Added Dave Masciale, the Blackbirds' 5-10 senior guard from Bayonne, N.J., as he surveyed a press room half-filled with reporters: ``I hope there's a lot more of youse guys in here after we beat them.''
Welcome back, Lappas.
``A lot of times, these games come down to a battle of wills, to the ability of one team to impose its will on the other team,'' said Villanova coach Steve Lappas, a native New Yorker whose fourth-seeded Wildcats (23-9) take on the No. 13 Blackbirds (21-8) today at 2:45 p.m. in the opening round of the East subregional at Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. ``That's really what basketball is all about. In the end, somebody's going to impose their will on somebody else.''
Lappas no doubt believes the bigger, stronger Wildcats, due for a big run in the NCAAs after unexpectedly quick exits the previous two years, will impose their will on LIU, a team of castoffs and misfits that always appears close to being out of control. But the Blackbirds, whose 91.6 points a game lead the nation, believe their frantic style has made them, well, almost bulletproof. They are afraid of no one, not even a member of the elite Big East Conference.
``I was in quite a few fights as a kid, but I was never in a fight where I didn't throw the first punch,'' Haskins said. ``With Villanova, I want to score the first basket. I want to play keep-ahead basketball. I don't like to play catch-up.''
Villanova's Alvin Williams, the senior guard upon whom so many of the Wildcats' hopes rest, shrugged at Haskins' pugilistic vision of the game.
``If they throw the first punch, we'll just counter and come back with something else,'' Williams said. ``This game is 40 minutes long.''
