Villanova prepares for a visit from hot Cincinnati squad

The coaches of the Big East figured Cincinnati to finish 12th in their preseason poll announced at October's media day. Obviously, the Bearcats have refused to follow along.

Ranked for the first time this week at No. 24, the Bearcats take a 15-0 record - equaling that of their 1998-99 squad for the best start in school history - into the Pavilion Sunday, where No. 7 Villanova has won 44 consecutive games over the last four years.

Winning streak or not, Wildcats coach Jay Wright knows this game won't be easy.

"It's just the Big East," he said after his team defeated South Florida, 83-71, to improve its record to 13-1. "It's next game.

"You've got a team coming in that knows how to win, and they're expecting to come in and win. We just know it's going to be a battle. This league, it's next game. Whatever the next game is, is going to be tough."

The Bearcats own Big East wins over DePaul and Seton Hall, both at home. They are coming off an impressive 66-46 victory Thursday over crosstown rival Xavier in a series where blowouts have been few.

They haven't exactly faced a killer schedule to date; the website collegerpi.com ranks their strength of schedule as No. 312 among the nation's 345 Division I basketball teams. Sunday's game will be their first of the season against a ranked team.

But Cincinnati's play has been impressive nonetheless, particularly on defense.

The Bearcats rank in the top five in the nation in points allowed (53.8 per game). The Bearcats also are in the top 12 in field-goal-percentage defense, and turnover margin, having forced more than 16 miscues per contest.

They have been led on offense by junior guard Dion Dixon, their top scorer at 12.9 points per game, and sophomore Cashmere Wright, among the Big East leaders in assists, steals, and assist-turnover ratio.

Wright is particularly wary of Cincinnati's inside players. Yancy Gates, a 6-foot-9, 260-pound junior, and 6-11 senior Ibrahima Thomas have combined to pull down almost 14 rebounds per game.

The Wildcats were outrebounded, 31-27, by South Florida, only the fourth time this season they've been beaten on the boards. In particular, Wright was disappointed that the Bulls pulled down 16 offensive rebounds, which accounted for 15 second-chance points.

Sophomore Mouphtaou Yarou, who got into early foul trouble, went scoreless - missing all four of his shots - and grabbed one rebound in 18 minutes.

"I think our big guys struggled," Wright said. "I think Mouph, Tone [Antonio Pena], and Mo Sutton struggled. I think that's more attributed to [USF's big men]. I think those guys are really good up front."

Villanova has received excellent play of late from Corey Stokes, who knocked down all five of his three-point attempts against South Florida. In his last seven games, Stokes has averaged 21.1 points and shot 56 percent on three-pointers.

Dominic Cheek went 4 for 4 from three-point territory Thursday night and added 17 points. Maalik Wayns dished out nine assists and has accounted for 32 assists against nine turnovers in his last four games.

Sunday's game will be Villanova's last at the Pavilion for more than three weeks. The Wildcats' next three home games - Louisville and Maryland later this week, Georgetown on Jan. 29 - will be played at the Wells Fargo Center.