Big East recap 12/09/08 Jimmy V Classic

Curry, #22 Davidson too much down the stretch for West Virginia

Davidson’s Stephen Curry, the nation’s leading scorer at 31.3 points per game, scored 13 of his team’s last 15 points outlasting the West Virginia Mountaineers 68-65 in the first of two games for the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night.

Curry didn’t have his best shooting night, as Bob Huggins kept his players switching on screens and pick-and-rolls never letting the son of former NBA great Dell Curry get going. The pre-season All-American started off 4-7, and finished 9-27, but finished with 10 assists even though he was being blanketed all night.

Davidson played without senior guard Max Paulhus Gosselin, the team's best defender, who was suspended for one game after he was charged with a flagrant foul in a weekend victory over North Carolina State.

West Virginia was also without one of their stars, in second-leading scorer Alex Ruoff, who injured his shoulder in its win over Cleveland State last week. Guard Joe Mazzulla left the game after a nagging shoulder injury against Mississippi reoccurred only six minutes into Tuesday’s game.

Da'Sean Butler had a career-high 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for West Virginia, while freshman Devin Ebanks had 13 points and 17 rebounds, seven on the offensive end.

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#6 Texas prevails over #12 Villanova despite free throw struggles

The No. 6 Texas Longhorns wore down the No. 12 Villanova Wildcats in the second game of Tuesday night’s Jimmy V Classic 67-58.

Texas (7-1) got 23 points on 8-19 shooting, including 4-9 from 3-point land from guard A.J. Abrams. Damion James complimented Abrams recording 16 points, six rebounds and two assists.

For Villanova is was a struggle to keep pace with the fast moving offense of Texas. They struggled from 3-point land as well as the field. A bright spot this season for the Wildcats (8-1) has been Dante Cunningham who came into this game averaging 17 points per game. Cunningham tallied a double-double with 23 points on a 9-14 shooting and 12 rebounds.

The closest Nova got was 41-38 half way through the second half. Texas allowed Villanova to hang around throughout the game with a poor 11-24 (45.8%) shooting from the free throw line.

By Al Buzzelli
BigEast-fans.com Staff Writer

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