Neues » settled for jump shots,

PHILADELPHIA -- Villanova coach Jay Wright believed his Wildcats had a chance to be good this season, thanks to the players chemistry. A.J. Brown Youth Jersey . He just didnt expect them to be this good. Darrun Hilliard scored 19 points to lead No. 6 Villanova to a dominating 77-59 victory over Georgetown on Saturday, preserving the Wildcats hopes of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. JayVaughn Pinkston added 13 points, and James Bell and Ryan Arcidiacono had 11 apiece for the Wildcats (28-3, 16-2), who won their sixth straight game while tying the 2005-06 team for second-most wins in program history. Villanovas 16 Big East wins are the most in school history. "I dont try to predict our record but if someone forced me to, I never wouldve predicted 28-3," Wright said. Wright said the teams togetherness, which has been evident since preseason workouts in the summer, is a key to the Wildcats success. "Most of your teams that are good get along, but this is a really unique group," Wright said. "I think they are all really similar, and they do look out for each other. Its a pleasure to coach guys who love to play. They love to play together. It was really fun to be a part of that." Said Hilliard, "We just like each other, man. We dont have nothing against each other. Were really like brothers. We like talking with each other and enjoy being around each other, even off the court." The Wildcats team-first mentality showed against the Hoyas, as five players scored in double-figures. Bell entered Saturday averaging a team-best 15 points per game, which is unusually low for a team so highly regarded. "At the offensive end, theyre a very, very unselfish team," Hoyas coach John Thompson III said. "They drive, kick it to the person and that person can make a shot. They have several players on their team who would be the point person, the star on other teams. They have different players who can step up. I think their unselfishness is a key." The 18-point win marked the largest margin of victory for Villanova in a Big East game between the teams. Markel Starks scored 20 points for the Hoyas (17-13, 8-10), who are in jeopardy of failing to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2009. DVauntes Smith-Rivera added 14 points and Aaron Bowen had 13 for Georgetown. Georgetown needs a run in the Big East tournament to secure a fifth straight NCAA bid. The Hoyas, who are the No. 7 seed, open the tournament Wednesday night. "Well put all of our energy into getting ready for that first game," Thompson III said. "Well have to play better than we did today, significantly better." Villanova, meantime, is in position for a No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament with a good run in the conference tournament. The Wildcats, who were helped by Kansas loss on Saturday, already have secured the Big East regular-season title and the top seed in the conference tournament. Villanova opens play in the Big East tournament Thursday. The Wildcats likely will field many questions about NCAA tournament seeding in New York, site of the Big East tournament, but Wright said the talk wont affect his players. "I dont think theres that much of a difference with a one and a two (seed)," Wright said. "Being considered up there is great, but its no concern for us. The Big East tournament will be fun." Bell added: "Our focus is always on the next game, the next day and just getting better period. The next day is just the next challenge. The next day is another chance to get better and thats what we have to deal with." Villanova, which led 42-29 at halftime, upped its advantage to 20 points when Arcidiacono made two 3-pointers on consecutive Villanova possessions to give the Wildcats a 55-35 lead with 13:02 remaining. The Hoyas never got it under double-digits the rest of the way. The Wildcats took control with a strong first half. Bells four-point play with 49.8 seconds left in the half gave Villanova its largest lead of the period, 42-27. Bell had 11 points in the half for the Wildcats, who shot 52 per cent from the field and 57 per cent from the arc in the opening 20 minutes. Bowen had nine points before the break to pace Georgetown, which battled foul trouble in the first half. Starks, who entered averaging a team-best 17 points per game, picked up his third foul with 6:40 to play before intermission. Jabril Trawick also had three fouls before the break. There were some hard fouls in this one that was reminiscent of the old Big East when these teams developed a fierce rivalry that has remained with the incarnation of the new basketball-only Big East this season. Smith-Rivera suffered an apparent head injury 43 seconds into the second half and walked groggily to the bench before returning minutes later. Villanovas Dylan Ennis limped off after going down hard with just over seven minutes to play. Neither team allowed the other easy layups in a game that featured 46 fouls. NOTES: It was the 73rd meeting between the teams, and the Hoyas now lead the series 42-31. ... The Wildcats improved to 39-33 all-time at the Wells Fargo Center, Villanovas off-campus home venue. ... Wildcats recruits Phil Booth and Mikal Bridges, who both signed National Letters of Intent with the school for next season, were in attendance. ... Villanovas previous largest Big East margin against the Hoyas was a 75-60 win on Feb. 5, 2004. The Wildcats largest-ever margin was 28 points -- 73-45 -- on Feb. 11, 1950. Derrick Henry Jersey . -- Marty Havlat scored three goals for the first time in nearly nine years, and the San Jose Sharks prevented Colorado from clinching the Central Division title with a 5-1 victory over the Avalanche on Friday night. Jurrell Casey Womens Jersey . - Christophe Lalancette scored a third-period goal and added the shootout winner to lead the Drummondville