Bob Ford: For 'Nova, ball now in freshmen's court

The blueprint for beating Villanova this season isn't a secret. If you can contain Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher - with a particular emphasis on preventing drives to the basket - that is a pretty good place to start.

The trick, of course, is actually doing it, and not every team can manage it.

Yesterday, in the final game of the regular season, the Wildcats ran up against one of those teams that can, and the result was a 68-66 overtime loss to West Virginia.

"Not exactly the way you want to end your season at home," coach Jay Wright acknowledged, but not exactly the end of the world, either.

Villanova gets a few days in the gym to practice, and then opens the Big East Conference tournament in the quarterfinal round, most likely against Marquette. A win yesterday would have given the Wildcats a higher seed, but at this time of year it isn't who you play but how you play, anyway.

"It doesn't matter. In the quarterfinals, they're all going to be good teams," senior guard Reggie Redding said. "It's the Big East. One through eight are all going to be good."

Whether the Wildcats also will be good depends somewhat on Wright's tinkering with the offense, but increasingly on the development of the freshmen in the regular rotation.

Despite the loss, yesterday was encouraging on that front. Dominic Cheek, getting more minutes than usual with swingman Corey Stokes in foul trouble, scored eight points, didn't commit a turnover, and handled himself like a veteran in 18 minutes on the floor. That will pay off somewhere down the line.

Elsewhere, it was more experience for center Mouphtaou Yarou and some good defensive sets for 6-foot-7 Isaiah Armwood. At the same time, Maalik Wayns remained a bit scattered on the court, and sophomore Taylor King sat for unspecified disciplinary reasons.

Still, there was added hope that the kids might be able to really contribute the next time Reynolds and Fisher are more neutralized than normal. It was a glimmer.

"Yeah, a glimmer, but we've got to add to it. They're going to have to do it," Wright said. "And we have to do a better job of keeping Scottie and Fisher in it. When we lose now, that's what it comes down to."

West Virginia is uniquely equipped for the job, but the Mountaineers had to take chances, too. Their strategy was to back off Reynolds and Fisher, because when defenders get too close, either guy will just put the ball on the floor and go past. The danger of backing off is that the two scorers will make their outside shots. That wasn't the case yesterday, with Reynolds going 1 for 9 on three-point attempts, including one at the overtime buzzer that would have won the game.

"They just made one more play than we did," Reynolds said. "They did a good job on us."

If Yarou can become just a bit more of a threat on the inside, if Cheek can continue his maturation, and Wayns can cut down on his mistakes, Reynolds and Fisher won't have to carry as much of the load every time. They went into yesterday's game averaging a combined 34 points in Big East games. Against West Virginia, they totaled 29. It doesn't sound like much of a difference, but it was the difference.

"They key on those two because they make so many plays for us," Redding said. "We need to stay aggressive and keep attacking the rim."

With some help from the younger players, opponents will have to play them more honestly, although adding significant help at this time of year is a lot to ask of freshmen.

"I wish I had another year with them," Redding said. "After they go through this year, next year they're going to be great players. I wish I had the chance to play with them again. But I'm going to be a proud alum when they do figure it out, knowing that I played with them. Right now, we're going to keep working, because they are getting better every game."

The only question is: How many games are left? Villanova is guaranteed only two more games - the quarterfinal in the Big East tournament, and then the opener of the NCAA tournament. Every additional opportunity has to be earned with a win.

"We're going to take the positives from this," Wright said yesterday. "Obviously, it stings right now, and that's not always a bad thing. Throughout the beginning of the season, we didn't have many of these lessons. Now we're getting them down the stretch."

After starting the season 20-1, the Wildcats finished with five losses in their final nine games. That's not necessarily bad. That's the Big East, and it is a means of learning something a team needs to learn.

But the next two losses will carry a lesson Villanova would rather delay as long as possible.