Nova faces Georgetown in Big East quarters

Georgetown (10-12, 8-9) vs. No. 1 seed Villanova (16-5, 11-4)

Big East Conference Tourney Quarterfinals, Madison Square Garden, New York; Thursday, 12 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: A spot in the Big East semifinals is up for grabs as Georgetown and Villanova prepare to square off. Villanova won both of the regular season matchups earlier this season. The teams last met on Feb. 7, when Georgetown made only seven 3-pointers on 20 attempts while the Wildcats hit 13 of 26 from deep en route to an 84-74 victory.

SAVVY SENIORS: Villanova's Collin Gillespie, Jermaine Samuels and Caleb Daniels have collectively scored 46 percent of the team's points this season and have accounted for 45 percent of all Wildcats scoring over the last five games.JUMPING FOR JAHVON: Jahvon Blair has connected on 34.1 percent of the 164 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 7 of 17 over the last three games. He's also converted 84.1 percent of his free throws this season.

WINLESS WHEN: Georgetown is 0-6 when scoring fewer than 67 points and 10-6 when scoring at least 67.

ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Wildcats have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Hoyas. Villanova has 35 assists on 69 field goals (50.7 percent) over its previous three outings while Georgetown has assists on 30 of 75 field goals (40 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: The Villanova offense has recorded a turnover on only 13.8 percent of its possessions, which is the third-best rate in the country. The Georgetown defense has forced opposing teams to turn the ball over on just 16.5 percent of all possessions (ranked 314th among Division I teams).

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