Villanova out as Badgers beat another No. 1 seed
BUFFALO, N.Y. — When their basketball season ended suddenly, shockingly and much earlier than the Villanova Wildcats expected, Kris Jenkins bent over in disbelief near midcourt.
There would be no game-winning shot, no confetti-filled celebration, no more games. The Wildcats — last year’s champions who were seeded No. 1 overall in this year’s NCAA tournament — are done. On Wisconsin.
After two relatively routine days of first-round action, madness returned to the bracket Saturday as top-seeded Villanova was bounced from the bracket and the East Region via a 65-62 loss to No. 8 seed Wisconsin, which added another major upset to its résumé and stormed into the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive year.
Nigel Hayes scored 19 points, dropping a layup in traffic with 11.4 seconds left, and Bronson Koenig shook off foul trouble and added 17 for the tournament-toughened Badgers (27-9), who will play next week at New York’s Madison Square Garden after knocking off a Villanova team that never found its traction in snowy Buffalo.
“Seeds don’t matter,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “I told these guys, ‘I don’t care where we’re seeded. We have to win six games. Let’s start with these two this weekend.’”
Done and done. Senior Josh Hart scored 19 to lead the Wildcats (32-4), but the guard was bottled up and stripped by Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ and Vitto Brown on a drive in the final seconds. Brown then split two free throws with four seconds left, but Villanova struggled to corral the rebound and then couldn’t get off a final shot.
It was a bitter ending for the Wildcats, who were trying to become the first repeat champions since 2007. But starting with an unimpressive performance against No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s in its opener Thursday, Villanova looked vulnerable and instead became the first No. 1 seed to be sent home this year.
“To me, there’s no dishonor in losing in this tournament,” said coach Jay Wright, whose team lost as a No. 2 seed in Buffalo three years ago. “We’ve lived through it. You are judged by how you play in this tournament, and that’s the reality of it. So you have to accept it.”
When the horn sounded, Wisconsin’s red-clad fans erupted in celebration as the Badgers stormed the court after taking down a No. 1 seed for the third time in four years. Wisconsin beat Arizona in 2014 and Kentucky in 2015.
Super sub freshman Donte DiVincenzo scored 15 and Jalen Brunson added 11 for they Wildcats. But they got little from Jenkins, the hero of last year’s title game when he drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat North Carolina. The senior couldn’t shake a prolonged shooting slump and went just 2-of-9 and 4-of-22 in two games.