Wildcats show that basketball teams can play small ball, too
VILLANOVA, Pa. – Many basketball experts believe that a good basketball team starts with good guards. Villanova showed the country on Saturday that they may have the best collection of guards in college basketball.
The Wildcats, who start four guards because of the injury to outstanding forward Curtis Sumpter, used their savvy and quickness to continuously penetrate the Oklahoma defense en route to a 85-74 victory in front of a sold out, rowdy crowd at the Pavilion.
The Wildcats, ranked fourth in the country, usually play their big non-conference games at the Wachovia Center in downtown Philadelphia. At the Pavilion, they fed off of the energy of the campus crowd as they penetrated and pressed the Sooners into submission.
Senior guard Randy Foye continuously forced his way into the teeth of Oklahoma’s defense, finishing with a career-high 32 points on 14-of-21 shooting. Fellow guard Allan Ray shook of a slow start to score 21 points, going 10-0f-10 from the line. Promising sophomore Kyle Lowry, a Philadelphia native, chipped in with 10 points and 3 assists.
It was evident from the start that Oklahoma had more beef inside. The Sooners boast one of the better frontcourts in the country with senior All-American Taj Gray and burly forward Kevin Bookout. The Sooners constantly beat the Wildcats to the loose balls and on the boards in the first half, finishing the half with 10 offensive rebounds compared to the Wildcats’ three. They also had a 21 to 10 rebounding edge at the half.
Gray finished the game with 22 points, while Bookout added 15.
To offset their deficiencies inside, the Wildcats spread the floor as the guards took turns going one-on-one early. Foye discovered early that the Sooner guards could not guard him, and he constantly blew by the defense and scored at will. The 6’3 guard finished the half with 16 points on 7-of 12-shooting. Lowry also got in the mix, scoring on an acrobatic drive in the Wildcats last possession of the half that brought the Pavillion fans to their feet.
The Wildcats used a passive three-quarter-court press that gave the Sooners problems. The press forced Oklahoma to throw the ball out of bounds on more than one occasion. Ray heated up in the second half and Foye completely took over the game in the clutch as the Wildcats perimeter continued to control the game.
Jason Fraser, the Wildcats 6-foot-9 forward, played inspired basketball and finished the game with 10 points and 4 boards. Fraser, a highly-touted freshman when he arrived on the Main Line, has had an injury-riddled career. Although not at full strength, Fraser played 26 minutes and helped establish an inside presence with the absence of Sumpter.
The injury of Sumpter did not seem to affect the Wildcats on Saturday. The Wildcats must hope that playing “small ball” will eventually turn into a big season.
