PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Ryan Arcidiacono was Villanova’s savior in the team’s pair of tight wins this week. The sophomore’s three-point play in the closing moments of the second overtime at Providence helped secure the victory. His three-pointer with three minutes left against St. John’s Saturday put the Wildcats ahead for good.
The Langhorne, Pa., native averaged 16.5 points and 4.5 assists in 40 minutes last week. Despite his timely shooting, Arcidiacono makes only 39.3 percent of his shots overall.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Marquette at Villanova — Sunday, 1 p.m. CST
This will be Marquette’s final opportunity to pick up a quality win before the Big East Tournament. The Golden Eagles squandered chances twice against Creighton and once to Villanova already.
If Marquette can take care of business Thursday night against Georgetown, the team will go into Philadelphia 9-6 in conference action. In the event the Golden Eagles do not win at ‘Nova, they will need to win multiple games in the Big East Tournament to be considered for an at-large bid.
Villanova and Marquette went into overtime in their last meeting that featured great individual efforts. James Bell scored 30 for the Wildcats, and Davante Gardner had 29 for the Golden Eagles.
McDermott moves into top 10 on D-I scoring list
Creighton senior Doug McDermott became the 10th leading scorer in Division I history after making a free throw in the second half in Sunday’s win over Seton Hall.
McDermott’s scored 29 points to update his career total to 2,917. He passed Alfredrick Douglas (2,914) and is 34 points from ninth and 56 from eighth.
The forward is still a long ways off from all-time leader Pete Maravich, who scored 3,667 points. Still, McDermott has been a headache for opponents this season, averaging 25.8 points per contest and shooting 50 percent or better in 10 of his last 12 games.
Because of his contributions, Creighton is thriving in the Big East. The Bluejays are now 13-2 after their perfect 3-0 week and are positioning themselves nicely to potentially be a high seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Melvin-less DePaul feeling the sting
After Blue Demons leading scorer Cleveland Melvin withdrew from DePaul earlier this month, it marked more turmoil for the lowly team.
The 2-13 Blue Demons played their last eight games without Melvin, who was suspended in late January for unspecified reasons, and have not won any of them. Senior Brandon Young stepped up in Melvin’s absence, averaging 19.0 points since his departure.
Melvin is fifth on DePaul’s all-time scoring list and was the 2011 Big East Rookie of the Year. The struggle continues for coach Oliver Purnell, who has guided his team to only eight conference wins in the past four seasons. DePaul last qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2004, and before that, 2000.
Villanova comes through in close games
The Wildcats needed two overtimes to put away Providence last Tuesday and barely survived St. John’s Saturday.
Although Villanova punished the Friars by 30 points in their first meeting, Tuesday’s matchup was a nail-biter. ‘Nova sophomore guard Ryan Arcidiacono converted on a three-point play with 3.6 seconds to go in the second overtime to help seal the 82-79 win.
Arcidiacono made another key shot in the St. John’s contest. With about three minutes remaining, the sophomore made a three-pointer to put the Wildcats up three points. Villanova’s defense helped preserve the lead, and Arcidiacono made a free throw with 12 seconds left for another three-point lead.
Villanova is one-half game behind Creighton for first place in the conference. The Wildcats have three of their final four games at home, making a first-place bid certainly reachable.
