I will enjoy this win for a day. I love the fight of this team. If we play defense like we did in the first half we can beat anyone.

3.5 point favorites over Miami at betonline.ag. 5Dimes opens after at -4.

Is our first win over a team seeded better than 15 since Scottie's layup against Pitt.

For the young men who wear the Villanova men's basketball uniforms, they FINALLY get a chance to prove all the doubters wrong. Make all the Doug Gottliebs of the world eat it. Time to show the ESPN suits that to ignore us and marginalize us is a mistake. This is a perfect match up for Nova. Play hard and aggressive, and Iowa will get run out of the gym aka Duke 2009. I expect to see crisp ball movement, dunks, steals, fast breaks and back-breaking 3's.

In about 3 hours, we will be back here celebrating the finality of getting this monkey off our back. We are too good and play with too much heart to not come out fighting.

Go Nova!

54 points in the first half is the highest first-half point total of the season.

The swarming Cats defense was the best defense that Jay has seen all season, as he told Allie LaForce.

Today is what they've worked all season for. Keep your foot on the gas, boys. Not there yet. GO CATS

I don't know about others, but I haven't been this antsy for a game to start since Duke in 09. Let's go!

got to the arena about 20 minutes ago, eating some food at a high table on the concourse and there is a HUGE villanova presence. Everyone's in nova gear. Great early atmosphere.

Loved having a few at Big East

IOWA (22-10)

Kenpom #20 (#25 Offense / #31 Defense)


Big Wins: #12 Wichita State (without VanVleet), #3 Michigan State 2x (once without Valentine, and the other was his 2nd game back), #10 Purdue 2x (the only team with less guard-play than Iowa)

Losses: #54 Dayton, #39 Notre Dame, @ #18 Iowa State, @ #23 Maryland, #14 Indiana 2x, @ #138 Penn State, #32 Wisconsin, @ #70 Ohio State, #126 Illinois


This team comes in swooning, having lost 6 of 8 prior to beating Temple.

I’ve probably watched Iowa play ten times this year (hey, need to do something on nights the Big East doesn’t play), and my coworker is an Iowa basketball nut, so it’s fun to talk about it with him. Here are the cliff notes… they are a two man team centered around their two wings Jarrod Uthoff and Peter Jok. Their guard play is average on a good day, neither point guard can beat their man consistently off the dribble, nor are either great shooters. I think this team is an easy scout, if you pressure the ball and lock off adjacent passes their offense flounders. But be careful, this is a veteran team that starts four seniors and a junior.


OFFENSE

Shot Distribution: 32% Rim / 33% Mid-Range / 35% Three

• Kenpom #25
• Play at a relatively fast pace (#52)
• Pretty good shooting team, #92 eFG%
• Great from 3pt land (38%) ranked #32
• Take care of the ball (#15 turnovers)
• Above average offensive rebounding (#87)
• Buckets are assisted 58% of the time (#52)
• They get to the line at a very low rate (#263)

DEFENSE

Shot Distribution: 34% Rim / 28% Mid-Range / 38% Three

• Kenpom #31
• Don’t force many turnovers (#128)
• Below average defensive rebounding (#260)
• Excellent keeping teams off the foul line (#9)
• #32 in blocks
• #71 in steals
• Defend the 3pt line well, on a percentage basis (31%, #20), however allow opponents to shoot a large volume of 3pt shots (#286)

THE STARS

JARROD UTHOFF (Senior ) 6-9

Shot Distribution: 25% Rim / 39% Mid-Range / 35% Three

• Ranked as the 7th best player according to Kenpom
• Takes 31% of the team’s shots
• Decent offensive rebounder, great defensive rebounder (think Josh Hart)
• #42 in blocks
• Never fouls, but draws more than 5 fouls / 40 minutes
• A shooter (82% FT) and (39% 3pt) and has serious range. Great at the rim.
• Very high volume in the mid-range, but shoots only 37% in the mid-range.

