# 2011–12 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2011–12 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University in the 2011–12 college basketball season. Villanova was led by eleventh year head coach Jay Wright. The Wildcats participated in the Big East Conference and played their home games at The Pavilion with some select home games at the Wells Fargo Center. The Wildcats finished with a record of 13–19 overall, 5–13 in Big East play for a tie for fourteenth-place finish, Wright's worst season at Nova and the only Nova team coach by Wright that would not play in any of the post-season tournaments. They lost in the 2nd round in the 2012 Big East men's basketball tournament to South Florida. They were not invited to a postseason tournament for the first time since 1998, leading to some speculation that Wright's job might be jeopardy.

## Rankings

Ranking Movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ No Change In Ranking :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | NR | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | NR | NR | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/08/2011* 7:00 pm | NYIT | W 91–58 | – | Wells Fargo Center (5,127) Philadelphia |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2011* 7:00 pm | Monmouth | W 106–70 | 1–0 | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, Pennsylvania |
| 11/15/2011* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | La Salle Big 5 game | W 76–70 $^{OT}$ | 2–0 | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, Pennsylvania |
| 11/18/2011* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Delaware | W 79–69 | 3–0 | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, Pennsylvania |
| 11/24/2011* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | vs. UC Riverside 76 Classic First Round | W 71–46 | 4–0 | Anaheim Convention Center (1,427) Anaheim, California |
| 11/25/2011* 2:30 pm, ESPN | vs. Saint Louis 76 Classic semifinals | L 68–80 | 4–1 | Anaheim Convention Center (2,087) Anaheim, California |
| 11/27/2011* 6:30 pm, ESPNU | vs. Santa Clara 76 Classic 3rd place game | L 64–65 | 4–2 | Anaheim Convention Center (N/A) Anaheim, California |
| 12/03/2011* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Penn Big 5 Game | W 73–65 | 5–2 | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, Pennsylvania |
| 12/06/2011* 7:00 pm, ESPN | vs. No. 10 Missouri Jimmy V Classic | L 71–81 | 5–3 | Madison Square Garden (8,231) New York City |
| 12/10/2011* 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | at Temple Big 5 Game | L 67–78 | 5–4 | Liacouras Center (10,206) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| 12/13/2011* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | Boston University | W 68–43 | 6–4 | Wells Fargo Center (8,313) Philadelphia |
| 12/17/2011* 7:00 pm, CBSSN | at Saint Joseph's Big 5 Game | L 58–74 | 6–5 | Hagan Arena (4,200) Philadelphia |
| 12/22/2011* 7:00 pm | American | W 73–52 | 7–5 | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, Pennsylvania |
| 12/28/2011 7:00 pm, WPHL | at West Virginia | L 69–83 | 7–6 (0–1) | WVU Coliseum (11,262) Morgantown, West Virginia |
| 01/01/2012 1:00 pm, ESPNU | at No. 14 Marquette | L 77–81 | 7–7 (0–2) | BMO Harris Bradley Center (14,550) Milwaukee |
| 01/05/2012 8:00 pm, WPHL | South Florida | L 57–74 | 7–8 (0–3) | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, Pennsylvania |
| 01/08/2012 12:00 pm, WPHL | DePaul | W 87–71 | 8–8 (1–3) | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, Pennsylvania |
| 01/11/2012 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 1 Syracuse | L 66–79 | 8–9 (1–4) | Wells Fargo Arena (14,877) Philadelphia |
| 01/14/2012 12:00 pm, WPHL | at Cincinnati | L 78–82 | 8–10 (1–5) | Fifth Third Arena (10,205) Cincinnati |
| 01/18/2012 7:00 pm, ESPNU | Seton Hall | W 84–76 | 9–10 (2–5) | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, Pennsylvania |
| 01/21/2012 1:00 pm, ESPNU | at St. John's | W 79–76 | 10–10 (3–5) | Madison Square Garden (11,430) New York City |
| 01/25/2012 1:00 pm, ESPN | at Louisville | L 74–84 | 10–11 (3–5) | KFC Yum! Center (21,219) Louisville, Kentucky |
| 01/28/2012 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 17 Marquette | L 78–82 | 10–12 (3–7) | Wells Fargo Center (15,578) Philadelphia |
| 02/05/2012 2:00 pm, ESPN | at Pittsburgh | L 70–79 | 10–13 (3–8) | Peterson Events Center (21,219) Pittsburgh |
| 02/07/2012 8:00 pm, WPHL | Providence | W 74–72 | 11–13 (4–8) | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, Pennsylvania |
| 02/15/2012 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | at South Florida | L 51–65 | 11–14 (4–9) | Tampa Bay Times Forum (4,636) Tampa, Florida |
| 02/18/2012 8:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 23 Notre Dame | L 70–74 $^{OT}$ | 11–15 (4–10) | Wells Fargo Center (15,939) Philadelphia |
| 02/20/2012 7:00 pm, ESPN | Connecticut | L 70–74 $^{OT}$ | 11–16 (4–11) | Wells Fargo Center (13,832) Philadelphia |
| 02/25/2012 2:00 pm, CBS | at Georgetown | L 46–67 | 11–17 (4–12) | Verizon Center (19,277) Washington, D.C. |
| 03/01/2012 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | at Rutgers | W 77–71 | 12–17 (5–12) | The RAC (5,496) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| 03/02/2012 2:00 pm, ESPN | Cincinnati | L 68–72 | 12–18 (5–13) | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, Pennsylvania |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| 03/06/2012 9:00 pm, ESPNU | vs. Rutgers First Round | W 70–49 | 13–18 | Madison Square Garden (20,057) New York City |
| 03/07/2012 9:00 pm, ESPN | vs. South Florida Second Round | L 47–56 | 13–19 | Madison Square Garden (20,057) New York City |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||