Nobody beats ’Cats on their home court

Corey Fisher has never lost a game at The Pavilion. He doesn’t plan on leaving the Main Line any other way.

Villanova (ranked No. 9 in the AP poll; No. 10 in ESPN) hosts No. 4 Pittsburgh on Saturday at the cozy, 6,500-seat on-campus arena. With ESPN’s “College Game Day” broadcasting live, this matchup could be the toughest opponent yet for the Wildcats.

Villanova has won 46 straight games here in a span of more than four years. With the remainder of its home schedule at the Wells Fargo Center, the Wildcats plan to revel in this huge game.

“We take a lot of pride in not losing any games at The Pavilion,” said Fisher, one of 10 candidates for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award, which is given to the nation’s top point guard. “We want to continue the streak and pass it on to next year’s class. We don’t look as one game here is more important than the next. We just focus on winning the next one.”

That won’t be easy against such a physically-imposing team as Pittsburgh, a team being mentioned by many as a potential Final Four squad.

“We feel like if we execute, we are as good as anyone,” Fisher said. “It’s just confidence. We have to stay within our plan and do what we do. We are very good when we do that. So we know what we have to do and that’s what we worry about.”

East Coast bias

’Nova’s got some tough tests ahead (last night’s game at Rutgers ended too late):

» Feb. 12 vs. No. 4 Pitt
Panthers are without top scorer Ashton Gibbs (MCL), but still beat West Virginia.
» Feb. 15 at Seton Hall
Typical trap game. Pirates lost to No. 9 UConn by just two points last weekend.
» Feb. 19 at DePaul
No worries here. Demons have lost 11 straight.
» Feb. 21 vs. No. 13 Syracuse
Always a battle.