Villanova (24-7)
COACH: Jay Wright, nine years at Villanova, six years in NCAA Tournament
HOW THEY GOT IN: At-large bid
MATCHUP BREAKDOWN: Villanova landed a No. 2 seed against No. 15 Robert Morris, which won the Northeast Conference tournament. The Colonials are led by freshman guard Karon Abraham, who is the team's only double-digit scorer at 13.4 points. Villanova's perimeter attack should overwhelm Robert Morris, which lost to Michigan State 77-62 in last season's NCAA Tournament first round. The Wildcats would face the Richmond-Saint Mary's winner in the second round.
GO-TO GUYS: Not many players in the country are more clutch or more experienced than 6-2 senior guard Scottie Reynolds, who is 49 points away from tying Kerry Kittles (1992-96) as the program's all-time scoring leader. He averages 18.5 points, drains nearly 40 percent of his 3-point attempts (67 of 168) and was the only unanimous selection to the All-Big East team. What has made him more dangerous as a senior is his shot selection; he enters the NCAAs shooting 47.8 percent for the season and 51.1 percent in the past 23 games. He can turn it on whenever he wants, as two-thirds of his scoring comes in the second half of games. Elsewhere, guards Corey Fisher (13.7 points, 39.1 percent 3-points), Corey Stokes (9.5, 37.9 percent) and Reggie Redding (7.4) help lead waves of perimeter threats. For much of the season, rock-solid Antonio Pena (10.9 points, 7.4 rebounds) was the only post in the starting lineup.
THEY'LL KEEP WINNING IF: The Wildcats might need some of the matchups to go their way. They struggled against their back-loaded schedule, losing five of seven games entering the NCAA Tournament, with defensive lapses and rebounding being problems against the tougher teams they played. If Villanova gets into games where it is simply perimeter strength on perimeter strength, then few teams do that better than the Wildcats. If Villanova is matched against a physical front line, freshman Mouphtaou Yarou, who became a starter late in the season, will be a key figure as a space-eater. He was slowed early in the season by a case of Hepatitis B.
STRENGTHS: Guard-oriented Villanova is athletic, pesky, launches a lot of 3-pointers, and is one of the best in the country at going on quick scoring runs. The Wildcats average a Big East-best 82.5 points and have had 11 games with at least 90 points. All that driving guard play and good shooting from behind the arc (37.6 percent) translates to the free throw line. The Wildcats don't just take the most free throws in the Big East (810 in 31 games), they make the highest percentage (75.1). Villanova, which lost its only Big East tournament game, should have fresh legs for the NCAAs and needs to get back to its more-aggressive play on both ends of the floor.
WEAKNESSES: In late-season losses, Villanova was out-rebounded by nine against Syracuse, by six against Pitt and by 11 vs. UConn. By virtue of its preferred fast pace, the Wildcats will give up a fair amount of points, but some point totals in the past several weeks were troubling -- 103 to Georgetown, 95 to Syracuse, 80 to Marquette. Antonio Pena is the only low-post scorer on the team and needs to stay out of foul trouble for the Wildcats to maintain balance on offense.
