Quick Report: Villanova 76, Mt. St. Mary's 56

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Villanova’s national championship defense got off to quite a rocky start, but the Wildcats recovered to handle Mount St. Mary’s 76-56 in the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

At First…

Villanova had its ugliest few minutes of the season to begin the game, missing its first eight shots as Mount St. Mary’s stole the momentum (and the KeyBank Center crowd), jumping out to a 10-2 lead in the game’s opening seven minutes. The Mountaineers played front-runner for almost the entire opening 20 minutes, though a layup from Jalen Brunson just before halftime sent the Wildcats into the locker rooms with the slimmest of 30-29 leads.

Turning Point…

After the Mount scored the opening bucket of the second half to re-take the lead, Villanova unleashed the run that seemingly everybody in the building saw coming. Mount St. Mary’s missed its next six shots from the floor as Villanova caught fire, making eight of its first 10 shots to open up a 49-35 lead on a Mikal Bridges corner 3-pointer with 13 minutes to play. Once the lead hit double-digits it never went back; the Mount kept it to an 11-point deficit with under eight minutes to play before a 14-3 ‘Nova run put things away for good.

Standout Stars…

In his first NCAA Tournament game, redshirt freshman guard Donte DiVincenzo exploded for a team-high 21 points. On top of that, he put forth a double-double within the first handful of minutes of the second half. When it was all said and done, his performance on the glass boasted thirteen rebounds.

After a cold start with his shot selection - that even included him being pulled by Jay Wright almost immediately after he was blocked taking a 3-point shot - redshirt freshman guard Mikal Bridges turned it around to the tune of 13 points.

Leading the way for the Mountaineers was 6-5 freshman Miles Wilson, who went for 22 points on 7-of-20 shooting.

Noteworthy Numbers…

7: Villanova has now won seven consecutive NCAA Tournament games dating back to last season’s championship run.

130: Villanova became the 130th No. 1 seed to beat a No. 16 seed since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 -- the same year the Wildcats took home their first national championship. All but 12 of those wins have been by 20 points or more.

.633: After missing its first eight shots from the floor and shooting 40 percent overall (12-of-30) in the first half, Villanova was red-hot after intermission. The Wildcats shot 19-of-30 (63.3 percent) in the second half, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range, to pull away for the win.

Up Next…

Villanova (32-3) vs. Va. Tech/Wisconsin -- NCAA Tournament Second Round, Sat., March 18