The Villanova Wildcats will look to shock the men's college basketball world Wednesday, as they host the No. 1-ranked Syracuse Orange in a Big East Conference game (7 p.m. on ESPN2) at The Pavilion. The Wildcats (8-8, 1-3 Big East) have earned victories in five of their last seven meetings against the Orange (17-0, 4-0), who look to improve to 18-0 for the third time in program history.
On Sunday, sophomore guard Maalik Wayns netted a team-best 21 points to help the Wildcats down the visiting DePaul Blue Demons, 87-71.The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for 'Nova, which has lost six of its last nine games.
Currently, Wayns is the leading 'Nova scorer (17.4 points per game) and passers (4.8 assists per game), while junior forward Mouphtaou Yarou is netting 12.8 ppg and collecting a best 7.8 rebounds per game.
Meanwhile, the Orange are paced by senior forward Kris Joseph (14.1 ppg), who netted a team-best 17 points Saturday in SU's victory over the Marquette Golden Eagles, 73-68. Junior guard Brandon Triche tallied 16 points, and earned Big East Weekly Honor Roll honors after averaging 16.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 3.5 assists per game in two games last week.
Sophomore guard Dion Watiers is the leading scorer off the bench with 12.1 points per game.
For more on the Wildcats, visit the SB Nation blog The Nova Blog. Meanwhile, Big East Coast Bias has everything on the Big East Conference.