Villanova's Stokes looks to film for help

Every good shooter has gone through the same challenge after a poor game - the desire to forget about it vs. the need to watch tape to see how he can avoid a repeat showing.

Villanova's Corey Stokes has been confronting that conundrum this week following Monday's three-point performance in the Wildcats' 61-59 loss to Connecticut, a game in which he didn't make any of his six shots from the field.

"Definitely, when you watch film, you look back and say: 'I should have done that,' " Stokes said Thursday before the seventh-ranked Cats departed for Syracuse and Saturday's game against the No. 3 Orange.

"Everything looks different on film. Of course, you can go back and say you should have done things differently. That's what you watch film for, to get better. Hopefully, we'll play them again, and I'll do some things better to get open."

The 6-foot-5 senior, who entered the game with a 16.5-point average, said that, in a way, he took it as a compliment that the Huskies devoted so much attention to him. He got few open looks in the game, and none in the second half when he took just one shot.

"UConn denied me the ball the whole game," he said. "They did a great job. I have to do a better job of getting open when a team is denying the ball the entire game. I've just got to learn from it and move on. That game is in the past, and now we're on to Syracuse."

Villanova coach Jay Wright offered his own advice to Stokes.

"Watching the film, you could see he was looking for great shots all the time," Wright said. "There were other shots he could have taken. I think that's a lesson learned from that game."

One of the most prolific shooters in the Big East, Stokes is 1 of 10 from beyond the arc in the last two games. The Wildcats will need his long-distance accuracy to move Syracuse's zone away from the basket and open up things on the inside.

Corey Fisher, who scored 28 points against the Huskies, credited Stokes for not letting his poor shooting night affect the rest of his game.

"He's not scoring, but he's doing a lot of other things," Fisher said. "Stokes was still playing defense. He got fouled on a big-time three, went to the line, automatic three free throws.

"Stokes already knows that game is in the past, and Saturday you're going to see a much different Stokes."

Wright and his players welcomed back an old friend to Thursday's practice - Hall of Famer and former 76ers coach Larry Brown.

Brown, 70, who still lives near the Villanova campus, parted ways with the Charlotte Bobcats in December. He used to be a frequent visitor to Wildcats practices in his two years between jobs with the New York Knicks and Charlotte.

"I love having him around," Wright said. "He's refreshing. He has a real great mind to share basketball ideas with. I hope he keeps coming around."

Brown told the Associated Press he is bored without basketball.

"He's allowing me to hang around and get my basketball fix," Brown said of Wright.

It's been a bit of a roller-coaster season for Fisher, but Wright hopes he can sustain the level of play he exhibited against UConn.

In his last six games, the 6-1 senior guard is averaging 19.0 points and 5.3 assists. He's shooting 48.1 percent from the field overall and also from three-point territory. He has knocked down 13 three-point baskets, as opposed to 12 in his first 13 games.

Over a four-game stretch earlier in the season, beginning with Villanova's loss to Tennessee in the final of the Preseason NIT, Fisher had made just 8 of 40 tries from the field while averaging 9.3 points.

Fisher's performance Monday nudged him ahead of Stokes (16.1 points per game to 15.8) as the Wildcats' top scorer.