Just a few days ago, the Villanova Wildcats went to Syracuse, put on their uniforms, rolled out the basketballs and did their best impression of the 76ers. The Wildcats couldn't have scored if the Orange had spotted them the bounce off the glass.

Last night, the same players put on their uniforms, rolled out the basketballs and did their version of the Harlem Globetrotters, upending No. 20 Notre Dame, 102-87.

It is not so much that the Wildcats (12-5, 2-3 Big East) beat a ranked opponent for the first time this season, but how they did it. The same team that averaged 60.3 points in its first four conference games outgunned the Irish at their own game, scoring virtually at will.

"Notre Dame can score," coach Jay Wright said. "The only way we were going to beat them was outscoring them, because we couldn't stop them. We just made big-time shot after big-time shot. They're the shots we haven't been able to make the last couple of games."

Wright would love to say he knows which team will show up Saturday when the Wildcats host No. 21 Texas and super freshman Kevin Durant at the Wachovia Center, but the coach knows the only sure thing now is nothing is for sure.

That might not be terribly comforting to fans who put the season on cruise control and watched Villanova roll up win after win after win a year ago. But that is how it goes with young teams as they try to find their own way as individuals and simultaneously search for cohesiveness. One night everything looks great, and the next, it's almost as if they forget what they did.

People forget. Randy Foye and Allan Ray looked a lot like this a few years ago, too. Before the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight, there was NIT and NIT.

"It's just crazy what a fun game this is coaching 18- to 22-year-olds," Wright said with a chuckle.

If nothing else, the Wildcats do at least seem to learn from their mistakes. Against Syracuse, they took jumper after jumper, unable to figure out how to penetrate Jim Boeheim's trademark zone. The clangs tallied up to 28 attempted three-pointers and only eight makes, not to mention 36.1 percent shooting for the game.

Against a porous Notre Dame defense that all but stepped out of the lane, the Wildcats made it their business to get to the rim. Scottie Reynolds, the freshman point guard who finally seems to understand that scoring doesn't equate to selfishness, had his way with dribble drives, scoring a career-high 27 points. Tellingly, that included only 2-for-3 shooting beyond the arc, a game after Reynolds went 2-for-10 from the three-point line.

"Me and Mike went 4-for-20 combined together," Reynolds said of the Syracuse game. "Coach told me not to settle for jumpers all the time. Tonight, I was just driving it trying to create something for other people, and it just so happened that I got to the rim and drew contact."

A few years ago, Wright fretted that his Villanova team was too nice, that the Wildcats lacked the nasty edge to win Big East battles.

And then along came Kyle Lowry, who cut his teeth on the North Philadelphia playgrounds. Problem solved.

With Lowry collecting a paycheck from the Memphis Grizzlies, Wright again finds himself staring at a roster full of deferential players.

Dante Cunningham had been one of them. A fabulous talent who was more than content to do the junk work as a rookie, he comfortably fell back into that role this season. Only Wright needs more out of his power forward.

"We have to beg these guys to be aggressive offensively," Wright said. "They've got the ability."

Last night, Cunningham might finally have gotten the message. He scored a career-high 19 points, showing off a series of offensive moves that included a baseline-driving dunk, a little turnaround jumper and a low-post jump hook.

Asked about his offense, Cunningham, however, demurred.

"We don't even look at the box scores," he said. "I don't know how many points I had. I only care about attitude points. I need to see what I had for that." Villanova charts points for little things like taking charges, with a player winning attitude points after each game and for the season.

Whether Cunningham won attitude points, he certainly displayed them. He chipped in nine rebounds, a block and three steals.

The combination of Cunningham and Reynolds, with a little Curtis Sumpter (21 points) and Mike Nardi (18 points) sprinkled in, proved too much for the Irish (15-3, 3-2). The Wildcats blitzed through the first half, taking a 50-40 lead at the break, the most points the 'Cats scored against an NCAA opponent in the first half this season (they had 56 against Northwood).

"De Paul came in here and they got off to a good start and the atmosphere changed," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said.

Sore Sumpter