Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Coming off its Final Four appearance last season, Villanova was picked No. 1 in the Big East preseason coaches’ poll.
Marquette, which lost three key seniors to graduation, chimed in at No. 12.
Yet when the two teams played Saturday in Milwaukee, the Wildcats eked out a 74-72 victory thanks to a Scottie Reynolds jumper in the lane with 18.1 seconds left.
For Villanova coach Jay Wright, that outcome is Exhibit A that the Big East is as balanced this year as it has been in a while.
“We just played Marquette and they’re as good as us,” Wright, whose team hosts the Golden Eagles again on Saturday, said Thursday on the Big East conference call. “There is very little separation.”
Read the full notebook here.
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
Coming off its Final Four appearance last season, Villanova was picked No. 1 in the Big East preseason coaches’ poll.
Marquette, which lost three key seniors to graduation, chimed in at No. 12.
Yet when the two teams played Saturday in Milwaukee, the Wildcats eked out a 74-72 victory thanks to a Scottie Reynolds jumper in the lane with 18.1 seconds left.
For Villanova coach Jay Wright, that outcome is Exhibit A that the Big East is as balanced this year as it has been in a while.
“We just played Marquette and they’re as good as us,” Wright, whose team hosts the Golden Eagles again on Saturday, said Thursday on the Big East conference call. “There is very little separation.”
Read the full notebook here.
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
