Nova’s men’s hoop schedule announced

By Joe Juliano

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Five games at the Wachovia Center, three at an early-season tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico and the usual slate of City Series duels highlight Villanova's 2009-10 men's basketball schedule released yesterday.

The Wildcats, who last year earned their first berth in the NCAA Final Four since 1985, have back-to-back Big East Conference games scheduled in February against Connecticut, which also made the Final Four last season, and Pittsburgh, which lost to Nova in the East Regional finals.

The Wildcats open their regular season Nov. 13 at the Pavilion against Fairleigh Dickinson and play their initial Big Five game three days later against Penn at home.

Then they head south for the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Classic, opening in San Juan Nov. 19 against George Mason for the first of three games there.

The Cats open their Big East schedule Jan. 2 at Marquette. The conference slate includes five games at the Wachovia Center, including the first-ever visits there by Providence and West Virginia, and three games on ESPN's popular "Big Monday" series.

Game times for the full schedule will be announced at a later day.

Contact staff writer Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494 or jjuliano@phillynews.com.