Nov. 13, 2009

The Nova Notebook, by director of media relations Mike Sheridan, this week is a post-game edition following Villanova's 84-61 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in the season opener at the Pavilion.

It took Villanova some time on Friday night to find its groove but, in the end, head coach Jay Wright was grateful for the shared experience for a squad that is in many ways a new one.

"That wasn't pretty," stated Wright. "You've got to give FDU credit. They've got tough, experienced guards and I thought their big guys were pretty tough and physical in an area where we're a little weak right now. I thought it showed early.

"They really extended their zone and early in the season you don't see that. I thought (FDU) coach Greg Vetrone had them really well prepared. They left the middle open and extended on us and did a really good job. They contested a lot of our threes. I thought we settled for a lot of threes early and then in the second half we did a better job of getting it inside."

After Villanova built a 25-15 lead with 9:51 remaining in the first half the Knights went on a tear. Fairleigh Dickinson outscored the Wildcats 19-10 the rest of the way to narrow the gap to 35-34 at intermission. During much of that time, VU senior guard Scottie Reynolds was on the bench with two fouls.

But Reynolds returned after intermission and was fouled on a head fake. He converted both shots and VU would not trail the rest of the night.

"They were flying at all the shots in the first half," stated Wright. "Scottie went up on the first play of the second half and got to the line. It was just some of the little things he did along with some of our other upperclassmen."

Part of the adjustment for this group, which includes six players who were not on the court on game night last season, is simply playing together under the bright lights of game night.

"This pre-season has been new for us (with) all this hype," Wright noted. "We've been kind of waiting for this moment so everyone could see us. I think what everyone saw is how young and inexperienced we are. It could temper expectations a little bit. We think we can be good. We've got a lot of work to do."

Wright did like how his upperclassmen, including the game's high scorer Corey Stokes (20 points, including 5-of-10 from beyond the 3-point arc), Reynolds (eight points, two assists), and Corey Fisher (13 points, four rebounds and four assists), pointed the way when matters were tight early in the second half.

"Just going through this experience together is good for us," stated Wright. "This group just doesn't have any collective experiences. We got a lead in the first half and then we relaxed. They're an experienced, well-coached team and they kept coming at us. At one point, they're fired up, and we're down.

"But we responded in the second half. I liked the fact that (Corey Stokes) and (Corey Fisher) stepped up as leaders in the second half."

For Stokes, some early misfires didn't deter his determination to continue pushing the envelope offensively.

"I didn't get down," Stokes said. "I'm a shooter. (Missing shots) happens some times. You've just to keep shooting. That's what you practice for."

The Wildcats used a 49-point second half to pull away from the Knights. FDU was only 8-of-25 from the field in the period while the `Cats rebounded from a poor shooting first half (.323) to convert 17-of-35 in the final 20 minutes. Nine different Villanova players ended up in the scoring column and the team had 16 assists against just eight turnovers.

Part of the success was attributed to getting touches inside. Junior Antonio Pena (nine points 10 rebounds), Mouphtaou Yarou (six points, three rebounds) and Taylor King (nine points, seven rebounds) got some chances near the basket and suddenly there were more offensive opportunities.

"In the second half we started to go to Antonio and Mouph more so that we could work from the inside out," explained Stokes. "It really got us open."

Fisher noted that incorporating the newcomers will take time.

"It's real tough," said the junior. "But that's the fun thing about basketball. You're doing it with a group of guys that you love. I was a freshman at one time, playing and I didn't understand everything on both ends of the floor. That's the challenge for us this year and that's what we've got leaders for."