City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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With the season at its midpoint and most of the non-league games in the record books, the CoBL staff is taking a peek around the City 6 to see how each of the teams have fared this far.

Here’s a look at the Villanova Wildcats as they prepare to enter Big East Conference play on Wednesday night at DePaul:

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Record: 12-0

Key Players: Jalen Brunson (18.1 ppg, 5.0 assist per game), Mikal Bridges (17.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg), Omari Spellman (11.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg)

Big wins: vs. Tennessee (Battle 4 Atlantis), vs. Gonzaga (Madison Square Garden)

Bad losses: none

The Wildcats started their season ranked in the Top 5, but some questions surrounded Villanova after the departure of Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds. Jay Wright’s squad has answered the call so far, as the Wildcats are one of three undefeated teams remaining—Arizona State and TCU are the other two. Here are some thoughts heading into Big East play.

Things we learned...

Jalen Brunson is really, really good

Maybe this isn’t a revelation. Brunson showed he is a very talented player in his first two years at Villanova. The former five-star recruit averaged 9.6 points and 2.5 assists per game as a freshman and upped his stats to 14.7 points and 4.1 assists per game as a sophomore. Still what he’s doing this year has been pretty spectacular. Brunson leads the Wildcats in scoring and assists. As a guard, he is shooting 60 percent from the field and 53 percent from deep with a 4:1 assist to turnover ratio. Brunson is unquestionably what makes this Villanova offense go. He dictates the Wildcats’ pace of play and very rarely makes mistakes with the ball in his hands. His 31-point, five-assist performance in a win against Temple on Dec. 13 was a great example of just how effective and efficient he can be.

Wildcats are more balanced in 2017-18

In 2016-17, one thing was consistent for the Wildcats, Josh Hart was going to produce. Hart scored in double figures in each of Villanova’s 36 games last season, averaging 18.7 points per contest. Other than the Big East Player of the Year, the Wildcats had two other players average double figures. Brunson (14.7 ppg) was a double-digit scorer in all but four games, but sharpshooter Kris Jenkins (13.1 ppg) was a bit inconsistent as a scorer during his senior campaign, especially down the stretch, going 4-of-22 from the floor in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats have five scorers in double figures, five different players who have led the team in scoring and five different players to score at least 20 points in a game this season. Along with Brunson, redshirt-junior wing Mikal Bridges (17.3 ppg) has become a scoring force for the Wildcats. Phil Booth (12.2 ppg) is starting to get back in to form after missing most of last year with a knee injury, and redshirt-sophomore Donte DiVincenzo (12.2 ppg) has taken his momentum at the end of last season into this one. Behind them in scoring is talented freshman Omari Spellman, who is also the team’s leading rebounder. Redshirt-junior forward Eric Paschall is averaging 8.3 points per game at the moment, but can be another scoring boost for the Wildcats if he can find his 3-point shot.

Things we still don’t know...

Will depth be an issue?

The Wildcats have six players averaging 25 minutes or more per game. Brunson, Bridges, Booth and Paschall have started all 12 games for the Wildcats, while Spellman has 11 starts and DiVincenzo has been the top guy off the bench. Two other players are averaging more than 10 minutes per game—freshman guard Collin Gillespie, who is out indefinitely with a fractured hand, and freshman forward Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree. Freshman wing Jermaine Samuels, who averages 5.7 minutes per game, has appeared in all but one game. The Wildcats have six players they know they can rely on, but if anyone gets hurt or gets into foul trouble, Wright will have to rely on three freshman to play more minutes than unexpected. None have proven quite ready for an expanded role yet.

How will Wildcats much up against bigger teams?

The NCAA tournament is all about matchups. In year’s past, teams with good frontcourts have been the Achilles’ heel of the Wildcats come tournament time--Nigel Hayes and Ethan Happ combined for 31 points and 16 rebounds in Villanova’s tournament loss last season. While Villanova picked up a win, Tennessee grabbed 16 offensive rebounds in its matchup with Villanova in the Bahamas, showing the Wildcats might have some trouble with bigger, athletic teams. The thought was that Villanova would face a team with top size and athleticism against Arizona, in the championship of the Battle 4 Atlantis. However, Arizona did not make it there. Big East foes Seton Hall (11) and Georgetown (28) are both ranked in KenPom’s Top 30 in offensive rebounding percentage. It will be worth keeping an eye on how the Wildcats do in limiting points in the paint and second chance points in those matchups.

Updated Prediction
This team has taken care of business so far with wins against two current Top 25 teams. The number one ranked team on KenPom, the Wildcats have shown nothing to suggest their dominance in the Big East will let up this season. The fact that the Wildcats’ offense doesn’t rely on one person’s success makes this team less susceptible to an off-night and more capable of another deep tournament run.