City of Basketball Love

Jeff Neiburg (@Jeff_Neiburg)
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NEW YORK–With two minutes to go and following an Xavier miss, Ryan Arcidiacono slowly walked the ball up court to the sound of a roaring Villanova crowd.

A minute later, Jay Wright had the opportunity to empty his bench and take his starters off the floor to the sound of “Let’s go ‘Nova,” chants. It didn’t have the same luster as a matchup with Georgetown would have had, but it was still the waning moments of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

“It was surreal,” Arcidiacono said of that moment carrying the ball up court. “I passed the ball and then looked and Josh [Hart] and we smiled and kind of gave each other a hug on the court.”

It took Villanova a little bit to get going. Maybe it was the pre-game jitters of playing in the Big East final, or just a simple slow start.

Whatever the case was, once the top-seeded Wildcats got going, they rolled to a 69-52 win over sixth-seeded Xavier.

Villanova claimed its first Big East Tournament championship since 1995 in the process of winning its 15th straight on the year.

“Anything we do at Villanova in the Big East is very, very significant,” Wright said. “We take pride in being part of this conference. We take pride in the history of Villanova, we really do.”

The Wildcats opened the game making just two of their first seven shots, but then got hot – making 11 of their next 18 from the floor before taking a 34-21 lead into halftime.

Senior guard Darrun Hilliard knocked down a 3-pointer to start a 10-0 run for Villanova which was capped off by a slicing layup by sophomore Josh Hart to put the Wildcats up 27-14. Xavier got a basket to stop the bleeding but then Hart came down and knocked down a trey of his own. Hart finished with 15 points and seven rebounds on the night at was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after leading Villanova in scoring the previous two nights.

The Big East’s Sixth Man of the Year, who shot 21-for-29  over the three days, is the first sixth man to claim the tournament’s MVP.

“I know I sound like a broken record the last few days, but I have to attribute that to my teammates,” Hart said of the award. “The confidence they had in me, they kept on finding me when I was open. Then when you have the confidence of your teammates, you’re able to go out there, play and have fun. So that’s just what I did.”

His teammates seemed to have some fun, too.

Villanova (32-2) got the first eight points points out of halftime to build its largest lead at 42-21. Hilliard got it started with a trey, Dylan Ennis followed with a layup and then Arcidiacono hit a jumper from beyond the arc. The Wildcats opened the final 20 minutes shooting 6-of-10 from the field and 3-for-6 from range to help keep a double digit lead throughout the remainder of the game.

Villanova shot 50 percent from the field on the night (24-for-48). Ennis led all scorers with 16 points while Hilliard added 12 to join Hart in double figures.

Xavier (20-13) only got as close as 13, 54-41, after that opening run. That was after a 3-point play by Musketeers point guard Dee Davis. But Ennis immediately answered with a 3-pointer from the corner to put ‘Nova back up 16. Two Phil Booth free throws and a follow-up layup from Hart and the lead was back to 20, 61-41.

Jalen Reynolds and Davis both led the Musketeers with 13 points apiece. Xavier’s leading scorer, 6-foot-10 senior big man Matt Stainbrook, was held to just four points on 2-of-8 shooting from the floor. Credit that line largely to Villanova center Daniel Ochefu, who scored only four points to go with seven rebounds, but clamped down defensively all game.

Wright said after Thursday’s game that this team still had some work to do defensively. The following two nights, they kept Providence’s Ledontae Henton off the board and then held Xavier to 38 percent Saturday.

“We’re getting there,” Wright said. “I felt the last two nights were a great setup for us, especially [Friday night]. We couldn’t score, but we did a great job on Henton.

“We lose that game last night if we don’t defend like that. And then tonight I thought we really stepped it up, too.”

Villanova enters the NCAA Tournament as one of the hottest teams in the nation and solidified a No. 1 seed when the bracket gets revealed tomorrow night at 6 p.m. on CBS. The Wildcats got a little bit of help when top-seed contenders Virginia and Duke each lost prior to reaching the Atlantic Coast Conference final.

Instead of likely heading out West as the last No. 1 seed, Villanova has a legitimate shot at staying close to home in the East region, potentially drawing a regional that goes through Syracuse in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 after likely beginning their tournament run with first and second round matchups in Pittsburgh.

Wright said on the court after the game with Fox Sports announcer Gus Johnson that he thought Villanova had done enough for a No. 1 seed. He’s likely right, but he’s not all that worried about it.

“I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal,” Wright said of the seeding. “I said that when we might not have been a No. 1. I just don’t – it’s all matchups.”

Xavier coach Chris Mack joined the list of coaches who’ve sat at the podium after a Villanova game and said how the Wildcats could be national champions.

“We could win it,” Wright said. “But we could get beat by anybody. It’s just the way college basketball is. We’re not Kentucky in terms of depth and talent, but we could beat them.”

The way it stands now, that matchup isn’t likely until the first Monday in April.