s Ring of Honor on Jan. 21 at halftime of its game against Sy

VILLANOVA, Pa. -- The reigning top-ranked Villanova Wildcats look to extend their winning streak to 18 games when they host American University on Wednesday night at The Pavilion.The Wildcats won all six games in last years NCAA Tournament en route to the programs second national championship in addition to the 11 victories thus far in 2016-17.Villanova (11-0), which will also be in search of its 44th straight victory at its on-campus arena on the Main Line, captured its fourth consecutive Big 5 title with a 78-57 win over Temple on Dec. 13.Villanova was ranked No. 1 for three weeks last February, so this isnt completely new.Its the hardest thing you have to face, it really is, Wildcats head coach Jay Wright said. Thank god we went through it last year, and it was hard. When I say hard, its a challenge and Ill take that challenge any day of the year.It is difficult and again, having Josh (Hart), Kris (Jenkins), Darryl (Reynolds), it takes the players to do it. The coach can only say it so much, these guys get their teammates prepared. They have much more impact on the team, even than I do and I dont know if you can come from what we did last year without doing it with our seniors.Without our guys, Im not sure if we could do it. It wasnt easy.Hart, a preseason National Player of the Year candidate, has been sensational in the month of December, averaging 25.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.In Harts last two games, he scored 37 points against then 23rd-ranked Notre Dame and 26 against the Owls with 18 coming in the second half. Hart has knocked down 20 of 33 shots in those last two games.We all believed Josh would develop into this kind of leader, Wright said. But we thought it would take him a little longer. He had Arch (Ryan Arcidiacono) and Daniel (Ochefu) ahead of him for three years and is just a fun-loving guy. What he was doing when we were down was just bringing everybody together.In watching the La Salle tape, I lost count of how many times he grabbed (teammates) to encourage them, rub their head. Hes just been an incredible leader.American has struggled to a 3-7 start with a young team but it has won back-to-back games over Youngstown State and Maryland-Eastern Shore.Freshman guard Saeed Nelson, a two-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week, scored 16 points in the Eagles 61-58 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Monday.Hes got a really good feel for the game, American head coach Mike Brennan told AU Hoop Talk. He rarely makes bad decisions and has been a beast offensively and defensively.Sophomore guard Delante Jones (12.2 ppg) and freshman forward Mark Gasperini (12.0 ppg) also average in double figures for the Eagles.This will be the second game in Americans history against a No. 1 team. On Dec. 12, 1984, American fell 86-64 against top-ranked Georgetown.The Eagles are 2-59 all-time against Top 25 opponents in their history. The two wins came against No. 17 La Salle (68-62) on Feb. 24, 1971, and No. 5 Georgetown (62-61) on Dec. 15, 1982. Cheap Yankees Jerseys Online . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. Cheap Stitched Yankees Jerseys . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. http://www.wholesaleyankeesjerseys.com/ . - Chris Tierney snapped a tie with a power-play goal late in the third period as the London Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Erie Otters 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday. Cheap Yankees Jerseys For Sale . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Wholesale Yankees Jerseys Free Shipping .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame couldnt pass, couldnt hang on to the ball, couldnt hold on to a 15-point lead and just about couldnt miss from the free-throw line.The Fighting Irish were 30 of 33 in foul shooting with Bonzie Colson making all 12 of his attempts, Steve Vasturia made all seven of his and Notre Dame beat Iowa 92-78 Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.The foul line is an unbelievable weapon for us, Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. We get there and then we capitalize when we get there.Colson finished with a season-high 24 points and a career-high 17 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double and Vasturia tied a career high with 22 points and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds to pace the Irish (7-0). Colson said he focused on rebounding.I just try to play the game and just play like its my last game and just continue to battle with the bigs and continue to rebound and if I see the scoring opportunity just go to work in that department, he said.Iowa (3-4) had its largest lead of the second half at 52-50 when Notre Dame hit four straight shots and Iowa missed four straight during a 10-0 run capped by Vasturia driving through the lane for a layup to give Notre Dame a 60-52 lead.The Irish extended the lead to 79-63 on a jumper by Farrell.Freshman Jordan Bohanon, whose previous season-high was six points, finished with a team-high 23 points in his first start. Jok, coming off a career-high 42 points against Memphis, struggled throughout, making 4 of 20 shots for 15 points.They were really locked into him, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. Those ones he missed tonight were the same ones he made against Memphis. I give Notre Dame credit for that.Jok blamed himself, saying he didnt do his part.Theres no way I should go 4-20 on a given night against anybody. But like I said it was one of those games. Ive still got to find a way to make shots, and I didnt do it tonight.BIG PICTUREIowa: The Hawkeyes were without freshman forward Tyler Cook, their second-leading scorer at 13.7 points game, who underwent ssurgery earlier Tuesday because of a fractured his right index finger and is expected to be out about three weeks.dddddddddddd After two straight losses the Hawkeyes tried to shake things up with three new starters but continued to struggle against Power Five opponents.Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish, who entered the game averaging 7.5 turnovers and 18.5 assists, had four turnovers in less than six minutes, 11 in the first half. The Irish finished with 14 turnovers and just 11 assists, but won comfortably to improve to 7-0 for the third time in 17 seasons under Mike Brey. The Irish also won their first seven in 2001 and got off to their best start at 8-0 in 2010.POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Irish, who were two spots outside the poll on Monday, should have a chance of becoming ranked after their third win against a Power Five opponent.TIP-INSThe Hawkeyes, who had 18 turnovers in each of its past two games against No. 6 Virginia and Memphis, had only six against the Irish. ... Iowa fell to 5-11 in ACC/Big Ten Challenge games. Notre Dame is 3-1. ... The Irish improved to 8-1 vs. Big Ten opponents the past three seasons.REMEMBERING RIVERSNotre Dame will induct former standout guard David Rivers, who led the Irish to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 1984-88, into its Ring of Honor on Jan. 21 at halftime of its game against Syracuse. Rivers is the sixth-leading all-time scorer at Notre Dame with 2,058 points. He was a first-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a three-time captain for the Irish.UP NEXTIowa: The Hawkeyes return home to play Omaha and Stetson before facing rival Iowa State, which is ranked No. 19.Notre Dame: The Irish play North Carolina A&T and Fort Wayne at home before neutral-site games against No. 2 Villanova in Newark, New Jersey, and No. 15 Purdue in Indianapolis.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '