VILLANOVA WILDCATS
Record: 27-3 (14-3 Big East) AP ranking: 2 NCAA RPI: 2 Coach: Jay Wright, 16th season, 381-160 (.705). Best win: 74-66 over Notre Dame on a neutral court Worst loss: 74-72 at Marquette Best stat: The Wildcats make 80 percent of their free throws, and all five of their top five players in minutes played hit 75 percent or better from the line. Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson and Kris Jenkins all hit 87 percent or higher. Best player: Senior guard Josh Hart. Long, experienced and polished, the 6-foot-6 Hart is a serious candidate for national player of the year thanks to averages of 18.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game, 50 percent shooting from the floor and 75 percent from the line. Can be dancin’ in the desert if: They can get their offense to consistently match their defense. In their three defeats to Butler (twice) and Marquette, they’ve averaged 65 points. The Wildcats can guard anyone, as North Carolina would attest from last year’s title game, but despite shooting 50 percent from the floor this season and 80 percent from the line, they sometimes appear to struggle to put enough points on the board to repeat as national champs. Prediction: Elite Eight Coachspeak: “The way they can control the ball and put different guys in spots and be able to isolate, you’re asking for trouble. That’s exactly what happened, our inability to guard them without fouling, and then our 16 turnovers to their 10 was just too much to overcome.” – Creighton’s Greg McDermott after Saturday’s 79-63 loss at Villanova
We all remember The Shot from last year’S NCAA championship basketball game between Villanova and North Carolina. ‘Nova’s Kris Jenkins pulled up beyond the 3-point line at the top of the key as the clock was rushing toward zero, the game tied at 74.
Before the shot reached the rim, the horn sounded. If it went through the goal, the Wildcats would win the second title in school history. If it missed, the two would go to overtime with the Philly Felines having blown a 10-point lead over UNC down the stretch.
The shot swished. College basketball had its Super Nova and the Tar Heels had a long, hot summer to live with the bitter disappointment of coming within a few inches and a half-second from getting an extra five minutes to capture their sixth NCAA crown.
And UNC, playing as well as anyone in the country at the moment, may yet capture that sixth title this season. But if ‘Nova has anything to say about it, the Tar Heels may again have to go through the Wildcats to emerge as national champs.
“We’re not done yet,” Jenkins told The Associated Press over the weekend in the wake of the school’s fourth straight Big East regular-season title following a 79-63 victory over Creighton. “There’s still a lot we want to get accomplished.”
They have accomplished so much for veteran coach Jay Wright in this regular season and the three previous ones, capturing all those Big East titles, winning 124 games (thus far) while losing only 16 and, of course, capturing the school’s first national title since 1985.
Said senior Josh Hart, the team’s most decorated player, after the win over Creighton boosted the Cats to 27-3 for the year: “We’re never going to talk about (all we’ve accomplished) now. Twenty, 30 years from now, I’m going to be bragging a lot.”
But if Hart, a possible Wooden Award winner, won’t brag yet on himself or his team, everyone else is more than happy to talk about the 6-foot-6 guard who leads the Wildcats in scoring (18.6 ppg), rebounding (6.5) and steals (1.5).
“If Josh Hart isn’t the player of the year, there’s something wrong with people,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said after a 76-46 loss to Villanova: “They should put up a statue of him of what college basketball is.”
Said Wright recently: “It would take me forever to talk about all the great things he does. Josh is just so complete in every way. He’s the best competitor out there. Besides Kris, he’s one of the best shooters and finishers in the country. He’s a great decision maker and has gotten better every year. He’s also our best defensive player. I think this guy is as complete a player as there is in the country.”
When healthy – which Villanova hasn’t been of late since post player Darryl Reynolds went down with a broken rib – the Wildcats are as complete a team as anyone.
Ranked No. 2 in the AP poll and standing second in the newest NCAA Rating Percentage Index, Villanova’s average victory margin of 14.1 points is 10th nationally and its 63.3 points-allowed average is second to Gonzaga among this week’s top 10 teams in the AP poll. Its only real weakness has been the Butler Bulldogs, who have swept the champs this season, accounting for two of their three losses heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale at Georgetown.
How good have seniors Hart, Jenkins and Reynolds been? They’ve never had a losing streak. Not one.
“Just battle, have attitude,” Hart said after the win over Creighton. “We know we’ll be successful if we do that.”
If any single aspect has made the Wildcats successful, it may be free-throw shooting. They are hitting 80 percent (.799) from the free-throw line, with Jenkins, sophomore point guard Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges all hitting 87 percent or better.
It is yet another small thing that Wright’s teams do well.
But after being crushed 88-57 by the Wildcats, St. Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli took a more cerebral approach to praising the defending champs.
“To me, winning begets winning,” he said. “Jay’s thing about attitude – well, they have attitude, and only in the most positive of ways. They are champions. They’re champions in the way they conduct themselves. They’re champions in the way they play. The way Jay has handled this is a thing of beauty. It should be emulated by all organizations – not just teams but organizations.”
If Villanova repeats as NCAA champions, the Wright Way might be emulated by everyone looking for something they can brag about 20 or 30 years from now.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.