City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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Ryan Arcidiacono was asked on Wednesday how to slow down Miami, Villanova’s Sweet 16 opponent. And the answer the senior guard gave was a lot like one that someone would give as a blueprint on stopping Arcidiacono’s own team.

“They have great drivers,” Arcidiacono told the media assembled in Louisville. “They have great scorers on the perimeter. I think one of the things that we're going to have to do to stop them is not show them any space, show them our bodies and our triangles so that they don't see the space to be able to drive into the paint. But we know they're great shooters too so it's going to be a tough matchup for us.”

Great drivers, shooters and perimeter scorers? Yes, Miami is a lot like Villanova. That’s why Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga called his team “almost like a mirror image” of the second-seeded Wildcats, and why Thursday night’s game (7:10 p.m. from Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center) is intriguing.

The mirror image is in part of how the squads look and how they play. They’re both led by a strong backcourt and have four players apiece 6-foot-6 or shorter averaging in double figures.

For the Hurricanes, that starts with senior Sheldon McClellan, who notches a team-best 16.0 ppg and hits just about half of the field goals he attempts (49.9 FG%). He’s joined by fellow senior Angel Rodriguez (12.6 ppg/4.4 apg), Davon Reed (11.2 ppg) and Neumann-Gortetti grad Ja’Quan Newton (10.8 ppg).

Villanova gets most of its points from Josh Hart, Arcidiacono, Kris Jenkins and freshman Jalen Brunson, who all average at least 10.0 points per game and combine to score 50.7 points per game for the Wildcats. Down low, the matchup will mainly be between Miami’s 7-footer, Tony Jekiri (7.8 ppg/8.7 rpg) and Villanova’s 6-foot-11 Daniel Ochefu (9.8 ppg/7.8 rpg).

While the teams will look similar on the floor, they also match up rather evenly on paper with their current stats from the season:

Going up against a foe that has a lot of similarities has its advantages and disadvantages as Villanova coach Jay Wright pointed out on Wednesday.

“It makes it a little easier to prepare in terms of the work you have to do because we have a lot of similar philosophies,” Wright said. “So when you're practicing, the second team can run the offense easily. They know what they're doing.

“Where it becomes different is we can't simulate the size and athleticism. You definitely can't do it with your second team. So it's going to be interesting, when you get to the game, are we prepared for the plays and does the size and athleticism kind of smack us in the face when you feel it and see it live. That's what we can't tell until we play.”

What Villanova has been doing differently than Miami – and every other team in the tournament, for that matter – has been hitting 3-pointers extremely well. The Wildcats always shoot a lot of threes, but in their opening pair of wins against UNC-Asheville and Iowa, they shot them lights out.

Villanova made 23 of its 39 attempts (48.9 percent) on treys in its first 80 minutes of tournament action, a mark that could have the team beat anyone remaining in the field. And one that Miami does not want to see again on Thursday night.

“They like to shoot a lot of 3s, and I think they get a lot of their momentum off 3s,” McClellan said. “So definitely want to run them off the 3-point line. Don't want to let them get comfortable there.”