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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points and Corey Fisher added 17 to lead No. 4 Villanova to an 82-75 victory over fifth-ranked West Virginia Monday night at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.

	A dejected Kevin Jones walks off the floor after West Virginia's 82-75 loss to Villanova Monday night at the WVU Coliseum. All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo

West Virginia, this week making its first appearance in the nation’s Top 5 in 48 years, couldn’t contain Villanova’s four-guard lineup that finished the game shooting 56.9% from the floor, including 45.5% from 3-point distance.

The smaller Wildcats also owned the glass, out-rebounding the Mountaineers 38-30, while cashing in at the free throw line where they made 19 of 22.

“They’re playing four guards and they out-rebound us 38-30,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “We have to make it up with other things.”

They certainly didn’t make it up at the free throw line, where the Mountaineers missed 14 (18 of 32) that could have made a difference in the game.

“Eighteen for 32? If it was a case of not practicing them I would say, ‘My fault for not practicing them.’ But we have. It’s not good.”

Reynolds and Fisher wound up scoring 17 of their 38 points from the free throw line despite Huggins’ pre-game warning that free throws are a big part of their game.

“One of the things we talked about was do not jump in the air and let them jump into you and let them get to the foul line,” Huggins said. “Stay on your feet because you’re bigger than them and if we switch, we’ve got 6-6 and 6-7 guys, and if we didn’t switch we still got 6-6 and 6-7 guys on them. Stay down and make them take hard shots.

“So the two guys that we said do not jump are 17 for 20 from the foul line.”

It was also a much different night for Da’Sean Butler, who scored a career-high 43 points against Villanova in a 93-72 WVU victory in Morgantown last year. Tonight, Butler was only 2 of 12 from the floor for 13 points. It appeared the Wildcats’ plan was to take Butler out of the game and force others to beat them.

“We didn’t do much right and in spite of that we were still in the game,” said Huggins. “We continued to compete.”

West Virginia tried 27 3-point field goals, making seven, while shooting 41% overall for the game.

Except for an early 5-4 lead, West Virginia was chasing Villanova all night.

The Wildcats built their lead to 11 and then to 13 (32-19) midway through the first half before taking a 44-33 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Wildcats shot 63.3% and scored 44 points in the first half on a West Virginia defense that came into the game surrendering just 61.5 points per game.

“If we give up 44 points in the first half then we’re not going to win, it’s just that simple,” said Huggins.

West Virginia used a 7-1 run at the start of the second half to cut Villanova’s lead to five, 45-40, and later got it down to three, 62-59, on an Ebanks dunk with 8:13 remaining. Then a Casey Mitchell foul put Stokes to the line where he made both, and then a dunk by Antonio Pena and a jumper by Reynolds pushed Villanova’s lead back to seven, 68-61.

A four-point play by Mitchell pulled West Virginia to within five, 74-69, with 1:59 to go. But once again, West Virginia couldn’t get a stop on the other end of the floor when Stokes converted a layup.

Two Reynolds free throws made it a nine-point advantage with 59 seconds left.

Pena contributed 10 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats, now 21-2, 10-1.

Villanova’s victory keeps the Wildcats on pace with Syracuse at the top of the Big East standings with 10-1 records.

"This was a great Big East victory for us," said Villanova coach Jay Wright. "WVU is always one of the toughest places to play and we've always had trouble scoring here with the way they play defense.

"It wouldn't have been the end of the world if we lost to them today because they're a good team, but it is huge doing it."

West Virginia (19-4 overall) now trails the league leaders by two games at 8-3.

“We’ve got to keep going,” said Huggins. “There are seven more league games to go.”

Truck Bryant led West Virginia with 15 points. Mitchell added 12 off the bench, all in the second half.

“Casey came in and maybe showed people why we recruited him so hard and he will continue to get better,” said Huggins. “I think he’s starting to understand things. I guess that’s a positive.”

The Mountaineers will play an unusual 9 p.m. Friday night game at Pitt that will be televised nationally on ESPN.

