Providence coach's health scare a wakeup call to Villanova's Wright
Friars' Ed Cooley left a game with exhaustion, but will coach against Villanova. Jay Wright says it's a reminder of job's stress.
PROVIDENCE COACH Ed Cooley, thankfully, seems to be OK.
He had to leave the Friars' game over the weekend early in the second half. Spent a night in the hospital with what he said was exhaustion and dehydration.
Villanova coach Jay Wright texted with Cooley on Sunday.
"He said, 'I'll be fine. I want to get home and rest. And I'll see you Wednesday,' " Wright said.
It was a brief exchange, because that's what coaches do. Everything is quick, quick, quick.
Until there's a health scare, of course. Then there is a moment for reflection.
"I never worry about it until I see something [like this] happen, and then I think about it for a couple of days," said Wright, who is 8 years older than the 45-year-old Cooley. "But then I get to the game and forget about it."
Tonight's is a significant contest relative to the Big East standings, and probably more so for Providence, which has lost two of its last three. The Friars (17-7, 7-4 conference) could use another key win or two to strengthen their NCAA Tournament resumé. Villanova (21-2, 8-2) is playing for seeding. The Wildcats are ranked sixth in the country and Providence would love to get a win either tonight or in the Feb. 24 rematch at the Pavilion.
"It's a tough environment. We're going to have to come out from the jump ready to play," Villanova forward JayVaughan Pinkston said. "If we don't, we're going to get blown out."
Villanova had lost its previous two meetings in Providence before last year's heart-stopping, double-overtime win that came thanks to a Ryan Arcidiacono three-point play.
The teams had very similar records entering that game as they do this season: Villanova was 22-3. Providence was 17-9. Another high-wire act seems likely, which won't do either coach any favors. Wright, nearly paraphrasing Hyman Roth, acknowledged that this is the business they've chosen.
"Every coach has used the example of when you have those times when you jump off the bench and you get lightheaded and feel like you're going to start to faint," Wright said.
"I don't know what other guys do, but I would say 75 percent of us don't do what we should be doing [health-wise], given the stress. It's good stress, but it's there and we all know that it can cause health issues."
Hart sick
Second-leading scorer Josh Hart is ill and was not expected to accompany the Wildcats on last night's flight to Providence. Wright held out hope that Hart, a sophomore spark plug off the bench, could join the team early this morning and still be able to play
Paw prints
Note that the game starts at 8 p.m. and will be televised on Fox Sports 1 . . . Providence freshman forward Ben Bentil had a pair of 16-point outings and is the reigning conference rookie of the week . . . Friars forward LaDontae Henton leads the league in scoring at 20.4 points per game . . . Wildcats forward Daniel Ochefu, who did not start Saturday's win over Georgetown because he was late for a class, is expected back in the lineup. Ochefu played 20 minutes, had five rebounds and did not attempt a field goal for the first time all season.