FanPost

3 Keys to Victory vs. Mount St Mary's

Meet Julian Norfleet - Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports

Coming off a sluggish, albeit 16-point victory over Lafayette, Villanova will look to shake off the rust at home vs Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday.

Know where Julian Norfleet is at all times

The 6' 2'' senior guard has started all four years in his time with the Mountaineers. After going back and watching the game vs West Virginia, you can tell that as Julian goes so go the Mountaineers. He finished that game with 19 points (8-17, 1-4 from 3) and 7 assists in 35 minutes played. He has the ability to create not only for himself, but for his teammates as well. If he plays well, Mount St. Mary's will be able to hang around. Villanova has to try to limit what he is able to do offensively. If they are able to do that, Villanova will come out of this game 2-0.

Ochefu has to play BIG

Daniel Ochefu will have his hands full down low in this out-of-conference battle against Mount St. Mary's. 7-footer Taylor Danaher and 6 '10'' big Kristijan Krajina will present a challenge for the sophomore Ochefu.

"Their big guy, Kristijan Krajina is really tough inside. It's going to be a tough game." said Coach Wright.

The two combined for 16 points and 6 rebounds in the loss at West Virginia. In the matchup vs Lafayette, Ochefu played good defense, tallying 11 rebounds and 3 blocks. However, on the offensive end he didn't look comfortable playing in the post. Ochefu could potentially have a huge role in this game, but he will have to hold his own against the bigs of the Mountaineers. If Villanova continues to shoot bricks from behind the arch, they will have to send it down to the likes of Pinkston and Ochefu to succeed. It will be tough for the Cats to go their smaller lineup in this matchup because they will most likely get owned on the boards.

Don't get content with 3's, ATTACK!

In the victory over the Leopards of Lafayette, Villanova shot an abysmal 16.7 % (5-30) from 3-point range. They will need to improve on their shot distribution as more than half of their shots against Lafayette came from behind the 3- point line. Once the Wildcats finally realized that their shots weren't falling, they dumped it down low to the bigs and also attacked the rim off the dribble. Darrun Hilliard had a couple of nice drives where he maintained great body control while finishing at the rim. Villanova will have to continue to attack and score off the dribble. As Jay Wright always says, "drive as a scorer, not a passer."

X-Factor

The X-Factor in this matchup will be Head Coach Jay Wright. He has to instill focus and intensity into his ball club in order for them to avoid coming out flat once again. Jay Wright and his assistants will need to make quicker in-game adjustments than they did vs. Lafayette. The 'Cats need to come out and play like IT IS their home court. They didn't do this for a good majority of the game vs Lafayette and it showed in the close score until Nova pulled away late.

Prediction

The Wildcats will improve to 2-0. Final score 77-59.

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