No. 15 Villanova rallies to down city-rival Temple

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

12/29/2008 - Villanova, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Corey Fisher scored 19 second-half points to finish with 23 and the 15th-ranked Villanova Wildcats stormed past Big Five rival Temple, 62-45, at The Pavilion.

Fisher was 7-of-8 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 on three-point shots to help Villanova remain perfect at home this season with an 8-0 mark.

Dante Cunningham netted 10 of his 12 points in the first half and the Wildcats (12-1) were able to overcome a frustrating first-half shooting performance.

Villanova shot only 32.1 percent over the first 20 minutes and made just two of 10 three-points attempts.

Dionte Christmas led the way for Temple (5-6) with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists while both Michael Eric and Ryan Brooks finished with nine points each.

It was a tale of two halves, with Temple controlling the first half and Villanova dominating the second. The Wildcats outscored the Owls 40-20 following the break.

The Owls never trailed in the first half, leading by seven twice, while Villanova suffered from poor outside shooting. Temple took a 25-22 lead into the locker room behind 40.9 percent shooting from the field, but the Wildcats turned things around in the second half.

Temple was held scoreless for six-plus minutes after taking a 32-24 lead with just about 14 1/2 minutes to play.

Villanova erupted for a 14-0 run, led by Fisher with eight, and took its first lead of the game with 12:30 remaining. Scottie Reynolds capped the run with a three that gave the Wildcats a 38-32 lead with 11:41 still to play.

The Owls would eventually go 11-plus minutes between field goals and by the time Luis Guzman's layup fell through the twine with 3:15 left, Villanova owned an 11-point lead and scored the next seven points to put the game out of reach.

Villanova hit 40 percent of its field goals for the contest while Temple shot 31.3 percent for the game.

Game Notes

Villanova posted its third 4-0 record in Philadelphia Big Five play in the last four seasons...This was Temple's first City Series contest of the year. The Owls have not won at The Pavilion since 1986...Reynolds finished with eight points for the Wildcats...Joining the Temple team for the first time was Juan Fernandez of Argentina. He did not play in the contest.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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