NEW YORK – Villanova has had to deal with the ups and downs of a relatively young team all season long. Doing that in the Big East is difficult unless you have special young players, and while the Wildcats have good ones they’re not quite at that level. After a tough stretch through some of January, the Wildcats started to play better, and despite losing 74-55 to Louisville in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament, they appear to be generally playing better as they hope to hear their name called for the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
In mid-January, Villanova didn’t look good. A poor showing at Providence was a bad loss at the time, as Providence was struggling even more en route to a 2-7 start in Big East play. It was their third straight loss, although there was no shame in losing at Syracuse and to Pittsburgh, though the latter was within their grasp at one point. Villanova’s guards were, Wright said, playing like they were inexperienced. Turnovers were a major problem, much like they were on Thursday night when they gave the ball away 25 times, including 18 in the first half.
Before you knew it, though, Villanova had a big week, running off wins against Louisville and Syracuse right after the loss at Providence. That instantly put them in the NCAA Tournament discussion, especially since most figured it would be a soft bubble this year. But they didn’t get much consistency, at one point dropping to 4-5, and looked like they might still be on the wrong side of the bubble until a win over Georgetown in the last week of the regular season. That came after wins at Connecticut and at home over Marquette gave them a boost.
This Wildcat team had just three upperclassmen who played significant minutes. Given the importance of guards in college basketball, it’s also noteworthy that the only senior playing significant minutes was big man Mouphtaou Yarou, and that was more acutely so in the loss to Louisville, a pressing team.
“When your five man is your leader, he can’t go back and get the ball and bring the ball back up the floor,” said head coach Jay Wright. “He needs perimeter people to get him the ball, and that’s where we’re inexperienced.”
In Big East play, the Wildcats never won more than three in a row. Three times they won consecutive games but couldn’t go further. The upshot is that they had just one three-game losing streak. Wright feels the team has had some good growth, but there’s still more that they need to take another step.
“I’m trying, we’re trying to teach them the urgency that you have to have at this level,” said Wright. “Adults, we understand it because we’re older, but when you’re young, you don’t understand that urgency, and we’re trying to teach them that. After a couple of good wins, you’ve got to put another one together, you can’t relax. That’s where we’ve got to grow.”
Villanova’s profile is still a bit shaky, as they have a loss to Columbia that they have to overcome in the eyes of the selection committee as far as the non-conference goes. The Seton Hall loss right after the win over Marquette was not good, but they can probably survive that. They entered the week with an RPI of 52, and that likely won’t change much if at all. Wright feels like they have the resume to get into the NCAA Tournament, but seems cautiously optimistic.
“We’ll try to get back tomorrow morning early so we’ll get to class, and these guys will get a day off tomorrow,” said Wright. We’ll regroup on Saturday and then we’ll see where we are.”
Getting to the NCAA Tournament would certainly help this team. They should be in a postseason tournament, and that will help this team grow since they will have more practice and game experience. If that were to come in the NCAA Tournament, it would be big since the players who return next year will have that among their experience as well. It will hopefully leave them hungry for more, and perhaps help teach them the urgency that Wright alluded to.
Wright spoke of gradually building up in terms of how far a team goes, having seen it in his own program. He noted that a year before they went to the Elite Eight, they were in the Sweet 16, much like how they went to the Sweet 16 in 2008 before reaching the Final Four a year later. That’s why it would be valuable here, and perhaps make all the ups and downs of this season well worth it.
