Villanova drops to 0-3 in Big East

AND IT just keeps getting more difficult to digest, for a program that isn't used to this sort of thing.

Villanova has never been 0-3 in the Big East.

Supposedly there's a first for everything. But this isn't the way the Wildcats wanted to find out.

And if you thought those buzzards already were congregating before, well, how do you explain what went down last night?

The Wildcats, now 7-8, lost their conference home opener to South Florida (9-7, 2-2), 74-57, at the Pavilion, where they'd won 51 of their previous 52 games. This was the same USF team that managed to come from way back as the 15 seed to beat them at the end in the opening round of last March's Big East Tournament.

Villanova's only other on-campus loss in the last 5 years was to Pittsburgh in last season's final game here. That was different.

Sure, everyone knew this shaped up as a transitional kind of ride on the Main Line. But the 'Cats were picked to finish in the middle, not near the bottom.

The Wildcats, who at least looked better in their previous two losses at West Virginia and nationally ranked Marquette, have now dropped eight of their last 11.

"We've got to earn it all over again," coach Jay Wright said. "It wasn't a great performance. We have a lot of work to do this year.

"We're a struggling team. We have to battle through this and get better. We know we have to answer to outsiders. But that doesn't really bother us. We hear it, but we're going to evaluate ourselves based on our core values.

"There's a lot of areas we have to improve on. It's where we are. We'd certainly rather not be in this situation . . . It's just a loss. It doesn't matter how soundly [it was]. When all the things are going well, it's [still] just the next game [for us]."

In other words, the Wildcats will keep doing what they do, an attribute that's served them well in the past, even through some rough moments. But for a program that went to a Final Four 3 years ago, it's certainly a whole other perspective.

"Something good will happen for this team," insisted junior guard Maalik Wayns, their top scorer, who finished with a team-high 17 points. "You have to take the good with the bad. You can't let yourself get too high [when it's good], or too low [when it's not]. You have to try and stay on an even keel and keep working."

At some point, there's really nothing more you can say.

The Wildcats trailed at the half, 27-25, after going nearly 8 minutes without a field goal in one stretch. It's not the first time that's happened.

The deficit got to a dozen with a little less than 12 minutes to go. Three minutes later, it was a three-point game. But with a little less than 6 minutes to go, USF's lead was back up to 10. Villanova got no closer than eight. The Bulls scored 12 of the final 16.

"They physically just pounded us," Wright said. "They were aggressive. We didn't do anything to get any easy baskets. When you can't score, it puts so much pressure on your defense. You've got to scramble, trap, because you're behind. It all kind of builds on each other.

"Other than Maalik, we don't really have that proven scorer in the Big East who can just break someone's run. Our defense wasn't great, but when you're behind, good teams slice that up."

Apparently, even the supposedly not-so-good ones. This was the Wildcats' worst loss on Ithan Avenue since February 2004, when Providence beat them, 100-74.

They shot 37.7 percent from the field, 20 from the arc (4-for-20). That's been a problem. Freshman JayVaughn Pinkston was the only other Wildcat to score in double digits. He had 12, all in the second half. Good thing the Wildcats turned it over only six times. But they got outrebounded by 12. Mouphtaou Yarou, the only regular starter who actually did, had only two points and a board in 7 second-half minutes.

The Wildcats will host DePaul (10-4, 1-1) on Sunday afternoon, before getting top-ranked, unbeaten Syracuse Wednesday in South Philly. The Blue Demons beat Pitt at home last night, only their third win in their last 56 conference games. At this point nothing can be considered a game Villanova should win.

Wayns didn't start. Neither did Dominic Cheek, their third-leading scorer. Both were cited for "practice issues" by Wright, who started four of his five freshmen. Sophomore James Bell, who didn't play against Marquette because of a "teaching moment," fouled out in only 5 minutes, which is hard to do. He missed all four of his shots.

The Bulls, who statistically came in as one of the Big East's top defensive teams, made 20 of 22 free throws. They got 20 points off the bench from Jawanza Poland on 7-for-12 shooting. Ron Anderson Jr. had 10 boards in 22 minutes before fouling out.

These teams will meet again Feb. 15 in Tampa. Where the Wildcats will be by then now appears to pretty much anyone's guess. At least there's nowhere to go but up. Right?

"I'm not saying this is enjoyable," Wright said. "You learn a lot of life lessons through this. That's the part I enjoy. We have to go back and fix this."

Doing so quickly would be preferable, since much more of this could become truly unbearable.