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The VIllanova Wildcats will play their first home game as the #1 ranked team in the country against the St. John's Red Storm. On paper, this seems like an easy win for the best team in the country against a conference foe still looking for their first conference victory.
Here are 3 things to look for in this match-up.
1. Multiple Defenses by the Wildcats
Villanova will be playing a team that they defeated by 15 points on the road just a few weeks ago. Now they get the opportunity to play the Red Storm in front of what will likely be sold out Wells Fargo center, This seems like a great chance for Jay Wright to through different looks at the Red Storm to rattle them early can force them into mistakes. Coach Wright used the entire second half of the Penn game to work on the new 2-3 zone he's been tinkering with, and if the 'Cats come out firing the way they did against Depaul earlier this week, we will likely see much of the same.
2. Plenty of Minutes to Go Around for the Big Men
Both Daniel Ochefu and Darryl Reynolds looked very good against Depaul on Wednesday night. With Ochefu looking like he hadn't missed a beat despite missing several games with a concussion, I would expect the Wildcats to try to get him involved early and often. Although he appeared fine on Wednesday in over 20 minutes of play, Villanova likely won't want to rush him back. Keeping Ochefu fresh is a lot easier when Reynolds plays the way he has lately. He is coming off the best 2 games of his career, and continues to look like he might be deserving of more minutes moving forward. In fact, we may see more of Ochefu and Reynolds on the floor together in this match-up. It seems like that would be a good idea for the Wildcats to figure out how to play with both on the floor, as this can give them increased ability to match-up with teams who are bigger inside when March comes around.
3. A Great Atmosphere at Well Fargo
The top-ranked Wildcats will only be playing their second game at Wells Fargo tonight, and their fans certainly expect the result of this game to be different than that against Providence. Without any impending snowstorm postponing the game and severely dampening the fans that could make the game, I think we can expect the fans to fill the seats to take advantage of the opportunity to see the Wildcats play.