“That’s the beauty of the Tournament … it’s not about being the best team, a lot of times it’s about who is hot”, junior guard Josh Hart said. I think Perry’s better at driving the ball off the dribble. I was freaking out.
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“It was unbelievable and something I’ll always remember”. “But hopefully, we’ll keep shooting like that, so we can keep playing the way we are”. Less than 30 percent of their field goal attempts were threes when they hit 10-for-15 against Miami on Thursday, and during the tournament, only 38.2 percent of their field goal attempts are three.
What a birthday present for Arcidiacono.
The Wildcats have come a long way since being badgered with questions regarding their ability to play in March that surrounded them ever since they were knocked out of the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament.
Villanova passed its toughest test yet.
Kansas and Villanova dominated their Sweet 16 opponents to set up their face-off in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) March Madness Elite Eight, with a Final Four appearance on the line.
“If Arch misses and we lose this game to Kansas, it will not affect Arch at all”, Wright said. Bridges made a huge impact defensively with five steals. His effort is great, that’s what we feed off of, everyone does that. When you play great teams like Miami, that’s going to happen.
Villanova will get a rematch in the Final Four against an Oklahoma Sooners team that beat the brakes off of them earlier this season in a game that will certainly be must-watch. The Jayhawks kept it close the rest of the way, lurking right behind the Wildcats. Defensively, Kansas yields 67.7 points against the opposing teams.
If you wish to live tweet the Elite 8 games and follow along with others who are watching at the same time, use hashtag #Elite8, which now has a special emoji attached to it.
KU also went four minutes without a bucket as Villanova surged to a 25-16 lead with less than 4 minutes to go in the half. The Jayhawks could not recover as the Wildcats hit their free throws to seal the game. I looked over at the walk-ons. “We tried to drive-and-kick and when they doubled somebody I tried to make the right pass”.
“As soon as we started the second half, bang-bang, they got (Ellis) inside differently than they tried to get him in the first half and that got us”, Wright said after the victory. However, they nailed eight of their next 11 shots to take a 29-26 lead at the 4:20 mark of the first half. Senior forward Perry Ellis in his final game in a Jayhawks uniform had a rough night recording just four points on 1-5 shooting.
In the end, it wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t ideal. Villanova gets contributions from all areas, which makes the Wildcats so hard to defend – just ask No. 1-overall seed Kansas if you have any doubts.
The Jayhawks used a stingy perimeter defense to run the Wildcats away from their comfort zone.
Villanova’s offensive attack was on display again as the Wildcats connected on.
The four-year captain, a rarity at Villanova or for any major college program, leads the Wildcats, averaging a team-high 17 points and 4 assists a game.
Kansas’ Graham led all scorers with 17 points, while Mason III and Wayne Selden Jr. pitched in 16 apiece.
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Next up for Villanova is a rematch against Oklahoma, who throttled the ‘Cats earlier in the season.
