When Villanova hammered unbeaten West Virginia 84-46 earlier this month, it was a dyslexic moment. Surely we read that score wrong. Maybe Villanova had won by the more reasonable score of 84-64. Or 48-46.
Nope. It was indeed 84-46.
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| Villanova faced two unbeatens last week, losing by one to Boston College, then pounding Kansas by 21. (AP) |
Nope. It was indeed 70-40 midway through the second half, a game that ended 83-62.
Considering those two prodigious victories, and that all four of Villanova's losses have come by a combined 10 points -- including a 67-66 defeat in the final seconds earlier in the week at No. 9 Boston College -- it's well past time to take the Wildcats seriously.
By the way, did anyone else notice all the 25-point halves last week? Pittsburgh's Chevon Troutman had 25 in the second half against Connecticut, Florida State's Von Wafer did it to Wake Forest in the first half and Boston College's Jared Dudley rung up 25 on Villanova. All three of their teams won, too. Go figure.
Best wins
- No team picked up a more-needed win than No. 21 Pittsburgh, 76-66 at No. 16 UConn.
- As if the ACC football title wasn't enough, Virginia Tech defeated N.C. State and No. 12 Georgia Tech this week. Greedy Hokies.
- No. 15 Texas looked Final Four-like in its 75-61 victory against No. 5 Oklahoma State, which makes No. 18 Oklahoma's 64-60 win against the Longhorns all the more impressive.
- By sweeping Oregon and Oregon State on the road, Arizona has some separation between itself and the next wave of Pac-10 challengers. Salim Stoudamire had 52 points in the two wins.








