Villanova is sitting at No. 7 in the rankings because only one opponent has managed to beat them in regulation time this season. The team is 20-2 beating opponents by double-digits in the Big East while they fell to Seton Hall in overtime that ended a 13-0 start. However, their other loss came from the Georgetown Hoyas who have the roster to make Villanova look back a second time this season.
Villanova's first lost to Georgetown was bad. The team fell 78-58 back in the middle of January, trailing by 22 at halftime. They bounced back with wins over Creighton, DePaul and Marquette by an average of 17.4 points, but this one loss will likely haunt them until they can try for revenge on Saturday. Georgetown simply managed to get around a very stingy defense that kept all three of those teams under 56. points. They put the most points on Villanova than any team while the Hoyas went on to shoot 50.0 percent from the field.
Since the win, the Hoyas have lost their next two of three games, both losses coming at home where they shot just 41.2 percent while committing 15 turnovers in each game. Georgetown is suffering from consistency issues. They are 4-7 when shooting just 41.2 percent while committing at least 14 turnovers in those games. However, they have big names to help get them past a team like Villanova.
Georgetown will rely heavily on D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera who is fifth in the Big East with 15.8 points per game while notching 45 combined points in his last two games. He had 17 in the loss to Villanova. Meanwhile the Wildcats will push JayVaughn Pinkston who is averaging 15.0 points. He had back-to-back games of getting into double figures while making all 14 of his free throws. He will need to step up big time as the schedule for the Wildcats only gets harder with games against Providence and Butler waiting in the wings.
