Jay Wright

Villanova coach Jay Wright won't go so far as to say that his Wildcats have corrected their inconsistencies or that they're ready to breeze through their treacherous stretch run of Big East games. But he is feeling a lot better about his team following its second straight lopsided victory, this one a 68-40 waltz over South Florida on Saturday at the Pavilion. The Wildcats (15-9, 6-5) shot 65 percent from the field in the first half to go up by 23 points and didn't let down in the second half in setting a team record for fewest points allowed to a Big East opponent.

SOUTH BEND, Ind.  – Villanova was coming off a week in which it had gotten the best of two Top 5 teams, both in South Philly. Yet in a lot of ways, getting past Notre Dame on Wednesday night at the Purcell Pavilion might have said even more. "You have to go on the road and get it done," acknowledged coach Jay Wright. "We really could have made a statement, to ourselves. " There's a reason the Fighting Irish were nearly double-digit favorites. They'd won 47 of their last 50 on their home floor.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - If anyone playing for Villanova still resided on cloud nine after last week's back-to-back victories over top-5 teams, Notre Dame brought him down to earth Wednesday night. The Fighting Irish exposed an old 'Nova glitch, defending the three-point shot, in the second half and unveiled a secret weapon in freshman Cameron Biedscheid to knock off the Wildcats, 65-60, in a Big East game at Purcell Pavilion. Villanova (13-8, 4-4 Big East) appeared ready to play after making national headlines with wins over No. 5 Louisville and No. 3 Syracuse.

NOW THAT the NCAA has revealed that it is investigating its investigators, isn't it time to end this fraud once and for all. One of the great political mysteries is how an organization that generates ridiculous amounts of cash for the television rights to the NCAA basketball tournament and oversees a never-ending arms race among its member schools in search of endless revenue streams is able to maintain its tax-exempt status. Seems that everybody gets paid expect the players, aka, the "student-athletes.

The game was over, the court was still flooded by happy Villanova fans, and everything was fine except the Wildcats were missing their point guard. "We lost Arch," Jay Wright said. "We had to say our team prayer without Arch because we lost him in the crowd. " Out there in the madness, Ryan Arcidiacono was jumping around with the students who stormed the court. His prayer, a three-pointer from the baseline at the end of regulation, had already been answered. Arcidiacono made the shot to send the game into overtime, and Villanova held on for a 75-71 win over No. 3 Syracuse.

If it were possible, you would have felt sorry for Rick Pitino on Tuesday night. His Louisville basketball team was No. 1 in the country just a few days ago. It blew a last-minute lead over Syracuse on Saturday to drop to No. 5. Then it came to a half-empty Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night for an eminently winnable game against Villanova. The Wildcats were on a three-game losing streak that coincided with the beginning of the Big East portion of their schedule. With a freshman point guard and a habit of turning the ball over a dozen times a game, Villanova should have been a snack for Pitino's bigger, more experienced, more everything Cardinals.

AND NOW, in other non-Chip Kelly news . . . This was one of those games that Villanova probably needed to get, if it wants to make something out of the season: against Pittsburgh, which also went 5-13 last season in the Big East, Wednesday night at the Pavilion, a place the Wildcats rarely used to lose. And with just over 5 minutes to go, it was there for the taking. James Bell had just tied the game on a breakaway dunk off a steal. Unfortunately, that would turn out to be his team's last points.

After 40 minutes of its best scoring pace of the season, Villanova found its defense in the overtime session of its Big East opener against St. John's. The Wildcats held the Red Storm scoreless for more than four minutes in the extra period Wednesday night, with Darrun Hilliard contributing two steals and drawing an offensive foul in addition to scoring six points in 'Nova's 98-86 victory at the Pavilion. Villanova (10-4, 1-0 Big East) won its sixth straight game, posting its highest point total since it scored 106 in its season opener against Monmouth.