PETER JOK (Junior) 6-6

Shot Distribution: 17% Rim / 34% Mid-Range / 49% Three

• Also takes 30% of the team’s shots (you can do the math for how important these two are)
• An even better shooter than Uthoff, (86% FT), (41% 3pt)
• But only 36% in the mid-range
• Above average rebounder
• Averages 2.8 Steals / 40 minutes (#187)
• Has been very up and down through the last dozen games
• Has the ability to get to the rim, but doesn’t do it as much as he should.
• Born in Sudan, truly amazing backstory if you are interested

MIKE GESELL (Senior) 6-2

Shot Distribution: 42% Rim / 38% Mid-Range / 20% Three

• The primary PG for Iowa
• Great assist rate (#25)
• 2.7 steals / 40 minutes
• Gets to the foul line at a high rate and shoots 73% when he gets there.
• Shot 38% from 3pt on the year, but he is an unwilling shooter (only 42 attempts) and shot only 30% during conference play. Basically you let Gesell shoot it. Don’t be fooled by 55% from the top of arc, he has such low volume from there (and everywhere from 3pt).
• Shoots 27% in the mid-range.
• Highest turnover rate on the team (not good for your PG), rate is basically the same as Brunson or Booth.

ANTHONY CLEMMONS (Senior) 6-2

Shot Distribution: 38% Rim / 26% Mid-Range / 35% Three

• The 2nd ball handler on the team. He will play PG when Gesell needs a rest but the pair will play together most of the time.
• Gets to the line at a high rate (10th best in conference)
• Not a great foul shooter 60%
• Not a great 3pt shooter either (31%, but 34% in conference), and much like Gesell people will leave him open. Difference is, Clemmons will still want to shoot it from 3pt, although he does recognize his limitations and tries to avoid the mid-range and get to rim as much as possible.
• Has really struggled down the stretch of the season.
• Friends and teammates with Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes since childhood (yea that CYO team won a lot of games)

ADAM WOODBURY (Senior) 7-1

Shot Distribution: 67% Rim / 33% Mid-Range / 0% Three

• Excellent rebounder (#40 offensive / #100 defensive) and in conference he is #2 / #3 (very good for a conference of trees)
• Gets to the line at a high rate (#206 / #6 in conference)
• Good from the FT line (70%)
• Does a good job of staying out of foul trouble
• For someone 7-1 he gets absolutely no blocks (roughly same rate as Jenkins)
• His offense has fallen off late in the season for no apparent reason. Hasn’t scored more than 10 points in over a month. I’m told he simply isn’t demanding the ball, and when he gets it he is looking to kick first.
• No longer poking people in the eye

DOM UHL (Soph) 6-9

Shot Distribution: 32% Rim / 34% Mid-Range / 35% Three

• McCaffery has tightened up his rotation down the stretch, but Uhl will be the 6th man, he averages 42% of minutes.
• Good 3pt shooter (43%), but poor in the mid-range (25%)
• Very good rebounder.
• Poor foul shooter (60%)
• I think he has really lost his confidence down the stretch, his shooting volume, percentages, and minutes are all down over the last month and a half.

AROUND COLLEGE BB

• Syracuse was 10 – 12 against the Kenpom top 150 and 9-1 outside of the top 150. Great tournament resume Jimmy.
• I’ve been harping on Melo Trimble and Sulaimon playing too many minutes… well they finally hit their wall. 57% eFG% through January and 46% eFG% February on.
• 9 of the top 23 Kenpom teams are in the South Bracket. FYI Wichita State is ranked higher in Kenpom than Oregon.
• Pundits that read this (all 0 of you), please stop telling me “Oregon is really really good”. They are the #10 Kenpom team but has the #48 defense. Outside of the PAC 12 you will need to actually play defense.
• Keep in mind the preseason poll is most predictive of the eventual champion. In order it was: UNC, Kentucky, Maryland, Kansas, Duke, Virginia, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Gonzaga, Wichita State, Villanova

If I could plan the ideal first three possessions it would be Hart in the lane for a mid range patented two, Daniel with a right handed baby hook and an and one on Iowa big man, and an Arch or Jenkins three from deep. We are up 8-2 and in the flow. From my lips to God;s ears. Go Cats!

Who guards him?

If you buy instant download tickets from Stubhub, PRINT THEM OUT AHEAD OF TIME.
You CAN'T have them scanned from your phone at the Barclays center.

And for my long ticket debacle, comedy of errors:
I bought a ticket off stubhub yesterday last minute as prices continued to drop.
They were real cheap on stubhub and most were hard tickets, but i paid just a few more bucks to get an electronic ticket to avoid having to deal with walking to the Stubhub office.

Ticket comes right through and I have the PDF on my phone.

We get to the arena about 20-25 minutes before tip (~12:15). I get through all the security and get to the ticket scanner and she says they won't scan tickets. Every arena in the world scans them from your phone now, even the Pavilion does! Not because the scanner physically can't do it but because their policy is that they don't scan them.

They tell me I need to go to the box and they will print a hard ticket (that makes sense). I wait in a long line at least 15 minutes to get to a window and they tell me they won't print it. They said they won't print stubhub tickets, even though it's a ticketmaster ticket. They said they won't do it because they can't verify the account (but printing yourself is still ok).

I asked multiple people about all of this and ultimately got the same answers (even though multiple people said they would print it at the box). They tell me you can print it at Shake Shack or Target across the street. Shake Shack was right there so I run across the street and find a girl who goes in the back to see if they can do this. (no idea why Shake Shack would do this in the first place, but thought maybe it was something they do for Barclay's). She says they normally do it, but won't do it today.

Then I run across the street toward Target. It's inside of a mall. Now I am running through this mall, pass these others guys going the other way that got their tickets printed at Target that were near me in line at the arena. I run up the escalator, through the mall (all the time knowing the game has started).

I get to Target and they have a photo print center to the left right when you walk in. I'm asking these girls if I can print a ticket. They say no, but keep asking and then they are trying to help. One says you can't print to their printers from an Iphone, then starts telling me I need to download this Kodak app to print. This whole thing has been absolutely insane and I'm like how am I possibly in this situation right now. The other girl is like what are you talking about to the other one, forget the App he just needs to print his ticket. She says send her a text of the pic. I email the PDF knowing a text would suck. She finally gets that on her phone and says these photo printers cant print PDFs (again making no sense). Then i text her a screen shot of the ticket. Now she isnt getting the text and restarts her phone (more time! ---how is this happening).

Now 2 other kids are here trying to print tickets too. Finally gets the text and proceeds to print. She comes back with a 4x6 photo sleeve and I'm like what the hell is this?? She rings it up for 3 bucks and is like that's not right (id pay anything at that point anyway) but she goes to the back, comes back again and charges me 22 cents. I look at the pic and its just a 4x6 of my screenshot of my ticket. Looks pretty crappy. Im like you cant print on paper??? No. (how is this possible???). She says I do this all the time, it works fine. Then I say how its not clear and she says well if they dont take it just come back and i'll print it bigger. More insanity!!! That is very nice of you to be so helpful, do you think I have time here to come back?!?! do you not realize I am flipping out here?!?!

I run back to the arena. Try to have this woman scan my picture. She says I cant use that. Im thinking there is nothing that specifies paper size! I make her try it anyway. She tries, it doesnt work. I make her try a bunch of times. The barcode is not clear and it doesnt work. Now Im really about to flip out.

Im on my way out of the building and an older guy asks if I need tickets. I say Im looking for a dirt cheap ticket. He starts showing me his upper, telling me face is 76, he paid 100. Im thinking are you crazy? tickets are 10 bucks on stubhub, I said dirt cheap! Im telling these guys I have a ticket but I cant use it, just looking to get in.

