First off let me say i had Nova on Sat. laying the 6 to St. John's(small) but WOW was that a bad idea! Johnnie's were just flying by them and Nova didn't look unmotivated but they just couldn't keep up w/ the shooting and effort put up by the Johnnie's(check the off. rebounds 2h)...
Not only has Nova lost their last 3 @ home but they have only covered a PUTRID 1 out of the last 10 games AGAINST THE SPREAD!
But i am going to be riding with them tonight!
WHY THE HELL WOULD ANY1 DO THAT?
well for one, since 03' Villanova is 3-0 after losing 2 str8 home games(which almost never happens @ home or away)
Nova has def. underachieved this yr, but this is the type team they need to play against/with b4 the finale @ pitt and the conf. torney....
Notre Dame will try and use that burn offense 2night against them which will actually benefit Nova by slowing it down, getting better transition shots, closer to the hoop, which was difficult because of the quickness of St Johns.
I've also read articles on Nova on how upset players/coaches/fans were about the finale @ home this yr and that makes me think right now they need a quality effort.
On the other hand Notre Dame has been somewhat 'cruising' thru their competition winning 9 of their last 10 w/ their only loss @a tough WVU team. The only real quality win here was @Pitt where they won by 5 and shot @ remarkable percentages. I think what we really will see during this match up is a Notre Dame team that will have every1 thinking they already have the game in the bag when they are nervous, riddled w/ "emotion."(see article)
http://www.southbendtribune.com/arti...89/1022/Sports
ND is 1-5 their last 6 Monday games.
Villanova is 7-2 their last 9 Monday games.
I expect a BIG game from Fisher as he has been really in the wind,shooting horrible and not contributing much at all to recent games....Stokes should be wired to go as well as the supporting cast of Pena,Cheeks,ect...
Don't count Nova out just yet, Jay Wright aka Mr. Monday Night has his guys ready to go tonight!
Nova +5