Villanova happy to get past Seton Hall

IF YOU had looked at the schedule before the season and said Villanova was going to beat Seton Hall in mid-January at the Pavilion, it wouldn't have seemed like such a big deal.

The Wildcats, after all, had won the last nine meetings. And the last 10 in the series played on the Main Line.

But how many figured they were going to be 8-10, or that the Pirates would start 15-3?

It's only one game. But the Wildcats, after nearly winning at Cincinnati (15-4) on Saturday, did enough good things to get their second win in seven Big East games, 84-76 over a team that 2 weeks ago was in the Top 25.

Somebody must have known something, since the folks in Vegas had Villanova as a slight favorite.

"We [saw] it coming," said junior guard Maalik Wayns, who scored 25 after getting 39 against the Bearcats. "We've been getting better and better every day in practice. We just kept a positive attitude. It's the same mind-set we had at the beginning of the year. We just want to be the best we can be at the end of the year."

There are 2 months to see if they can make that a reality, and exactly what that might mean if they do. For now, maybe it's at least a tangible step in the proper direction.

And for a team that had won four times since Thanksgiving, that's something.

"That was great for us," said coach Jay Wright. "Seton Hall's a very good team, with two big-time Big East players [seniors Herb Pope underneath and Jordan Theodore outside]. I kept telling our guys, they're never going to die."

The Wildcats, who never trailed after 9-8, were up nine at the break. With 8 minutes to go, Seton Hall (4-3 in the conference) cut the margin to three. Villanova responded by going on a 10-3 spurt over the next 4 minutes. The lead would grow to 14 with 50 seconds showing, but the Wildcats, as they've been prone to do, got a little sloppy and let it get close. Still, the only real suspense was when freshman Darrun Hilliard missed the second of two foul shots near the end. It kept everyone in the crowd from getting free food at a local establishment. Maybe next time.

The Wildcats shot 41 free throws and converted 34. Wayns went 15-for-16. First-year guy JayVaughn Pinkston made 13 of 17. He finished with a career-high 23 points, 16 in the second half, and a career-best 11 rebounds in 34 minutes, the most he's ever played. Sophomore James Bell, who had a career-high 21 at Seton Hall last season, scored 18. He made four of Villanova's six three-pointers.

Wayns also was largely responsible for guarding Theodore, who shot 2-for-16.

"Coach has been on me about my defense since Day 1 as a freshman," said Wayns, who also had seven assists and just two turnovers, to go with five boards. "I'm just trying to make strides, do whatever I have to for my teammates. It wasn't just me. I had some people helping."

Like, for instance, big man Mouphtaou Yarou, their second-leading scorer, who had two points, nearly 11 below his average, on three shots. But Pope only got 10 points on eight shots himself.

"If you told me Mouph would get two points, I wouldn't think we'd be able to score enough to beat them," Wright admitted. "Good defense is harder to play than good offense, because you have to do it together."

The Pirates had four guys score between 10 and 14. They came in leading the Big East in three-point shooting, at 42 percent. But they went 12-for-36, after going 3-for-17 in the first 20 minutes. And those three makes were all by freshman Brandon Mobley, who'd made three all season before that. He wouldn't make, or even take, another.

"If you get the looks, you've got to take them," said second-year Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard. "I don't think [Theodore] gets the respect he deserves right now [from the officials]. He got bothered that he thought he was getting fouled and wasn't getting [the calls]."

The Wildcats remain far from a polished product. But if there's one thing Wright saw, it was effort. An ingredient that maybe has been lacking.

"That's what we're looking for," he said. "There's a legendary coach [Larry Brown] who's at practice all the time. But we had a guy [whom Wright wouldn't identify] from the outside come in and watch the other day. And he said, 'You know, it's the first time I came to practice and I didn't see people really going after each other.' I think that can cover for a lot. We gutted it out."

The journey, wherever it may lead, continues Saturday at St. John's (8-10, 2-5), the only other Big East team that has a losing record.

It's another game. The next one. So who figured at this point that trying to get back to .500 would be the prevailing story line?