City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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NEW YORK – It’s no secret what Villanova wanted to do Friday night in its Big East Tournament semifinal.

The Wildcats’ opponent, Providence, is led by a two-headed monster which is capable of giving any team in the country problems. Ben Bentil and Kris Dunn combine to average 40 points per game.

They scored 12 on Friday.

With that strong defensive effort against that duo, as well as a late push and 21 points from Kris Jenkins, top-seeded Villanova advanced to the Big East Tournament title game for the second straight year with a 76-68 win over the fourth-seeded Friars. The Wildcats will face either Xavier or Seton Hall in Saturday’s 5:30 p.m. championship game at Madison Square Garden.

“Bentil and Dunn, those guys really, really good. We did the best job we've done I think on two great players,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said afterward. “That's the best we've done.”

The two Providence stars combined for just three points in the first half. Dunn hit a free throw for the game’s first point, but was scoreless the rest of the half.

Bentil, meanwhile, had three points in the first half and was scoreless from there on out. The 6-foot-9 sophomore who scored 38 points in Providence’s quarterfinal win over Butler was limited to 26 minutes and ended up fouling out with 9:40 remaining.

“He's a nightmare,” Wright said of the Friars’ leading scorer. “…We took a chance today. We did everything. We kept fresh bodies on him. We denied him everywhere. We left guys to double him. We did everything. I thought the best thing we did is -- I think our best defense was getting him into pick-and-rolls and driving the ball at him and getting some fouls. That was the best thing we did. Because it kept him off the floor for a while, and it eventually fouled him out.”

It was actually when Bentil fouled out that Providence went on its best run of the game. Villanova led by 14 points nine minutes into the second half after Jenkins hit one of his nine field goals.

The Friars responded with a 15-3 run, which got both crowds at the Garden back into the game. Providence never tied the game or took the lead though, as Villanova came up with enough responses.

A hobbled Daniel Ochefu scored five of his eight points in a 10-3 run which put the Wildcats back up by nine points with 3:24 left. Ochefu, a senior forward, did not start due to an ankle injury but provided 15 minutes and a 3-for-4 shooting performance off the bench.

“I've seen it for four years. He's a tough guy,” senior Ryan Arcidiacono said of his classmate. “If he's on the floor, he's going to give it all he has. For him to make those plays it's just big. He's a big-time player. We knew that if he wasn't in the game, someone else was going to make the play. But it was just great to have him out there to be able to finish and make those free-throws.”

Arcidiacono had 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and one dive for a loose ball that ended with him in the third row of the stands and got the Villanova faithful on their feet. Jenkins, meanwhile, was the game’s highest scoring Kris and had a team-best 21 points. Jenkins has been on quite a streak recently, and the junior is averaging 24.2 points per game over his last six contests.