Once more, we ran into all kinds of connectivity problems last night at the Ski Lodge. As a result, there was no preview, no live blog, and this time we had no post-game breakdown, since our newspaper deadline responsibilities had to come first. But whatever. After the jump, our Better Late Than Never breakdown on ‘Nova’s easy win over Drexel, including footage of the post-game press conferences.

More than nine minutes in, Villanova led, 11-0. Drexel would miss its first 13 shots, and the Wildcats didn’t do much better by opening 4-for-18 and appearing tentative on the offensive end. But then Taylor King got going for the ‘Cats, making 4 of 6 on 3s before halftime. The Dragons would make 7 of their next 18 by the half, when it was 34-18 ‘Cats.

In the end, Drexel’s starters would finish with one of the more incredible stat lines you’ll ever see: Evan Neisler, Daryl McCoy, Gerald Colds and Jamie Harris were a combined 0-for-19 with one point and nine turnovers. And Harris and Colds, who came in averaging 17.3 and 11.6 ppg, were 0-for-17 all by themselves. Some of it was certainly ‘Nova’s phenomenal ball-pressure defense. But some of it was quite simply an inability to knock down open looks. After all, freshman Derrick Thomas and redshirt freshman Chris Fouch combined to make 12 of 24 shots (10 of 14 from the arc) and to finish with 23 and 20 points, respectively.

Villanova still had the lingering memory of its 81-76 loss to the Dragons from three years ago in its collective memory. Scottie Reynolds, the only regular who played any extensive minutes that night, even said afterward that that game had been something of a wakeup call for him. And, as ‘Cats coach Jay Wright pointed out, Drexel was probably a better team in 2006-07 than ‘Nova was: The Dragons went 23-9 and also beat Saint Joe’s and Temple. ‘Nova, after losing so much following that Elite Eight run the year before, got to the NCAAs but was bounced right away by Kentucky.

Drexel (3-5) hosts Northeastern in its CAA opener on Saturday. ‘Nova (7-0) plays Maryland at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., on Sunday evening.

Finally, we’ve got Philly.com’s exclusive footage of the Wright and Flint press conferences for your viewing pleasure.

Link: What ‘Nova learned by losing to Drexel three years ago [phillyBurbs.com]

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