GAME NOTES: The 18th-ranked Villanova Wildcats make the short trip to Piscataway. New Jersey for tonight's Big East Conference clash with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Villanova has won its last two games to improve to 13-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play. The Wildcats are fresh off Saturday's 81-71 road triumph over Syracuse, evening their record to 2-2 in true road games. They broke the 80-point barrier for the first time in seven games, and it will be interesting to see if another strong offensive showing is in the cards. Rutgers has lost all six of its Big East games, including five double-digit setbacks. Saturday's league bout was close for a chance, but the result was a 75-73 setback to DePaul. The 73 points marked the only time since the start of conference action that the Knights exceeded 59 points. Villanova holds a 23-7 series lead over Rutgers, including four straight wins over the Scarlet Knights.

Scottie Reynolds, the reigning Big East Player of the Week, has led Villanova in scoring in three straight outings. He is clearly the club's go-to guy at the offensive end and is averaging 17.5 ppg this season to go along with 4.2 apg. Corey Fisher checks in with 11.7 ppg, and Dante Cunningham is posting 10.8 ppg. The Wildcats are netting 78.1 ppg as a team while limiting the opposition to 69.2 ppg. In the 10-point victory over Syracuse, Reynolds scored 25 points on the strength of a 4-of-7 effort from three-point range. Fisher had 15 points for the 'Cats, and Cunningham managed 14 points and eight rebounds. Villanova only shot 39.7 percent from the floor, but 27 points from the foul line and strong defense proved to be the difference.

Rutgers is only scoring 62.2 ppg this season on 39.9 percent shooting from the floor, including 29.5 percent from three-point range. The numbers are particularly poor in conference games, as the Scarlet Knights are managing a mere 53.7 ppg while yielding 70.3 ppg. JR Inman is the leading scorer for Rutgers, as he is netting 14.5 ppg to go along with 7.7 rpg. Corey Chandler adds 12.1 ppg to the mix, and Anthony Farmer is contributing 10.4 ppg. Inman tallied 22 points in the narrow loss to DePaul on Saturday, and Farmer posted 17 points in that clash. Rutgers shot an uncharacteristically high 61.7 percent from the floor, including 8-of-13 from three-point range, but the club missed half of its 14 free throws and struggled a bit defensively.

The Scarlet Knights will play hard in front of the home crowd, but it won't be enough to upset the Wildcats. Reynolds and company will add another win to their record.