City of Basketball Love

Will Slover (@WillSlover31)

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After trailing for most of the game, Villanova battled back behind a heroic effort from senior Josh Hart to remain undefeated and hand Notre Dame their first loss of the season as the Wildcats topped the Irish by a score of 74-66 at the Prudential Center in the first game of the Never Forget Tribute Classic. 

At First…

Notre Dame came out of the gate on fire as the Irish quickly stormed out to a 15-6 lead over the top-ranked Wildcats. New Jersey natives Matt Farrell (Point Pleasant Beach HS) and Steve Vasturia (St. Joseph’s Prep, Pa.) were dominant in the early going, as the two combined for 12 of those first 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting. As the half continued, Notre Dame continued to stick it to the top team in the country as once VIllanova cut the Irish lead to 3, 19-16, with 11:04 to go in the half, Notre Dame responded with a 14-6 run to put the Irish up by 11, their largest lead of the game. Villanova responded to this burst by the Irish with a 14-6 run of their own over the final four minutes of the first frame to cut Notre Dame’s lead to three until a basket by Farrell at the buzzer sent the contest into the intermission with the Irish leading 41-36. Prior to this contest, trailing at halftime was unchartered territory for the 2016-17 Wildcats as they led at the half in eight of their nine previous along with having one tie. Farrell and Vasturia continued their hot half as the two guards went into the intermission with 12 and 10, respectively. For Villanova, it was all Josh Hart as the senior guard went into the intermission accounting for more than half of Villanova’s points as he finished the first frame with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while also adding in four rebounds and three assists. Coming out of the intermission, it was more of the same for Notre Dame, as Farrell and Vasturia continued to carry the scoring load and keep Villanova at distance.

Turning Point…

Villanova responded to a hot second half start for Notre Dame by going on a 16-6 run over the course of just under four minutes, triggered by 12 points from Hart. After an Eric Paschall block, Villanova ran the break and took a 57-56 lead, their first of the game, on a Jalen Brunson layup with 8:19 remaining. Following the run, madness ensued as the two teams traded leads for the next five minutes of gameplay with neither team jumping ahead by more than three. That all changed when a Kris Jenkins and-one with 2:25 remaining gave Villanova a four point lead, by a score of 68-64, that they would never look back from as the Wildcats closed out their victory over the Irish to remain undefeated. 

Standout Stars…

Josh Hart was incredible for Villanova, as the senior guard torched Notre Dame for a career high 37 points on 10-of-14 from the field, 3-of-4 from three, and a perfect 14-of-14 from the free throw line. Hart also finished with a game-high of 11 rebounds and added in 4 assists in a winning effort for the Wildcats.

Notre Dame’s version of the Jersey Boys were a force for the Irish in their clash with the Wildcats as the duo of Matt Farrell and Steve Vasturia combined to finish with 36 points. Both guards scored 18, with Farrell adding in six assists as well. 

Noteworthy Numbers…

50%- The amount of Villanova's points that Player of the Year frontrunner Josh Hart accounted for as he finished with 37 of Villanova's 74 total points. 

10- The number of total three-pointers hit in the game between both teams, a shockingly low amount for a clash that included two of the top-ten teams nationally in three-pointers made per game, with Notre Dame averaging 11 and Villanova not far behind with 10.6.

Up Next…

No. 1 Villanova (10-0) vs. Temple (6-3), Tues., Dec. 13, 7:00 PM

No. 23 Notre Dame (9-1) vs. No. 18 Purdue (8-2), Sat., Dec. 17, 2:00 PM