Voltigeurs to a 5-4 win over the Quebec Remparts in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play on Sunday. http://www.titansstoreonline.com/Black-17-Ryan-Tannehill-Womens-Jersey/ . Marie rink got back in the win column at the Olympic mens curling tournament with a 7-4 win over the host Russian squad on Wednesday.TORONTO - If youve played or coached in the NBA long enough, you probably have a tried and tested method for shaking off unsettling losses. A couple days removed from the Raptors most recent defeat, a triple overtime loss to the Washington Wizards, Dwane Casey is still making notes, having reviewed the game tape two or three times since Thursday night. DeMar DeRozan has also watched the tape, hoping to identify areas of weakness in his and the teams performance. However, that form of reflection is not for everybody. Some prefer to look ahead, rather than dwell on the past. "I didnt watch it," Kyle Lowry admitted. "No. We lost. I didnt watch that game." The Raptors overcame a spotty showing on the boards, giving up 18 offensive rebounds, and in the trenches, allowing 80 points in the paint, giving themselves a couple of opportunities to steal a victory in what would eventually become the franchises longest game. In the end, Toronto simply ran out of bullets. By the third overtime period, they were without Lowry, Amir Johnson and Patrick Patterson - all having fouled out - as well as Terrence Ross, who left the game with an ankle injury in the first half. "Its definitely tough, just to watch it and understand how close we came to pulling it [out] but it happens," said DeRozan, who scored 34 points - his third 30-plus point outing in the last five games - in 57 minutes of action. "Its the NBA and youve got to learn from it." For Jonas Valanciunas, who struggled in overtime after sitting out the entire fourth quarter, Thursdays loss was another learning experience, one Casey hopes his young centre wont take too personally. "We all make mistakes," Casey said following practice Friday afternoon. "He made some mistakes down the stretch, hes got to learn from them, not get his head down [or] feel like the weight of the world is on his shoulders [and] play basketball." "Hes 21-years-old, not really good looking but a nice looking guy," he joked. "Why be stressed about anything?" "His role is to go in, have fun, learn, get better, improve and try to play the game the right way. If you make a mistake, okay, learn from it. Dont make the same mistake twice." With a rare four-day break looming, the Raptors have an opportunity to redeem themselves when they host the Golden State Warriors Sunday. Its been nearly three full months since they last saw the Warriors but their 112-103 loss in Oakland on Dec. 3 is not one that can easily be forgotten. "Me personally, I remember it," Lowry said of that game, in which the Raptors surrendered a 27-point lead, the largest collapse in franchise history. "At the end of the day, were a different team, theyre a different team so were just going to go out there and play our game." Just six days prior to the trade of Rudy Gay, Toronto led 88-70 after 36 minutes before the Warriors went off for a 42-point quarter. Earl Campbell Jersey. Since that night, the Raptors have gone 26-15 while solidifying themselves as one of the leagues best fourth quarter teams, holding opponents to 21.9 points in the final frame, first in the NBA. The Raptors have lost only two games when leading going into the fourth quarter this season. "It was tough, man," DeRozan said, looking back on that night. "I think that game really bothered us afterwards because we had them beat and before you know it, they started raining threes. It sucks to lose like that so we definitely understand that and I definitely think everyone remembers that." Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson accounted for 26 points, on 6-of-7 shooting from three-point range, in the fourth, carrying the Warriors to victory. The Raptors are winless in seven games facing Golden State with Curry in the lineup, allowing 119.3 points in those contests. The all-star guard averages 27.3 points and 8.7 assists against Toronto, his highest marks against any opponent in his career. "You have two of the best shooters in Golden State, probably in the league," DeRozan said of Curry and Thompson. "The way Steph can score the ball at an all-time high is definitely amazing and youve got a guy like Klay that can catch and shoot at will. It makes it tough so weve got to come out [Sunday] night and be aggressive on both ends, make it tough on them." Averaging a combined 41.8 points per game, the Warriors duo of Curry and Thompson is the NBAs highest scoring backcourt, just ahead of Lowry and DeRozan, who average 39.6. Lowry was a full participant in practice Saturday and insists he is good to go against the Warriors after coming down on his right ankle at the end of regulation Thursday. Ross was held out of practice as a precaution, though he did get some work in on the stationary bike, and is considered questionable for Sundays contest. The Raptors, who have won 12 of their last 16 at home, havent lost back-to-back games at the Air Canada Centre since Dec. 1 and hope to avoid doing so against the red-hot Warriors. Golden State, in the middle of a season-long six game road trip, has won five of six. After being held to 83 points and losing to the Bulls by 20 on Wednesday, they scored a season-high 126, dismantling the Knicks by 23 Friday night. "We stopped attacking the basket, settled for jump shots, we tried to play their game and theyre better at it," Casey said of his teams collapse in Oakland. "[We] didnt do a good job of handling their pressure offensively. They made some tough shots, now weve got to go down, attack the paint, make them play defence [and] attack the rim if our jump shots are not falling." ' ' '