City of Basketball Love

Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld)
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In front of a sellout crowd at the Wells Fargo Center, Villanova battled back from a 13-point second half deficit to beat 12th-ranked Virginia, 61-59, on a Donte DiVincenzo tip-in as time expired. The freshman guard swooped in from the left wing to follow up a Josh Hart miss for his only bucket of the game.

Here’s a quick report from the thriller on Broad Street:

At first…
Virginia jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, but despite frigid shooting from the field--4/22 (18.2 percent) in the first half--Villanova was able to keep the Cavaliers’ within arms’ reach for the remainder of the first 20 minutes. A streak of six consecutive made field goals early in the second half stretched the lead to 45-32, while the Wildcats continued to struggle from the field; Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins, Villanova’s first and third leading scorers, got off to a combined 0-for-14 start, stretching well into the second half.

Turning point…
With just 7:54 to play and the Widlcats still trailing by 10, Hart nailed a left-wing triple for his first bucket of the game. Following a Virginia timeout, Jenkins snapped a streak of 12 straight missed 3-pointers--dating back to Villanova’s loss to Marquette--and hit two in a row, sending the Wells Fargo Center crowd into a frenzy. Two free throws from Jalen Brunson capped an 11-0 run, giving Villanova its first lead of the game at 50-49. The teams traded buckets from there before Hart drove the lane with six seconds left, missing a contested layup that DiVincenzo would tap in for the comeback victory.

Shining stars…
While his teammates unilaterally struggled from the floor, Mikal Bridges was hot from the get-go, hitting all three of the Wildcats’ triples before Hart and Jenkins’ spurt. When all was said and done, the sophomore wing had poured in 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting.

Brunson kept his team in the game in the first half, getting to the line eight times and converting seven of them. The sophomore point guard was rock-solid against the Wahoos’ stingy packline defense, finishing with 15 of his own--on just four shot attempts--to go with four assists and no turnovers.

Ty Jerome led the Cavaliers’ first-half efforts, as the freshman guard had nine points at the break on the heels of three 3-pointers. The New York-area native carried his strong play into the second half, finishing with a team-high 15 points, including a game-tying layup with 11 seconds to go that set up DiVincenzo’s game winner.

Noteworthy numbers…
1: DiVincenzo attempted just one field goal the entire game, but that was all Villanova needed, as his swooping tip-in at the buzzer provided the difference in the game.

21: The Wildcats attempted 21 more free throws that Virginia, converting 20 of their 24 attempts. It was free throw shooting that kept them in the game in the early portion, as they got 13 of their 22 first half points from the stripe.

.182/.722: It was a tale of two halves for the Villanova offense against the Cavaliers’ notoriously stingy D, as the Wildcats bounced from 18 percent shooting in the first half to shoot a blistering 72 percent in the latter 20 minutes. Villanova made all six of its second half three-point attempts.

Up next…
Villanova (20-2,,7-2 Big East) @ Providence, Wed., Feb. 1, 7:00 p.m.

Virginia (16-4, 6-2 ACC) vs. Virginia Tech, Wed., Feb. 1, 6:30 p.m.