I go outside tell some scalper holding a bunch of tickets the same thing. Wasnt amused at my offer. Then Im telling this scalper I just need to print. Guy is standing 2 barracades over from me past the will call line. Then he starts telling me - Oh that guy can print for you. Pointing towards a red jacket Barclays security guy. Im like No, they wont print here. He says that guy will. This goes back and for like 2-3 times because I know the arena wont do it. Finally I'm thinking, this makes no sense but I'll go ask him anyway. The security guy seemed to know the scalper (im sure he's there all the time), so Im like maybe he will help me for him. I run in the building and out the other door to the security guy. Ask him if he can help then he points to this other guy standing 10 feet away.

Theres this guy with a little table against the building with an HP printer on it and a sign about his concierge services. He moves the barracade so I can get over to the guy. This dude has a printer setup just for this purpose (gotta love it, where theres a need, theres a business). I email him the PDF and he prints it- 5 bucks later and a couple hand shakes with my savior I'm running back inside.

Finally sit down with 7 min left in the first half about a whole hour later at 1:10 PM.

the whole thing was just a series of one illogical thing after the other, and everything going wrong. moral of the story - print your stubhub tickets!

The Target woman was saying how the NY arenas dont like the electronic tickets and are trying to counter fraud. That is understandable, but that has nothing to do with using a ticket on a phone vs printed. Its the same exact electronic ticket, it's just being printed. Someone can sell/email it to 100 people and 99 will get screwed. Not scanning the phone doesnt stop this. You can still print the same ticket multiple times with Winston's Usher Services in front of the arena!

At the beginning of the NC State game she walked down stairs to ask me something and I said I had been waiting 365 days for that game and to leave me alone. BTW, I have said that to her maybe 3 total times over 15 years while I was watching a sports event. Today I told her that on Sunday it will be roughly 366 days(leap year) that I have waited for this game, I don't know the time of the game but whenever it is I will be watching it and to leave me alone. Monday she goes away for work for a week and she says "what about family time before I go away for a week?" I said I will spend all day and night with you except when the game is on". She's not pleased. In my favor I took off from work today to watch the game, but instead I took my son to the Please Touch Museum instead and missed the entire game. And tomorrow I'm missing the Flyers/ Penguins game for an egg hunt and other family stuff.

Jim was 90, VU engineering, served in WW11 and was at VUs Hall of Fame Dinner this year with his son Joe a VU alum too. Jim and Jerry Lee, Bob Hope Gala at the VU sports hall of fame guy were classmates.
Both were Great VU FB fans too as well as hoops fans. Jim was a great person and VU alum.

Please share!
Go Cats!!

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do we pay thurs. or fri.?

Good stuff from Reuben Frank. The only issue I have with the article is that Bridges isn't listed as a three-point shooter. He can shoot.

http://www.csnphilly.com/ncaa/ncaa-...int-success-josh-hart-phil-booth-kris-jenkins

hires Steve Pikiell as new hoops coach.........was coach at Stoney Brook.......good luck, Steve....

http://www.app.com/story/sports/col...rs-hires-stony-brooks-steve-pikiell/82012216/

Would like to see the post game video of the press conference after our game....I have been looking but cannot find it.

You have four of the bluest blue blood programs in college basketball history already in the sweet 16.

The top 2 programs of all-time in terms of NCAA performance are UCLA and Kentucky - the next four are UNC, Duke, Kansas and Indiana.

Seeds (only one double-digit seed so far):
1 UNC
5 Indiana
1 Kansas
3 Miami
4 Duke
1 Virginia
4 Iowa St
11 Gonzaga

By Conference:
ACC - 4
B12 - 2
WCC - 1
B10 - 1

With 29 minutes to go until the deadline.....there is one post.

What are we doing wrong.....that we get such a low turnout from students. Both Eric and I have sent multiple tweets on the opportunity over the last 10 days.
We included:
#NovaNation
@VUhoops
@NovaMBB
@VUBenchMob
@AugustinianArmy
@sacketology

I took out an online ad in the Villanovan......

Link to the 2016 Submissions

There must be a better way to reach the yutes of this generation....I just do not get the low turnout.

Final unrepresentative of the game, VA 77- Butler 69 final score.