But in the end, that might not be enough to offset the Wildcats better scoring unit, as well as the ample experience they bring into this matchup. “We knew the identity of their team was the toughness and physicality, and that proved to be true”.
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The Wildcats went cold, missing nine of 10 shots yet still held a 46-35 advantage.
“We were afraid we might run out of time”, Wright said.
With this win over Texas Tech, Villanova is headed to the Final Four for the second time in three years.
They missed so many chances inside, on layups, it had to be soul-sucking for Red Raiders fans who’d watched this time knife its way to the first Elite Eight in program history. Villanova at full throttle is better than anybody, and even Villanova on one of its ugliest shooting days of the year is better than most. Whenever we can get out and play and get our bench going it’s really a testament of how good of a team we are. “They just do a great job and I wanted to be a part of it”.
“I’m really not sure”, said Smith, a Lakeview Centennial product.
Neither team has shot well.
It was an 89-83 loss at Creighton in late February, a contest that featured a dozen 3-pointers by the Bluejays and 49.2 percent shooting from the field, that gave the Wildcats some pause. The Red Raiders laugh, joke around and blast music during practices; their playlist includes hip-hop selections and Merle Haggard. Zach Smith did the same thing after last season going into his senior year. Paschall and Spellman were named to the All-Regional team, along with Texas Tech’s Keenan Evans, who led his team with 12 points and four assists. Where would they be then? Villanova is first nationally in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted offensive efficiency, while Texas Tech ranks third in the same metric for defense.
“That’s one of the best defenses we’ve played against”, Beard said. The result is the most efficient offense any college defense has ever had to play.
“We were not a good defensive team for most of the year”, Wright said. The answer arrived loud and clear on Sunday: Villanova would be just fine, and on its way to the Final Four.
In the wire-to-wire victory, Eric Paschall was a beast on the boards, covering up 14 rebounds while adding points to help lead the Cats.
“We really got whipped on the boards”, said Beard, his team outrebounded, 51-33.
“We were playing well offensively the whole year”, Wildcats guard Donte Divincenzo said on Sunday night, as a piece of TD Garden twine was knotted around the strap of his championship hat. “It’s a real problem”.
Sunday’s win was Villanova’s eighth in a row by a double-digit margin, but aside from an OT win over Providence in the Big East tournament final, it was the win in that group most misrepresented by such categorization. Chris Beard’s Tech team was able to snake its way back into the game midway through the second half and beyond, cutting into Villanova’s lead and getting it to a five-point deficit with 3:30 remaining. At that point, the Wildcats were shooting just 34 percent from the field and had made an abysmal 4 of 17 three-point shots.
They kept the offense churning by relentlessly attacking the rim or drawing contact on drives to get to the free throw line.
Villanova did both, and now they’ll head for The Alamo. “It’s insane to say, but I kind of felt like it was just business as usual”. The strength and conditioning coaches have been with me every step of the way just helping me so much and helping me get to this moment and I’m ready to go out there and play as hard as I can. “And still having confidence in ourselves that we can take shots on the offensive end”. There were stops at Incarnate Word, Abilene Christian, North Texas, McMurry University, Angelo State University and Arkansas-Little Rock and U.N.L.V.
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The victor of today’s game will advance to the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio next weekend to play the victor of the Duke vs. Kansas game which follows this matchup on CBS.
