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Villanova set for third tourney run as No. 1 in last four years

03/14/2018, 9:45pm EDT
By Chris Mueller

Mikal Bridges (above) and Villanova are a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Chris Mueller (@bychrismueller)
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PITTSBURGH – Villanova was business as usual inside Pittsburgh's PPG Paints Center in anticipation of its first round matchup with No. 16 Radford on Thursday. Practice was crisp. Players were composed despite an array of national media on hand, while Jay Wright reminisced on his battles against Jamie Dixon and Pitt during the old days of the Big East. The theatrics that come along with the NCAA tournament didn't seem to be an issue.

After all, Villanova has been here before; a No. 1 seed for the third time in the last four years considered by many be the ones cutting down the nets when it's all said and done. It's the same scenario as last season, except that didn't work out so well when Wisconsin knocked off the Wildcats in the second round to make them the first No. 1 seed to fall.

But a year removed from that stunning defeat, Villanova enters 2018 NCAA tournament battle tested at an ideal time after gutting out an OT win over Providence in the Big East tournament title game on March 11. For a team as talented as the Wildcats, a little adversity could go a long way this time of year.

"I feel like it helped us tremendously heading into this weekend," forward Eric Paschall said. "Just knowing that we can fight through a game like that with all the adversity that was in that game against a very physical team. I feel like we can fight through anything. Your real character comes out when adversity hits. We didn’t fold. We kept pushing.”

The east region won’t be easy to emerge from. Villanova would face the winner of Alabama and Virginia Tech in the second round and potential meeting against West Virginia or Wichita State in the Sweet Sixteen. The Wildcats are as deep as they come with six players scoring in double figures, but the prospects of another tournament run will be be contingent upon the play of juniors Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges, in particular, who combined for 55 points against the Friars.

Brunson and Bridges enter their third NCAA tournament with dual experiences of winning it all and getting bounced in the first weekend to lean on.

"I think I've grown a lot from it,” said Brunson, averaging 19.4 points per game this season. "I’ve matured a lot. It just comes with the experience. You experience the national championship. You experience losing in the first weekend. You see both ends of the spectrum, so I think the experience definitely helped me mature.”

Phil Booth will make first trip back to the Big Dance since his 20 point-performance in the 2016 national championship after a season-ending knee injury last season, while freshmen Omari Spellman, Collin Gillespie, Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree and Jermaine Samuels all make their NCAA tournament debuts.

“You know, that’s kind of new for us,” Wright said. “Just having four freshmen that you’re relying on ...I tell the older guys to just keep an eye on them. Just keep talking to them.

"But I think the only remedy is they've go to get in a game. Once you get in an NCAA game, it's really different than any other experience."

Radford – the Big South Conference champion –  is coming off its first-ever tournament win over LIU Brooklyn in its play-in game Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio and enters Thursday riding an eight-game win streak, while Ed Polite Jr. (13.6 points-per-game) and Carlik Jones (11.8 points-per-game) were both all-conference selections. The Highlanders (165th KenPom) feature the 14th-best ranked defense in Division I – primarily operating in man-to-man – and use a nine-player rotation.

"I think our biggest key is our bench and just how much juice and energy we bring to each other every day," said Polite Jr. "...We know the size is probably going to be different, but, we know we've got to pressure them and they're going to try to get into their offense and play iso ball with us because we're smaller."

A No. 16 seed has never defeated a No. 1 seed, but Radford coach Mike Jones does have some familiarity with upsets as an assistant on the 2011 Virginia Commonwealth team that made a Cinderella run to the Final Four as an 11th seed.

“I watched them a couple years ago – following my man (Penn State head coach) Pat Chambers – go into Penn State and beat them,” Wright said. “From different players, some of the same, but the team, the concepts, Mike does a great job with them. They have a great understanding of how to win games, not just how to play.”


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