Round 3: GU-Nova -- Big East Quarterfinals

The Hoyas and the Wildcats are preparing to do battle for the third time this season, after Villanova dispatched DePaul in the first round of the Big East Tournament Wednesday afternoon. While Villanova enters the game as the No. 9 seed in the conference, it will likely feel pretty good about its chances against No. 1 Georgetown, splitting the season series with the Hoyas in a pair of close games.

Both previous affairs were low scoring, with Nova using its lanky guards to disrupt entry passes to center Roy Hibbert, while the Hoyas' big men asserted themselves defensively with 14 blocks. Eight of those were by newly-minted Big East Player of the Year Jeff Green, whose pull up jumper in the waning seconds gave Georgetown the win.

While most Georgetown fans probably don't like the prospect of running into a team that has shut down Hibbert twice this season at all, more or less this early in the Big East Tournament, the game will likely give the Hoyas an opportunity to try to overcome their two biggest weaknesses — turnovers (21 in the Jan. 8 game) and getting the ball to Hibbert under duress (a combined 4 field goal attempts in the two games). Trying to overcome those factors ought to provide a stern test heading into the NCAA Tournament and success should steel the Hoyas for a Final Four run.

If the Hoyas again cannot feed Hibbert down low, they will likely need their perimeter players to step up. In Georgetown's 58-55 victory on Feb. 17, it took a 3-for-4 performance by Jessie Sapp to stop a Hoya swoon late in the first half and regain the lead in the second. And that included a practiced-but-still-miraculous three-quarter court heave just before halftime. Freshman Dajuan Summers remains cold from the perimeter, hitting just two of his last 20 three point attempts.

Villanova will almost certainly be battling some measure of fatigue, given the 24-hour turnaround. Also not helping is an ankle injury to senior Mike Nardi that limited him to two minutes in the DePaul game and essentially forced the Wildcats into a six man rotation. Freshman Reggie Redding (9 points vs. DePaul) played a season-high 35 minutes, starting in Nardi's absence.

Senior Curtis Sumpter and freshman Scottie Reynolds accounted for 72-percent of the scoring against DePaul and will likely have to carry the load again. Jessie Sapp kept Reynolds in check in the latter part of the Feb. 17 meeting and should match up again tomorrow.