2008–09 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by Jay Wright in his eighth year as head coach of the Wildcats. The Wildcats played their home games at The Pavilion on the school's campus as members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 30–8, 13–5 in Big East play to finish in fourth place. They lost in the semifinals of the Big East tournament to Louisville. The Wildcats received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 3 seed in the East region. They defeated American, UCLA, Duke, and Pittsburgh to advance to the Final Four. In the Final Four they were defeated by the eventual national champion for the second straight year, North Carolina.

2008–09 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 11
Record	30–8 (13–5 Big East)
Head coach	Jay Wright
Assistant coaches	Pat Chambers Doug West Jason Donnelly
Home arena	The Pavilion
Seasons ← 2007–08 2009–10 →

2008–09 Big East men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 Louisville†	16	–	2		.889			31	–	6		.838
No. 4 Pittsburgh	15	–	3		.833			31	–	5		.861
No. 5 Connecticut	15	–	3		.833			31	–	5		.861
No. 11 Villanova	13	–	5		.722			30	–	8		.789
No. 23 Marquette	12	–	6		.667			25	–	10		.714
No. 13 Syracuse	11	–	7		.611			28	–	10		.737
West Virginia	10	–	8		.556			23	–	12		.657
Providence	10	–	8		.556			19	–	14		.576
Notre Dame	8	–	10		.444			21	–	15		.583
Cincinnati	8	–	10		.444			18	–	14		.563
Seton Hall	7	–	11		.389			17	–	15		.531
Georgetown	7	–	11		.389			16	–	15		.516
St. John's	6	–	12		.333			16	–	18		.471
South Florida	4	–	14		.222			9	–	22		.290
Rutgers	2	–	16		.111			11	–	21		.344
DePaul	0	–	18		.000			9	–	24		.273
† 2009 Big East tournament winner As of April 4, 2009[1] Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2007–08 season 22–13, 9–9 in Big East play to finish in a tie for eighth place. The Wildcats lost in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament to Georgetown. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Clemson and Siena to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. There they lost to the eventual national champions, Kansas.

Offseason

Recruiting class of 2008

Source^[2][3][4]

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Maurice Sutton C	Upper Marlboro, MD	Largo HS	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	May 21, 2008
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (87)
Overall Recruiting Rankings:     Scout – NR     Rivals – NR [5]     ESPN – NR

Roster

Villanova Basketball 2008–09 Roster
G/F	22		Dwayne Anderson	SR	Washington, D.C. (St. Thomas More)
F	20		Shane Clark	SR	Philadelphia, PA (Hargrave Military Academy)
G	4		Jason Colenda	SO	Fairfax, VA (Bishop O'Connell)
F	33		Dante Cunningham	SR	Silver Spring, MD (Potomac)
G	10		Corey Fisher	SO	The Bronx, New York City (St. Patrick's, NJ)
C	3		Maurice Sutton	FR	Upper Marlboro, MD (Largo HS, MD)
F	0		Antonio Pena	SO	Brooklyn, New York City (St. Thomas More)
G	15		Reggie Redding	JR	Philadelphia, PA (St. Joseph's Prep)
G	1		Scottie Reynolds	JR	Herndon, VA (Herndon)
G	24		Corey Stokes	SO	Bayonne, NJ (St. Benedict's)
F	42		Frank Tchuisi	SR	Douala, Cameroon (St. Benedict's)
F	23		Russell Wooten	JR	Chula Vista, CA (St. Augustine)

Season

Before the season began, on October 22, 2008, the Wildcats were selected to finish fifth among the 16 Big East Conference teams in the annual preseason coaches' poll at Madison Square Garden.^[6] As part of recent tradition, the 2008 Hoopsmania (an on-campus kickoff of the Villanova Basketball season), included a performance by hip-hop artist T-Pain. Previous artists have included 50 Cent, Tony Yayo and MIMS.^[7]

The Villanova-Pitt game on January 28, 2009 was the last game to be held at the Wachovia Spectrum which drew a crowd of 17,449.^[8] The Wildcats finished perfect the year at the Pavilion. Villanova's 25 regular-season wins tied a school record. It had been done three times before, but not since 1950–51.

