Yesterday’s Action
In its regular-season finale, Pennsylvania let a win against the Princeton Tigers slip away, much as they let the ball slip out of bounds time and time again over the course of the game. After entering halftime tied, the Quakers continued turning the ball over, totaling 17 turnovers in the game to just 8 for the Tigers, and falling further behind in an eventual 71-58 defeat. As usual, Ian Hummer was the man for Princeton, scoring a team-high 18 points. For the Quakers, freshman Tony Hicks finished off a strong second half of the season with a game-high 22 points on 9-19 shooting. Leading scorer Miles Cartwright had a disappointing outing, only tallying 6 points on 2-8 shooting and committing 6 turnovers, although he did record a game-high 7 assists.
Pennsylvania finishes the season 6-8 in conference play, its worst record since 2009-10. Fortunately, the Quakers picked up some good wins along the way, which should provide valuable experience for a team returning every member of its roster next season.
Today’s Action
7:00 PM: Villanova (19-12, 10-8 Big East) vs. St. John’s (16-14, 8-10 Big East) [Big East Tournament 2nd Round] – ESPN2
Following a huge win against Georgetown, Villanova enters the Big East tournament off the bubble and firmly in the NCAA tournament field. The last thing the team needs is to drop a game against a reeling Red Storm team and make the tournament committee second-guess itself. Luckily for the Wildcats, they appear to have earned a good initial draw in this contest.
The Wildcats needed overtime to win their lone meeting with St. John’s back in January, 98-86. Team leading scorers JayVaughn Pinkston and Ryan Arcidiacono were particularly impressive in the game, combining for 58 points on 15-30 shooting, including 8-15 on three-pointers. Arcidiacono’s 32 points and 7 made threes were both career highs for the freshman.
St. John’s leading scorer D’Angelo Harrison was an absolute monster for the Red Storm in that game, dropping a career and game-high 36 points behind a 6-12 effort from behind the arc. Fortunately for Villanova, Harrison will not be suiting up for this contest, as he was suspended by the team for the remainder of the season earlier this month. The Red Storm have gone 0-3 following Harrison’s departure and in his absence, freshman Jakarr Sampson stands as the only player on the roster averaging double digits per game. If the Wildcats bottle up Sampson and continue to get to the free throw line as they have all season, they should cruise into the quarterfinal match against Louisville.
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