March 30, 2016
After unconscious shooting led to three blowouts with a 24-point average margin of victory, it seems a bit strange to label Villanova’s ugly, grind-it-out victory over Kansas in the Elite 8 as the Wildcats’ most impressive of the last two weeks.
And yet, it clearly was.
“They outshot us, they outrebounded us,” Josh Hart said. “Sometimes it’s like, ‘How the heck did we win that game?’ But it just goes to show the fight this team has, that mentality.”
“That’s the type of game we talk about in our program, the game where we don’t hit a lot of shots from the perimeter,” Daniel Ochefu said. “Our offense was stifled by their great defense and we still found a way to get the win because of our defense and rebounding.”
For all of the critics, the ones who called ‘Nova chokers in past years or threw around the “soft” label, the win over the Jayhawks must have been eye-opening. This was bar none the toughest win of the tournament, by any team.
Shots weren’t falling, and ‘Nova still knocked off No. 1. The Wildcats ran into “The Poor Shooting Game” against the worst possible opponent, and they gutted it out.
As far as outside perception, the enormity of this effort can’t be understated: In 40 minutes, the Wildcats completely refuted the notion that they need to make jumpers to survive a big game.
“That’s the type of game we talk about in our program, the game where we don’t hit a lot of shots from the perimeter,” Daniel Ochefu said. “Our offense was stifled by their great defense and we still found a way to get the win because of our defense and rebounding.”
The ‘Nova players and coaches already knew what they are capable of. After all, this is a group that has won, and won, and won some more over the past three years. For good reason, Wright doesn’t judge his program on what happens during these crazy three weeks, even if he knows that almost everyone else does
Knowing all of that, the Kansas game was kind of nice for the best-dressed man in college hoops.
“It’s the greatest feeling in the world to see these guys get to that point where everyone else sees they’re as good as we see they can be,” Wright said after the win over Kansas.
For whatever reason, people don’t usually associate toughness with Villanova basketball. Maybe it’s the pretty suburban campus, or the clean-cut coach, or even the watered-down conference. When you watch the Wildcats play, though, it’s right there in front of you.
Nailing down an intangible can be difficult, but sometimes it’s most visible in moments. In ‘Nova’s case, it wasn’t hard to find: Kansas takes its biggest lead of the game (five points) midway through the second half on a circus three-point play from Wayne Selden.
Over the next two and a half minutes, the Wildcats reeled off 10 straight points. Take a punch, and give one back.
“It definitely gives us more confidence knowing that we don’t have to go out there and shoot 60, 70 percent from the field to win,” Hart said.
Elite defense generally takes a combination of talent and effort. Take a look at where all of the Final Four teams rank in the KenPom ratings nationally (out of 351 teams). ‘Nova comes into Houston with the highest ranked unit, but there will be no slouches:
| Offense | Defense | |
| ‘Nova | 4 | 7 |
| UNC | 1 | 21 |
| OU | 13 | 13 |
| ‘Cuse | 52 | 16 |
This just goes to show that ‘Nova can win in multiple ways; they can beat you right or left-handed. Past performance didn’t guarantee a victory over Kansas in a slugfest, but it wasn’t any surprise that the Wildcats were capable.
“That just shows our defense has really been what has been carrying us this whole time,” sharpshooter Kris Jenkins said. “Playing defense at a high level and rebounding, because we try to prepare for the most difficult situations when we’re not making shots.”
So, what about those difficult situations that freshman point guard Jalen Brunson calls “simple, but creative?” Whether it’s a time and score situation (down five, 10 seconds left) or something to do with free throws, Wright spends a lot of time in practice simulating different scenarios.
And in the case of free throws, ‘Nova shot 18-19 in the biggest game of the season. Brunson, Jenkins, and Ryan Arcidiacono were very cool under pressure.
“For that to come up against the best team in the country and show that we got stops and made free throws at the end, [Wright] knows what he’s talking about,” Brunson said.
Shots weren’t falling, but that didn’t affect the free-throw shooting. You know, mental toughness.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
