November 5, 2028
Coaches' Invitational, First Round
(1) #2 Villanova 103, (16) Loyola Marymount 51
Corey Hicks comes off the bench to score 23 points, highlighting an easy victory in the first round of the Coaches' Invitational.
Hicks also provides 6 assists and 5 steals in 23 minutes of action.
Jacob Allen knocks down 6 threes, scores 21 points, and makes 3 steals.
Avery Sullivan just misses a double-double (12p/9r).
Duncan Sims runs into foul trouble and doesn't shoot well (3 points), but he dishes out 7 assists and grabs 5 rebounds.
The "unknown quantities" play well, too.
Richard Pray scores 11.
Lowell Welter (12p/9r/2b),
Tony Ezell (12p),
Clemens Schwaiger (4p/4r/2b), and
Blake Norton (5p/5a in 14 minutes) enjoy successful collegiate debuts.
Record: 1-0.
November 6, 2028
Coaches' Invitational, Quarter Final
(1) #2 Villanova 80, (9) Tulane 63
Jacob Allen continues to play like a star, with 21 points and 3 steals as we advance to the semifinals.
Duncan Sims is the only other Wildcat in double figures (14p/5a/5r), although his shooting touch is still AWOL (2-for-11 from distance).
Avery Sullivan scores 6 points and claims 11 rebounds.
Record: 2-0.
November 12, 2028
Coaches' Invitational Semifinal
(1) #2 Villanova 100, (12) Xavier 76
We hit the century mark for the second time in three games, eliminating the upset-minded Musketeers and moving on to the tournament championship game.
Avery Sullivan plays the best game of his career to date: 23 points, 10 rebounds.
Jacob Allen adds 18 points more.
Duncan Sims scores 11 and records a career-high 9 assists.
Richard Pray scores 10 points with 8 rebounds.
We commit only 9 turnovers, a major improvement over our first two games.
Record: 3-0.
November 13, 2028
Coaches' Invitational Championship
(1) #2 Villanova 73, (2) #4 Southern California 69
We pass our first tough test of the season, knocking off
Kenneth Burroughs' Trojans to win the Coaches' Invitational.
Code:
Villanova 73, Southern California 69
---------------------------------------------------------
Southern California (3-1, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Mateo Sanz C 30 2-7 1-2 2 7 2 2 5
Michael Stewart PF 31 4-12 2-2 3 8 2 2 10
James Barnum SF 34 6-11 6-6 1 7 4 0 20
James Jackson SG 33 5-14 3-4 1 3 5 2 16
Walker Sterner PG 26 1-5 0-0 1 3 4 5 2
Daniel Hostetler PG 18 3-6 0-0 0 1 3 1 9
Edward Jones C 11 1-1 1-2 1 1 0 5 3
Gerard Navarrette PG 4 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Matthew Verduzco SF 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Bryce Avent C 6 1-2 0-0 1 1 1 0 2
Marcellus Clayton PF 2 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 2
Turnovers: 12 (M.Sanz 4, M.Stewart 1, J.Barnum 4,
J.Jackson 1, D.Hostetler 1, G.Navarrette 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (M.Sanz 1)
Steals: 7 (M.Sanz 2, M.Stewart 1, J.Barnum 2, W.Sterner
2)
3P FGs: 8-25 (M.Sanz 0-1, M.Stewart 0-1, J.Barnum 2-4,
J.Jackson 3-11, W.Sterner 0-1, D.Hostetler 3-6,
G.Navarrette 0-1)
Villanova (4-0, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Avery Sullivan C 31 6-9 3-4 0 10 4 3 15
Lowell Welter PF 24 2-4 1-2 2 5 2 2 5
Richard Pray SF 22 2-5 2-2 0 4 1 4 6
Jacob Allen SG 34 3-8 1-2 0 1 3 1 10
Duncan Sims PG 28 7-10 2-3 1 4 3 3 21
Corey Hicks SF 24 2-4 0-0 0 1 1 1 5
Tony Ezell PF 21 1-4 3-4 1 5 1 1 5
Clemens Schwaiger C 6 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Blake Norton PG 6 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 3
Caleb Blaney SF 2 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3
Ronald Verdugo SG 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 16 (A.Sullivan 1, L.Welter 3, R.Pray 3,
J.Allen 3, D.Sims 2, C.Hicks 3, T.Ezell 1)
Blocked Shots: 2 (A.Sullivan 1, T.Ezell 1)
Steals: 5 (D.Sims 3, C.Hicks 2)
3P FGs: 11-23 (L.Welter 0-1, J.Allen 3-8, D.Sims 5-8,
C.Hicks 1-3, B.Norton 1-1, C.Blaney 1-1, R.Verdugo 0-1)
Player of Game: PG Duncan Sims (VLNV)
Coaches Sims and Burroughs enter the game with a combined total of 979 career victories. Graham comes out ahead this time, and
it's the 500th victory of his coaching career. Graham's career record now stands at
500-104.
Even better, he gets to share the moment with his son
Duncan, whose play was a major reason for the victory.
Record: 4-0.
