It’s been tough for AP voters to take Villanova University’s basketball team seriously since the Wildcats’ loss to Chaminade Nov. 23 in Maui.
“They had the one bad loss when they had some starters out,” Kansas coach Bill Self said of the Wildcats, who despite a glossy 8-2 record are unranked entering tonight’s nonconference clash against the No. 13 Jayhawks (7:05 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse).
“They are coming hard. They will be a team to be reckoned with in the Big East Conference,” Self added of the Wildcats, who last week received zero votes in the national polls.
‘Nova will be a team to be reckoned with tonight, promised Self, whose Jayhawks enter with a 7-2 mark.
“If we don’t play well, we go home sad. I really believe that,” Self said.
As sad as coach Jay Wright’s Wildcats were back in November after losses to Chaminade (52-49) and Ohio State (67-66) at the Maui Invitational.
At that time, several Wildcats, including sophomore sensation Curtis Sumpter, were serving suspensions stemming from misuse of a university telephone access code.
Since getting Sumpter back — everybody on the team now is in good graces — the Wildcats have won five games in a row, over LaSalle, Penn, Northeastern, Columbia and UNC Greensboro.
The resurgence has been led by the 6-foot-7 Sumpter, who averages 19.4 points and 8.4 rebounds. The 58 percent shooter exploded for 39 points in a 74-55 home victory over Northeastern Dec. 12. It’s the most points scored by a Villanova player since Kerry Kittles scored 44 against Boston College in 1995.
“It just gives me a lot of confidence,” Sumpter said of that outing. “Just knowing that I could do that at this level means a lot. It’s so much harder to score at this level than in high school or AAU ball.”
Self saw a lot of Sumpter during his days at Bishop Loughlin High in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Sumpter was one of the country’s most sought-after players in recruiting, along with three other members of Villanova’s much-heralded sophomore class — guards Allan Ray and Randy Foye (18.0 and 17.9 ppg), plus forward/center Jason Fraser, who has played in just two games because of various injuries.
“We always have liked Curtis. We recruited him pretty hard at Illinois,” said former Illini coach Self. “He has to be one of the premier sophomores in the country. There are not very many who can score as easily as he does.”
It took Sumpter awhile to emerge. He averaged just 6.2 points a game his freshman season.
“It took a lot longer than I thought for things to come together,” Sumpter said. “I thought I would be able to come out and help right away. Even though I wasn’t real experienced at small forward, I thought I would be good enough.”
He’s been more than good enough his second season.
“Curt is our most improved player,” Wright said. “He’s really learning how to be a leader for us.”
The ‘Nova coach realizes his team is getting better and better as conference play approaches.
Whether the Wildcats are ready to defeat Kansas and vault into the Top 25 next week remains to be seen.
“Our guys are fired up to play Kansas,” Wright said. “This is going to be a good test for us, to play in one of the toughest arenas in the country against one of the toughest teams in the country. We are going to get a good feel for where we are.”
He doesn’t classify it as a must-win game.
“It’s not life or death. It’s not an NCAA Tournament game where your season is over, but it should be a good barometer,” Wright told the Philadelphia Daily News. “I think this team is as good as it can be right now, but we’ll see how good we can be against the best.”
Senior Derrick Snowden, who has played in just one game as he battles back from an ACL tear, knows playing in Allen Fieldhouse will be challenging.
He played against Duke his freshman year, the Wildcats falling, 98-85, in Durham, N.C..
“If you’ve survived Duke,” Snowden said, “you feel you can handle anything.”
“That was crazy. People were yelling at Andreas (Bloch) in German. They were into it. I’m excited about going to Kansas. I’m just disappointed that I probably won’t be able to play as much as I would have without the injury.”
NOTES
“It will be a fast-paced game. I like fast-paced games,” said KU junior guard Aaron Miles.
“If we guard them we can stop all that running,” said KU soph Jeff Hawkins. “If we run, it’ll help us even more. A key is not letting them score and executing our plays and getting easy baskets.”
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