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Villanova runs make difference in win over Marquette

01/14/2016, 2:30am EST
By Ari Rosenfeld

Josh Hart (above) and Villanova got hot outside for a first half run, then went inside for its second half surge (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld)
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All season long, it’s been said that when Villanova is hitting its three-pointers, it can beat, or even blow out, any team in the country.

Early on in the sixth-ranked Wildcats’ home tilt against Marquette, it looked like it would be one of those nights.

While the Golden Eagles scored the first bucket of the game, it was all ‘Nova from there, as the WIldcats ripped off a 21-5 run highlighted by four made triples on just five attempts.

As the ageless adage goes, though, basketball is a game of runs, and Marquette immediately bounced back on a spurt of its own. Just a few minutes after having been down 15 points, the Golden Eagles found themselves back in a tie game on the heels of an 18-3 run capped by Life Center Academy (N.J.) product Traci Carter’s corner three.

“We got on them early and they kept coming and kept coming,” Villanova head coach Jay Wright said. “We relaxed just a little bit. Not even that much, just a couple lackadaisical shots, a couple missed assignments defensively, and then they just got it going.”

Upon tying the game, the Golden Eagles were able to keep the momentum going, entering the half with a one-point lead and trading blows with a heavily favored Villanova squad through a good portion of the second half.

However, unfortunately for Marquette, the Wildcats had one more run left in them.

With its lead again trimmed to just a single point, Villanova outscored its Big East foe by a score of 20-2 over the span of seven minutes. Things starting clicking offensively, and the WIldcats clamped down on the other end, holding Marquette without a field goal for nearly nine minutes.

When all was said and done, the score was 70-51 with less than five minutes left, and ‘Nova was well on its way to its 20th consecutive conference win, dating back to last season.

“We had three or four really good consecutive offensive possessions,” Wright said, “then we got maybe four or five stops right there which created some separation. At that point in the game, it makes it clear that we’re playing with a lead and they’re playing from behind.”

Matching up against what Wright called one of the two best frontcourts in the Big East, headlined by freshman and probable NBA lottery pick Henry Ellenson, the Wildcats were forced to go with a big lineup during the second half.

For the better part of the 20-2 run, Wright had just one of his three point guards on the floor. Either Daniel Ochefu or Darryl Reynolds were manning the middle at all times, while 6-foot-5  wing Josh Hart and combo forwards Kris Jenkins and the rangy Mikal Bridges occupied the other three spots.

While Wright’s squad is known for its outside shooting, nearly all of its production during the go-ahead surge came around the rim. With the exception of a Jenkins midrange jumper, all 20 points came on layups, dunks or free throws, with an emphatic slam by Ochefu providing the exclamation mark.

In fact, Villanova as a team made zero treys on only four attempts over the last 18 minutes of the game.

Jenkins was particularly effective, scoring all seven of his second half points--he finished with a game-high 20--during the deciding run. Just like the rest of his team, he did so without hitting any three-pointers, where he’s tended to get most of his points during his years on the Main Line.

“My teammates, they do a good job of creating offense,” Jenkins said. “During that stretch it was just make the right play, and at the time the right play was for me to just score and be aggressive.”

“We wanted to go into Kris a little bit and Josh a little bit, not just for them to score, but they can make plays,” Wright added. “We went inside to Kris Jenkins and he kind of got us going, then we got the stops defensively with our bigger lineup.”

The dichotomy between the WIldcats’ two gamebreaking spurts goes to show just how versatile this team can be.

While it is certainly are at its best driving and kicking for shots from beyond the arc, this Villanova team is far from a one-trick pony. With so many guys who can contribute in a variety of ways, dogfights can turn to blowouts in a flash.

And with the Wildcats again sitting atop the league standings with a perfect 5-0 mark, the rest of the Big East has taken notice.

“You can’t have lulls, defensively or offensively, against a team as good as Villanova,” said Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski. “I think the runs were two very different runs, but they can score from all five spots, they have guys who know their role, they get offensive lift from the bench, obviously really well coached.

“This is one of the best teams in America.”


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