Saint Joseph's for Villanova: Holy War Facts

Villanova and Saint Joseph's first played each other on Jan. 15, 1921. The Wildcats won, 31-22. From 1921 to '39, the teams met 13 times with Villanova winning 12. The teams didn't meet again until 1955, which started a streak of six consecutive Saint Joseph's victories.

The rivalry: Villanova leads series, 41-24 The teams have split the last six games, with five of the games being decided by double-digit margins. Interestingly, the closest game was in 2004, a seven-point Hawks win, the year of Saint Joseph's 27-0 regular season, a team led by Jameer Nelson and Delonte West.

The last six meetings:

* Feb. 3, 2003: Hawks, 92-75. Notable: The Hawks jumped to a 40-9 lead in the first 13:24. Jameer Nelson had 20 of his 30 in the first half.

* Feb. 2, 2004: Hawks, 74-67. Notable: The third-ranked Hawks recorded their 19th consecutive victory. Nelson (23 points), West (21) and Pat Carroll (16) led the way. Foul shooting (17-for-18 after the break) nailed it down.

* Feb. 7, 2005: Wildcats, 67-52. Notable: Jason Fraser had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the 22nd-ranked Wildcats.

* Feb. 7, 2006: Wildcats, 71-58. Notable: Kyle Lowry (25 points, six assists, four steals) led the way for the fourth-ranked Wildcats, who overcame a 12-point halftime deficit.

* Feb. 6, 2007: Wildcats, 56-39. Quotable: Martelli apologized to the "city of Philadelphia, to the TV people that had to put the game on, to the fans who are so passionate about our team but that was a flat-out [butt]-whipping."

* Feb. 4, 2008: Hawks, 77-55. Quotable: "To pretty much be embarrassed by them the last 2 years and to come out and play like this, it was perfect," Hawks' Pat Calathes said.

Leading the 2008-09 Wildcats: Dante Cunningham, 17.9 points; Dante Cunningham, 8.4 rebounds; Scottie Reynolds, 4.8 assists.

Leading the 2008-09 Hawks: Ahmad Nivins, 18.1 points; Ahmad Nivins, 11.4 rebounds; Garrett Williamson, 5.4 assists.

Coaches: Jay Wright is in his eighth season at Villanova, 15th overall. His Villanova record is 156-84. His career record is 278-169. He is 4-3 against Saint Joseph's. Phil Martelli is in his 14th season at Saint Joseph's. His record is 265-156. He is 3-8 against Villanova.