During the 2009 Big East Awards Ceremony, head coach Jay Wright was named the 2009 Big East Coach of the Year. He won the award twice in the previous four years. Villanova senior forward Dante Cunningham was named the Big East's Most Improved Player, and sophomore guard Corey Fisher won the Sixth Man Award. Cunningham, a senior forward, won second-team honors on the all-Big East team, while junior guard Scottie Reynolds took honorable mention.^[9]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 6, 2008*	No. 25	Northwood	W 75–37		Wachovia Spectrum  Philadelphia, PA
Non-conference regular season
Nov 14, 2008*	No. 25	Albany	W 78–60	1–0	The Pavilion  Villanova, PA
Nov 17, 2008*	No. 23	Fordham	W 107–68	2–0	The Pavilion  Villanova, PA
Nov 19, 2008* ESPNU	No. 23	Niagara	W 77–62	3–0	The Pavilion  Villanova, PA
Nov 25, 2008*	No. 22	Monmouth Philly Hoop Group Classic	W 71–48	4–0	The Pavilion  Villanova, PA
Nov 28, 2008*	No. 22	Towson Philly Hoop Group Classic	W 64–47	5–0	The Palestra  Philadelphia, PA
Nov 29, 2008*	No. 22	Rhode Island Philly Hoop Group Classic	W 78–65	6–0	The Palestra  Philadelphia, PA
Dec 2, 2008*	No. 16	at Penn Big 5	W 69–47	7–0	The Palestra  Philadelphia, PA
Dec 4, 2008*	No. 16	Houston Baptist	W 93–57	8–0	The Pavilion  Villanova, PA
Dec 9, 2008* ESPN	No. 12	vs. No. 6 Texas Jimmy V Classic	L 58–67	8–1	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
Dec 11, 2008*	No. 12	Saint Joseph's Big 5	W 59–56	9–1	The Pavilion  Vilanova, PA
Dec 11, 2008*	No. 12	at La Salle Big 5	W 70–59	10–1	Tom Gola Arena  Philadelphia, PA
Dec 22, 2008*	No. 16	Navy	W 78–68	11–1	The Pavilion  Vilanova, PA
Dec 29, 2008* ESPNU	No. 13	Temple Big 5	W 62–45	12–1	The Pavilion  Vilanova, PA
Big East regular season
Jan 1, 2009 ESPN	No. 13	at No. 13 Marquette	W 79–72	12–2 (0–1)	Bradley Center  Milwaukee, WI
Jan 6, 2009 WPHL	No. 17	at Seton Hall	W 89–85 OT	13–2 (1–1)	Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
Jan 10, 2009 ESPN	No. 17	No. 21 Louisville	L 60–61	13–3 (1–2)	Wachovia Center  Philadelphia, PA
Jan 18 WPHL	No. 22	St. John's	W 76–57	14–3 (2–2)	The Pavilion  Villanova, PA
Jan 21, 2009 ESPN	No. 21	at No. 3 Connecticut	L 83–89	14–4 (2–3)	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion  Hartford, CT
Jan 24 WPHL	No. 21	at South Florida	W 70–61	15–4 (3–3)	USF Sun Dome  Tampa, FL
Jan 28, 2009 ESPNU	No. 21	at No. 3 Pittsburgh	W 67–57	16–4 (4–3)	Wachovia Spectrum  Philadelphia, PA
Feb 1, 2009 WPHL	No. 21	Cincinnati	W 71–50	17–4 (5–3)	The Pavilion  Vilanova, PA
Feb 4, 2009 WPHL	No. 16	at Providence	W 94–91	18–4 (6–3)	Dunkin' Donuts Center  Providence, RI
Feb 7, 2009 ESPN	No. 16	No. 20 Syracuse	W 102–85	19–4 (7–3)	The Pavilion  Vilanova, PA
Feb 10, 2009 ESPN2	No. 13	No. 12 Marquette	W 102–84	20–4 (8–3)	The Pavilion  Vilanova, PA
Feb 13, 2009 ESPN	No. 13	at West Virginia	L 72–93	20–5 (8–4)	WVU Coliseum  Morgantown, WV
Feb 19 ESPN2	No. 14	Rutgers	W 82–72	21–5 (9–4)	The Pavilion  Vilanova, PA
Feb 22 CBS	No. 14	at No. 25 Syracuse	W 89–86	22–5 (10–4)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
Feb 25, 2009 WPHL	No. 12	at DePaul	W 74–72	23–5 (11–4)	Allstate Arena  Rosemont, IL
Feb 28, 2009 ESPN	No. 12	Georgetown	L 54–56	23–6 (11–5)	Wachovia Center  Philadelphia, PA
Mar 2, 2009 ESPN	No. 16	at Notre Dame	W 77–60	24–6 (12–5)	Joyce Center  South Bend, IN
Mar 5, 2009 ESPN2	No. 16	Providence	W 97–80	25–6 (13–5)	The Pavilion  Vilanova, PA
Big East tournament
Mar 12, 2009	(4) No. 13	vs. (5) No. 21 Marquette Quarterfinals	W 76–75	26–6	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
Mar 13, 2009	(4) No. 13	vs. (1) No. 5 Louisville Semifinals	L 63–82	26–7	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
NCAA tournament
Mar 19, 2008*	(3E) No. 12	vs. (14E) American First Round	W 80–67	27–7	Wachovia Center  Philadelphia, PA
Mar 21, 2009*	(3E) No. 12	vs. (6E) No. 17 UCLA Second Round	W 89–69	28–7	Wachovia Center  Philadelphia, PA
Mar 26, 2009*	(3E) No. 12	vs. (2E) No. 5 Duke Sweet Sixteen	W 77–54	29–7	TD Banknorth Garden  Boston, MA
Mar 28, 2009*	(3E) No. 12	vs. (1E) No. 4 Pittsburgh Elite Eight	W 78–76	30–7	TD Banknorth Garden  Boston, MA
Apr 4, 2009*	(3E) No. 12	vs. (1W) No. 2 North Carolina Final Four	L 69–83	30–8	Ford Field  Detroit, MI
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	23	23	20	17	15	18	18	15	18	23	20	21	17	13	12	10	11	10	Not released
Coaches	25	23	22	16	12	15	16	13	17	22	21	21	16	13	14	12	16	13	4

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings.