Wright mercifully and magnanimously deemed it finally suitable to substitute in Malcolm Grant, with the team trailing by a whopping 18 points.

Grant, who had been benched much of the second half for reasons only known to Wright, proceeded to score 17 consecutive points in just over a two-minute stretch for the Wildcats. Unfortunately, even Malcolm Grant's late-game heroics were too little, too late (this time) to overcome the inexplicable playing-time decisions meted out by his coach.

Villanova went through a scoring drought that lasted 9:45, fifteen seconds short of a full quarter of a game. Can you imagine a team in high school or the NBA getting shut out for an entire quarter? The Wildcats were stuck on the laughable total of 39 points from the 16:12 mark all the way until 6:27 in the second half.

Despite Villanova's complete inability to score during that nearly 10-minute long stretch, Jay Wright thought it prudent to sit Malcolm Grant for all but three minutes of the Wildcat scoring drought.

I must say that while I believe Jay Wright is a good coach who generally has the program going in the right direction, I completely disagree with the way Wright managed his players' court time tonight.

Grant, easily one of Villanova's best scorers, was given just 18 minutes in the game, including a mere seven minutes in the second half. The under-use of Malcolm Grant has become a major theme for this season, and has been chronicled in this space time and time again.

It almost seems as if Jay Wright won't unleash Grant until it's too late for him to make a difference. Grant overcame those odds against LSU and DePaul, but why on earth would Wright sit Grant for 13 minutes in the crucial second half?

Wright even yanked Malcolm off the court after seven minutes in the first half, despite the fact that Malcolm was 1-1 from the field and had accounted for fully one-third of the team's total points.

Wright played Grant just 18 minutes while giving the thoroughly ineffective Shane Clark 24 minutes tonight. Wright also decided to give Corey Stokes, at this point a major project, 26 minutes and Grant's starting spot to open the second half.

Reggie Redding got just three minutes less than Grant despite scoring 23 fewer points and shooting a combined 1-6 from the field and foul line.

If you look at the box score, you might note that Malcolm Grant fouled out, and think that perhaps that was the reason he only saw 18 minutes. Think again. Four of Grant's fouls came with under four minutes to play in the game, and three of his fouls were committed under the two-minute mark, as the Wildcats were forced to try to get back the ball.

All in all, it was a terrible loss for the Wildcats and a poor performance by Jay Wright, who was in my opinion outfoxed tonight by his former assistant, Fred Hill. The 'Cats looked ill-prepared for the game, and did not seem to exhibit any hustle whatsoever on the defensive end.

Villanova's perimeter defense was poor, its offense was anemic, and its heart nowhere to be found outside of Malcolm Grant. The team really only played the last five minutes of the game, but by then, it was too late.

I would say it is time to move on and focus on Notre Dame for Saturday, but this is the type of loss that cannot be forgotten, even with a good victory later in the week.

A win over the Irish would be a good start to get the Wildcats back on track, but make no mistake about it, this loss sets the team and perhaps even the program back immeasurably.

"Congratulations" to reader Tony for most closely predicting the game's final score. Tony's guess was a total of 20 points off the final score, and still was the closest prediction for the game.

Next up for Villanova is Notre Dame, Saturday at noon at the Wachovia Center.

Let's move on to the player grades, which tonight are not for the faint of heart. "READ MORE" below for player performance grades and analysis.

• Scottie Reynolds (S, 37 min)

  Reynolds struggled mightily from the field tonight, shooting a comical 5-19, including 1-9 from the three. Can you really blame him, however, for taking all those shots when the rest of the team was equally inept on offense, and the one player who might have bailed him out was languishing needlessly on the bench for most of the game? It was a below-average effort for Scottie, though, without a doubt. Reynolds seemed unable to break free of a Rutgers defensive scheme that keyed on the sophomore guard. Scottie finished with 16 points, second best on the team. A bright spot for Reynolds tonight was his free-throw shooting, where he went 5-6. Another positive were his 3 steals, tied for tops on the team. Reynolds grabbed 2 rebounds and committed 2 turnovers. He gets a C- for carrying most of the scoring load while Grant was on the bench, but that might even be a tad generous.
  Grade: C-
  
  

• Dante Cunningham (S, 32 min)

  Cunningham was mostly ineffective tonight despite shooting a decent 4-8 from the field to score 9 points. Cunningham was denied on the boards, picking up just 4 rebounds, including only two offensive caroms in a game where the Wildcats shot a dismal 36.7 percent. Cunningham rounded out the box score with 2 turnovers, 2 blocks, and 3 steals. His grade would no doubt be higher with those same stats had the 'Cats not lost to probably the worst team in the all of the BCS conferences tonight.
  Grade: D+
  
  

• Corey Stokes (26 min)

  Stokes actually played one of his best games of the season, which regrettably is not saying much. Still, the freshman managed to shoot relatively well from the field (3-7), including 3-4 from the three to score 9 points. He also grabbed 7 rebounds, but committed 2 turnovers. On the downside, Stokes looked a step slow on defense, and still cannot handle the ball very well out on the perimeter. Stokes also shot one of the worst looking balls I have ever seen, air-balling a layup from point-blank range that missed the rim by perhaps five feet. Nonetheless, this has to be considered a positive game for the freshman project. It's too bad that Stokes's best game to date had to come in one of the worst losses in school history, but perhaps Stokes can build upon this performance going forward.
  Grade: C
  
  

• Shane Clark (S, 24 min)

  Clark put forth a dismal performance tonight, one of the worst by a Wildcat in recent memory. Clark shot 0-4 from the floor, including a miss on a crucial, wide-open three as Malcolm Grant attempted to rally the team very late in the game. Despite playing for 24 minutes for what can only presumably be his size, Clark grabbed just 2 rebounds. As bad as his offensive night was, his defense was far, far worse. Clark was slow getting up the court and slow getting back down. He gave his assignment on the perimeter all day to shoot the ball, and the Rutgers backcourt lit up the 'Cats for 46 points. I can see no justification as to why Clark played 4 minutes tonight, much less 24. Clark is a junior, a captain, and a leader on the team, but sometimes being a leader means taking a reduced role for the greater good. Here is that hoping Jay Wright realizes this before it's too late. In this writer's opinion, it is time for a drastic reduction in Clark's minutes.
  Grade: F
  
  

• Antonio Pena (S, 22 min)

  Pena rebounded well tonight, grabbing 8 for the most on the team, but that's about it. He was blanked from the field, shooting 0-6 for 0 points. He also committed a ridiculous 6 turnovers. Pena has shown flashes of brilliance, especially on the offensive end, but did not play well tonight.
  Grade: D-
  
  

• Reggie Redding (15 min)

  Redding could not get anything going tonight, and it shows in the box score. He shot 0-3 from the field and just 1-3 from the line to score a single point. He had just 1 rebound, and he had a steal. Redding played 15 ineffective minutes tonight, but I do feel like the 15-to 18 -minute range is appropriate for Redding going forward, as he generally is a much better contributor than he was in the RAC.
  Grade: F
  
  

• Corey Fisher (15 min)

  Fisher struggled offensively tonight despite shooting 3-4 from the field. In a game where the Wildcats desperately needed scoring from any source, Fisher was uncharacteristically quiet. Fisher scored just 6 points. He added 2 rebounds, 2 turnovers, just 1 assist, and no steals. I do think that he probably should have seen more than 15 minutes of playing time tonight, however.
  Grade: D+
  
  

• Malcolm Grant (S, 18 min)

  Grant has already been the comeback hero of the two games this season, and he came achingly close to pulling off what would have been his biggest miracle to date. Grant scored a ridiculous 17 straight points in a 2:15 stretch late in the second half. To put that in perspective, at that impossible pace Grant would have scored 302 points in 40 minutes. Much of the above of tonight's post has been dedicated to asking why Grant didn't see more court time, so let's just focus on what he did do in his 18 minutes. Grant shot 6-10 from the field, including 6-7 from the three to score 23 points. Grant made his first 5 attempted threes, and completed another 4-point play in the midst of his one-man rally. A few of Grant's late-game threes were heavily contested NBA-length shots, as well. Grant was 5-6 from the foul line. He had 1 rebound and 3 turnovers, and did not have any assists. To be fair, to whom was he supposed to pass the ball? No one else could find the rim tonight with a pair of binoculars and a GPS. It seems strange to give a player an A in one of the worst losses a team will ever experience, but there it is. Malcolm Grant should get at minimum 30 minutes per game going forward, and if he does not, expect a growing outcry from Villanova fans.
  Grade: A
  
  
  

• Dwayne Anderson (11 min)

  Anderson wasn't altogether terrible tonight but did not accomplish much, either. He was 1-1 from the field to score 2 points, and added 2 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. I do think Anderson has earned the right to play 8-10 minutes per game, but he couldn't really get the job done tonight in this awful loss.
  Grade: D+
  
  

• Incomplete grades: None.



• Did not play: Casiem Drummond (ankle), Andrew Ott (CD), Frank Tchuisi (CD), Jason Colenda (CD).