	Posted by WVGrad82 on 2/08/10 at 10:50 PM Not sure how a team with this much talent can have so many bad first halves and is always tyring to come from behind. Nova played a tough man to man, and rather than move the ball, set screens and picks, and make back cuts, WV just settled for a lot of quick 3s and jump shots. Would have liked to see them adjust in the 2nd half, run some plays to get Butler and Jones more shots. And the foul shooting was horrific. I don't think Kilicli is ready for Big East basketball - he can't play defense and his passing is poor. I think giving him critical minutes has messed up a solid rotation. Hope this team can reach its potential before the end of the season -- could be a good run in the NCAAs if they do.
	Posted by WVUgirl2003 on 2/08/10 at 10:51 PM Alright men- Let's get this train together & get on board to crush Pitt in a few days.... Don't just listen to Huggs.... DO WHAT HE SAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (p.s. living here in UK country- still can't figure why John Wall's been playing all year & DK was just allowed to play ) Let's GOOOOOOOOO Mountaineers!
	Posted by WV Fan In VA on 2/09/10 at 1:03 AM We lost by 7 points! We missed 14 of 32 Free Throws and some of those were 1 and 1!!! Nova made 19 free throws of 22 and we made 18 of 32, so the bottom line is... we gave them the game at OUR FREE THROW LINE and not at their free throw line. We were out rebounded 38-30. A sub "Armwood" got 4 lay-ups, he also got 4 rebounds and all 4 were offensive rebounds. Poor job of defensing this guy and not blocking him out of boards. His work killed WV tonight. Scottie Reynolds is a very good guard and most of the time he will get his points, but it was not his work that beat us! We shot 10 more field goals than Nova (61 vs 51) and made 4 total fewer than them (25 vs 29) for a 41% vs 56.9% F/G effort. AS BADLY AS WE PLAYED... had we made ONE of our MISSED lay-ups and made 6 of our 14 missed foul shots... we win against one of the top teams in the country. The entire team contributed to this miserable effort from the free throw line on their home court before a highly supportive group of fans that cannot be criticized for being bad this time! You cannot win the big home games that you must win in the BIG EAST by shooting 56% on 32 free throw attempts !!!!!! This is a total lack of CONCENTRATION at the free throw line! HUGGS, please pin this on each players locker. End Of Message.
	Posted by wvshooter on 2/09/10 at 1:08 AM Villanova has one great guard and a couple very good guards. There may not be another team in the country with this much talent at guard. WVU is like the great majority of other Div 1 teams. They just can't match the level of Villanova's guard play. Noah Cottrill might be a step in that direction but I havn't seen him play so I don't know. Hopefully Huggs can find a couple guards who can actually shoot, run the floor, take care of the ball, and play defense during the next couple years. It certainly would be refreshing.
	Posted by Mr. Bill on 2/09/10 at 3:16 AM Let's see, they out-rebounded us, they out-shot us by 15% (FG), by 20% (3s) and by 30% at the line. We had 10 more freethrows and missed every one of those ... plus 4 more, and we lost by only 7? Good half-time adjustments, back to man & attacked the rack, Casey got some hi-lites, excellent time-clock mgmt. Too bad we left that incredible 2nd-half shooting up in MSG. Get ready for pitt & we'll learn from this game to get payback on the 'Cats in 3 wks. an' maybe a rubber match later.
	Posted by Jay Wilson on 2/09/10 at 3:30 AM Yo, WVUgirl2003, What you doing over here in UK? I got very discouraged early this a.m. and finally gave up before the final whistle. We're from Jerry West times in my family but I retired over here. If you're in Oxford give me a shout on Kinsla@aol.com and I'll buy you a round. If I were Huggs, it would terrify me to coach this team! JW
	Posted by Alarmed Fan on 2/09/10 at 6:43 AM Pour shooting occasionally, I can understand, but to shoot only 56% from the foul line...come on! And get out rebounded by a team that plays four guards. All those points given up in the paint? Hard to believe a team as good as the Mountaineers can look so bad sometimes. I hope they've got this out of their system now and start playing like Hugs wants and knows they can down this important stretch of games coming up. Go Mountaineers!!!
	Posted by jmat on 2/09/10 at 7:00 AM I saw poor foul shooting, the inability to break away from the man to man defense, and the most surprising thing is 6'2' Scottie reynolds gaurding 6'9" Ebanks and the ball was never thrown into the post. What?????? We had the height Advntage all night and never acted on it. still bright days ahead. #2 seed is just what we want anyway. Go Eeeeeeeeers!!!!!!!
	Posted by shelldawv on 2/09/10 at 7:28 AM Foul shots alone would have won this game.........this has to be the most Jekell and Hyde team in Div1...... Wish the team that beat Pitt would have shown up.......
	Posted by UK slueth on 2/09/10 at 8:27 AM Jay Wilson, the UK is the University of Kentucky, not the United Kingdom...
	Posted by WVURealist on 2/09/10 at 8:35 AM This is still the most athletic team we have ever had but we have no one who can make his own shot off the dribble or by posting up. All our runs are based on fast breaks, open 3s or agressive offensive rebounds. When the other team plays agressive defensive - man to man like Purdue, Notre Dame or Villanova - we break down into offensive slumps or zone Syracuse we have to hit long open 3s. I love Joe Mazulla's heart but he is an offensive liability - he can't shoot any jumpers or make a free throw. His only defense against a quicker guard is to slide his feet and make contact & hope for a O-foul!!
	Posted by John Brady on 2/09/10 at 9:32 AM Next time Jay Bilas covers a WVU game give him a whistle and take away the microphone. He's starting to pass Dicky V as the most annoying analyst in collge sports. Is there anything he's not an expert in?
	Posted by Ed Pendleton on 2/09/10 at 1:06 PM I live in Indiana and I don't get to see many of the games on TV. I don't know who all is in the same boat that I am in but I am sick and tired of the game announcers bashing WV and especially Bilas last night. His snide remarks and comments on the officiating got the best of me. I guess the only way we can get these guys to keep quiet is to kick everyone's rear end. Maybe that will shut them up!!
	Posted by Damon Lilze on 2/09/10 at 6:23 PM Ugly basketball by our beloved Mountaineers! Just goes to show, if Butler has a slow night.......we lose! We have not played a full 40 minutes all year and are still 19-4. Can you imagine if this team actually played a complete game???
	Posted by luv2drive on 2/09/10 at 8:08 PM Come on Mounties, shake this one off and drive on. Learn from the mistakes, do something about the foul shooting, and keep your heads up. We're proud Mountaineers and I'm proud of our team! Now, go get Pitt!

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