Villanova Finds Pressure and Pride In No. 1 Ranking
By SEAN BRENNAN
Special to BIGEAST.com
Mention Villanova basketball and the conversation will inevitably shift to the fabled 1985 team that shocked the college basketball world with its magical NCAA Tournament run that ended with the Wildcats taking down mighty Georgetown and Patrick Ewing in the NCAA Championship game.
It is the unquestioned high point of Villanova’s storied basketball history and memories the program still relishes 31 years later.
But this year’s Villanova team has done something that 1985 team – or any other Wildcat team – never achieved when it was announced earlier this week that Villanova had ascended to the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press college basketball Top 25 poll, a first for the Wildcat program. The ‘Cats were also tops in the USA Today Coaches poll to boot.
“We are honored and humbled to have been voted number one by the writers in the Associated Press poll and the coaches in the USA Today Coaches Poll,” head coach Jay Wright said after his ‘Cats found themselves the new tenants in college basketball’s penthouse. “There is still a lot of basketball left to be played and handling this will be another challenge for the team. We look forward to it.”
Wright, now in his 15th season at Villanova, has every right to be honored to be on the top of the heap right now, but humbled? The Wildcats numbers both this season and the last two and a half seasons in the BIG EAST say Villanova has nothing to be humble about.
After last Tuesday night’s 86-59 victory at DePaul, the Wildcats are cruising along with a 21-3 overall record and an 11-1 mark in the BIG EAST – two games ahead of second place Xavier with seven regular-season games remaining. Winning is the all the Wildcats have done since the start of the 2013-14 season as they have compiled a gaudy 43-5 conference record over that period and an astonishing 83-11 overall record. That an 88.3% winning percentage? Yeah, best in the nation over that period.
And like a lot of teams that boast a star or two along with a solid supporting cast – think Providence with Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil, Xavier with Trevon Bluiett and Edmond Sumner or Butler with Roosevelt Jones and Kellen Dunham, you get the picture – what Villanova lacks in the star department it more than makes up for it with its’ pick-your-poison roster.
There’s Josh Hart, perhaps the most overlooked stud in the league but a possible BIG EAST MVP candidate, leading the ‘Cats with 15.5 points a game and 7.4 rebounds. There’s senior point guard Ryan Arcidiacono and his 12.3 points a game who has the uncanny knack to consistently knock down the big shot in the big moment. The always steady Kris Jenkins, who brings 11 points a game to the table, stellar freshman Jalen Brunson, who averages 10.3 points a game and is second on the team with 68 assists and senior big man Daniel Ochefu, who averages team-bests in rebounds (8.1) and blocks (39) to go along with his 9.8 points a game.
Pick your poison indeed. The Wildcats have won 13 of their last 14 games – the long loss coming in overtime vs. Providence on Jan. 24. It is also Villanova’s only loss since before Christmas.
But with so much winning and the No. 1 spot in the nation comes added pressure to live up to the billing. But Wright thinks that will only help his Wildcats in critical game situations the rest of the regular season and in the NCAA Tournament next month.
“There’s definitely more pressure because there is a lot more attention so I’m hoping if we can stay in this spot for a little while, if we do get that type or pressure in the NCAA Tournament, that we’ll be kind of used to it,” Wright said. “When you’re a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament you do get special attention and it’s hitting you for the first time. If we had some experience with that and it helped us I’d be happy about that.”
Going into Saturday’s home game vs. St. John’s (8 p.m., CBS Sports Network), the Wildcats are shooting 57% on their two-point shots (fourth in the nation) and 76% from the free throw line (10th in the nation) and boast a senior class led by Arcidiacono and Ochefu which now owns the school record for most wins by a class with 103. Villanova is also second in the nation in RPI, third in strength of schedule and seventh in points allowed at just 61.0 per game. Numbers you’d expect to see from the number one team in the land and one which is also taking pride in its’ new spot in the rankings along with the pressure.
“I haven’t heard anyone mention the pride part of it. I didn’t know how we would react because there is a lot of excitement on campus,” Wright said. “We found out Monday and I think when we played that game against DePaul I saw more pride than pressure. I think that’s a great way to put it.”