NEW YORK — One year after a March to forget, Villanova and head coach Jay Wright finally broke through in the Big East Tournament.
The Wildcats downed Xavier 69-52, winning the program’s second Big East Tournament title, the first coming in 1995. The victory was the Wildcats’ 15th straight, and when combined with a 32-2 record, a regular season title and a 12-1 record against teams in the RPI Top 50, they have essentially locked up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
In last year’s Big East Tournament, the top-seeded Wildcats had a chance at the same accolades but bowed out in the quarterfinals. That loss dropped them to a No. 2 seed in the NCAAs and forced a second round matchup with eventual champion Connecticut. Wright has pointed to that disappointment and another year of experience as two of the main keys to their success this season.
In Villanova’s first Big East title game appearance under Wright, they led by double digits for the final 25 minutes of the game, leaning on their usual balanced scoring attack (eight players scored, with five between 7 and 16 points), their usual quality shooting (50% from the field, 39% from the arc) and some tough defense (four blocks and way more alterations on the way to holding the Musketeers to 37.3% from the floor). Xavier kept it close for much of the first half, trailing by 3 with 7:31 remaining, but a 17-4 Wildcats run blew the game open and Villanova was never really threatened in the second half.
Big East Sixth Man of the Year Josh Hart earned the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player honors, scoring 43 points on 21-of-29 shooting over the three games, including 15 in the championship. Dee Davis and Jalen Reynolds led Xavier – who will make the NCAA Tournament easily despite the loss – with 13 points apiece.
“Anything we do at Villanova in the Big East is very, very significant,” said Wright after the game. “We take great pride in being part of this conference. We take great pride in the history of Villanova.”
“I grew up coming to this tournament as a fan,” continued Wright. “I love the NCAA Tournament, obviously, but this is where we’re all from. We’re all from the Northeast. New York, Madison Square Garden is the Mecca, and so to come here and just play in it is a thrill for us. To win it, I can’t even tell you, I don’t know if it’s really sunk in yet.”
The finals victory was a summation of all the positive traits Villanova showed over the course of the weekend. On Thursday, it was outside shooting, as they tied a Big East Tournament record with 17 made threes in an 84-49 quarterfinals win over Marquette. Friday night they showed off their interior power on a night where the offense was faltering, as center Daniel Ochefu’s 13 boards and five blocks anchoring a defense that held Providence to 35% shooting in a 63-61 Wildcats victory.
Villanova will lead the charge of a six Big East schools in the NCAA Tournament (Xavier, Georgetown, Butler, Providence, St. John’s) as the reformed league looks to regain some of the prestige it lost over the last few years with the departures of West Virginia, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Notre Dame. The Wildcats have struggled in the Big Dance as of late, failing to advance beyond the opening weekend since 2009 despite twice entering as a No. 2 seed.
The Wildcats seem primed for a deep run, with experience, depth, ball-handlers and deadly shooting. Their only issue is inside, as they rank outside of the top 100 in both offensive and defensive rebounding rate. Ochefu is the only regular above 6’7”, but they have enough size on the wings (Hart is 6’5”, Darrun Hilliard is 6’6”) to help compensate. The issue Xavier ran into will also bother any team looking to take down the Wildcats in the tournament: You can try to go big, but you better be able to stay matched up as Villanova slings the ball around in their half-court sets, with assists on over 62% of their made field goals, good for 14th in the nation. With six players shooting 37% or better from the arc, any extra size their opponents place on the floor will need to be comfortable defending on the perimeter.
“They have a chance to win a national championship,” said Xavier coach Chris Mack after the game, “and they are not given nearly enough credit for how tough of a team they are, how hard they play, how unselfish they are. They’re the true definition of a team.”
from Yahoo Sports http://ift.tt/1Ldwsco
