# 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.

## 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
US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | 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 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 87 ||||||
| Overall Recruiting Rankings: Scout – NR Rivals – NR 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. 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.
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. 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.

## 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

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | 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.