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Villanova closes out Pavilion in style over No. 23 Creighton

02/25/2017, 8:15pm EST
By Austin Petolillo

Austin Petolillo (@AustinPSports)
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One hundred and eleven wins, 12 losses. That is the impressive regular-season record for Villanova senior stars Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds.

The winningest class in Villanova men’s basketball history added another ‘W’ to their win total to go along with another regular-season Big East title, beating No. 23 Creighton on Senior Day by a final score of 79-63.

Draped in Big East regular-season champion paraphernalia for the fourth straight year, the Villanova Wildcats men’s basketball team celebrated at center court, hoisting the silver trophy up in the air.

“Honestly, it’s really talented players and guys that help each other win and get better,” Villanova head coach Jay Wright said during his post-game press conference. “Nobody wins anything without really talented players.”

“This was more so for our families and the student-body but we still have more to accomplish and we’re moving forward to the next game,” Jenkins added.

Aside from it being the last home game for the Villanova seniors, it was also the last game for the home of Villanova basketball, the Pavilion, at least in its current edition.

The Pavilion will undergo a $60 million renovation starting in June through the fall of 2018, thanks to a $22.3 million donation by Bill Finneran.

After the game, it was clear the Pavilion was on its last legs.

“When the game ended, Mark Jackson, our Athletic Director, took me to half-court and he said ‘you have to see this.’” Wright said. “It was raining and there’s a puddle at half-court. The roof was leaking and there is a huge puddle. If this were to happen five minutes earlier, we would’ve had to stop the game, so the Pavilion ended with a big puddle at half-court. This was definitely the building’s last day.”

Filling in for the injured Reynolds (ribs), Villanova was led by redshirt sophomore forward Eric Paschall, who scored 19 points and six rebounds. Aside from Paschall, Villanova had three other players in double-figures. Hart had 16 points and 8 rebounds, Jenkins had 15 points, and Mikal Bridges had 11 points and eight rebounds.

“When he is in the game, we are executing at a high level,” Wright said about Paschall.

For most of the season, the 6-foot-7, 250-lb transfer from Fordham has been used as a backup for Villanova. All of that changed when Reynolds went out with a rib injury five games ago against Georgetown on February 7.

“Defensively, in terms of executing, he is far better than anyone knows.” Wright said. “Inside the program, the guys know how good he is, I just think everyone is surprised because they don’t get to see it all the time.”

While Villanova did struggle from the 3-point line, only shooting 4-of-19 (21 percent) from deep, the Wildcats still managed to find a way to come away with the victory.

Jenkins shot 1-of-7 from three but 5-of-8 from inside the arc. Hart was 1-of-3 from three but 6-of-8 from two point range.

After a surprise loss at the Pavilion to Butler on wednesday, many wondered how this particular Villanova team and senior class who have never lost two in a row, would respond to the loss.

“Whether we win or we loss, we go back the next day to try and get better.” Hart said. “We can’t always control the outcome of the games but we can control how we respond to the outcomes of the games.”

For the fifth-straight game, Villanova ran mostly a six-man rotation with a cameo appearance by freshman forward Dylan Painter and due to such a high volume of minutes from the main players, you would think it would take a toll on the players.

“It doesn’t do us any good saying we’re worn out.” Wright says. “It’s not an excuse, other teams have other things to deal with but I think it speaks to the leadership and character of these seniors. I’m so proud of them.”

The Blue Jays (22-7, 9-7) were led by junior point guard and Kansas State transfer Marcus Foster, who finished with 25 points, five rebounds and eight assists on 6-9 shooting from three, and sophomore guard Khyri Thomas, who finished with 17 points and for the most part, did well defending Hart.

Villanova’s regular season wraps up with a trip to Washington D.C on Sunday at noon to take on their rival Georgetown in the Verizon Center.

With their Villanova basketball careers soon coming to an end, Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins were asked to describe their Villanova careers.

Hart chose to reflect on what he learned during his time as a Wildcat.

“Just battling.” Hart said. “That’s the one thing from day one we always tried to do, coach always tried to teach us just to keep battling no matter if we’re making shots or if there is a certain call we don’t like just battle and have attitude. We know if we do that, we’ll be successful regardless of the outcome of the game.”

Jenkins on the other hand, did not want to reflect.

“It’s not over," he said.


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