City of Basketball Love

Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld)
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There’s no set-in-stone time or place in which it originated, but every sports fan knows the saying: big time players make big time plays in big time games.

Lucky for Villanova, Ryan Arcidiacono is a big time player.

Playing in the highest profile on-campus home game of his career, the Wildcats senior leader took control from the opening tip. By the time 12 minutes of game time had elapsed, “Arch” had poured in five three-pointers, scored 17 points, and led Villanova to a 19-point lead before a raucous home crowd.

When it was all said and done, the 16th-ranked Wildcats had beaten previously undefeated and sixth-ranked Xavier, 95-64, but the final score was a mere formality.

All 6,500 people in the sold-out Pavillion knew well before halftime that Arcidiacono was not letting his team lose.

“I knew he was gonna step up like that and it’s what makes him special,” head coach Jay Wright said after the win. “I just always know with him, whatever we need that night, that game, that possession, whatever we need, he always knows.”

Take one look at the box score and Arcidiacono’s 27 points and eight assists will leap off the page, but the numbers tell only part of the story.

The four-year starter, with more primetime experience than almost any other player in the country, set the tone from the very beginning, playing with a bounce in step reserved for someone who knows he’s the best player on the floor.

He hounded Xavier’s ballhandlers as soon as they crossed midcourt. He took multiple charges. And as always, he set the table for the rest of his teammates to be in their optimal places for success.

Even more impressive was that he did so following a sleepless night, with roommate Jalen Brunson getting up constantly with a stomach virus that landed him in the hospital prior to the game.

Brunson did wind up playing in the game, but came off the bench and only gave 17 minutes, even with multiple teammates in foul trouble.

“I couldn’t get a good night’s sleep because he was getting up constantly. Every half hour I feel like he was getting up and throwing up,” Arcidiacono said. “He’s the point guard and when he’s in, he handles the ball, but once I knew he was out, I was like, ‘Alright, this is my game.’"

The only question left after the game about Arcidiacono’s performance was whether or not it was his best in his illustrious Villanova career.

Some others come to mind, most notably his career-best 32-point performance in a road win over St. John’s, a 20-point, 11-assist game against Marquette, and the numerous contests that have ended on his game-winning buckets.

But knocking off an undefeated, top-10 opponent with close to 30 points and a near double-double just might take the cake.

“He’s had so many great ones. I don’t remember them all so I don’t want to say it was his best, but it was definitely up there as one of them, and against a great team,” Wright said. “The great ones, when they feel it and get it going, they know how to keep it going. It’s not easy to score 27 points. A lot of guys get hot and they get a little lazy… They’re afraid to be great. He’s never afraid to do that.”

Whether it was his single greatest game as a Wildcat or not, there’s no doubting the statement that Arcidiacono made on behalf of his team.

Ranked behind three Big East teams in the national polls after entering the season as the overwhelming favorite to win a third straight conference title, the entire team appeared to have a chip on its shoulder, eager to prove that this historic league still runs through Villanova. After non-conference losses to Oklahoma and Virginia in its only two ranked matchups this season, ‘Nova needed this win more than any of their 32 Big East victories over the last two years.

With so much on the line, one would have to be crazy to think Arcidiacono wouldn’t be the one to step up and make it happen.

Perhaps senior center Daniel Ochefu, who’s been alongside his point guard for his entire career on the Main Line, put it best: “That’s just Arch for you,” he said. “Just regular Arch.”