Big men have a blast in Wildcats’ win
PHILADELPHIA » Villanova isn’t Guard U anymore.
Oh, the top-ranked Wildcats are loaded in the backcourt, as usual. There’s Jalen Brunson, one of the leading candidates for national Player of the Year honors, and Mikal Bridges, the reigning co-defensive Player of the Year in the Big East.
Phil Booth is healthy and Donte DiVincenzo may be the best sixth man in college basketball. There aren’t many teams with four guards like that.
But that’s nothing new. Since Jay Wright arrived 17 years ago, the Wildcats have always had good guards, from Randy Foye, Allan Ray and Kyle Lowry to Ryan Arcidiacono, Josh Hart and Brunson. Guards have always been the backbone of Wright’s teams.
This year, however, is different. For once, Wright has three solid big men, in redshirt junior Eric Paschall, redshirt freshman Omari Spellmen and freshman Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree to cover the offensive load on night when the guards are having trouble scoring points, like in Tuesday’s 89-69 Big East romp over Providence at the Wells Fargo Center.
Paschall, Spellman and Cosby-Roundtree may not be big by traditional standards. Providence coach Ed Cooley called the trio, “talented forwards.”
“They’re not seven feet,” Cooley said.
No, they’re 6-7 and 250 pounds, 6-8 and 255, and 6-8 and 190, which is big by Villanova standards. But their respective girths is not what makes them most valuable. It’s their ability to go out and defend on the perimeter and score, when need be.
On a night when Brunson, Bridges and Booth were a combined 11-for-30 from the field overall and 6-for-16 from beyond the arc, Villanova needed offensive production out of its three big men to extend its winning streak to six games.
All three scored in double figures for the first time in the same game and combined for 44 points to help the Wildcats (19-1 overall, 6-1 Big East) overcome an early nine-point deficit to post a third straight win by at least 20 points.
“We’ve been shooting the three well and Providence defends the three better than anybody in the conference,” Wright said. “They’re the best 3-point field goal percentage team, so that’s where the openings are and you have to take advantage of it. I thought these guys (Paschall and Cosby-Roundtree) were great along with Omari.”
Cooley went one step further.
“I thought Eric Paschall was the player of the game,” the Providence coach said.
It would be hard to argue with him. Paschalle scored 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting, with included a 2-for-3 effort from 3-point range. He also had career highs in assists (five) and steals (four) and blocked three shots, which was one short of tying his career best.
Paschall had seven points in a 22-2 run in the first half that turned a 24-15 deficit into a 3726 lead from which the Friars (14-7, 5-3) never recovered. When they did make a run to cut the deficit to 44-41 in the second half, Paschall was there to stem the tide with a blocked shot, a four-point play and two steals.
“I was just trying to be in the right place and do the best for my team,” Paschall said.
Spellman added 16 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots, while Cosby-Roundtree pitched in with 11 points and four boards, despite receiving a nasty cut over his right eye the day before during a collision with walk-on Tim Saunders.
“We just butted heads,” Cosby-Roundtree said.
It didn’t seem to hurt. All he did was produce the best offensive game of his young career and give the Wildcats 12 valuable minutes off the bench.
“We’re definitely starting to feel more comfortable together,” Paschall said. “Coach has been using different lineups together to get us used to playing together.”
It’s easy to forget that the trio only played together for 20 games, so they’re still growing accustomed to their roles. Cosby-Roundtree missed a good part of the summer after having surgery on his right tibia. Spellman sat out last season as an academic casualty and Cosby-Roundtree is a true freshmen.
Brunson, Booth, Bridges and DiVin-cenzo have been playing together for the last two seasons, three for Brunson, Booth and Bridges. It takes time to develop the kind of unity the backcourt has.
“It’s all about growing and maturing,” Spellman said as he walked out of the Wells Fargo Center. “We’re young. We’re still getting to know each other and Dhamir and I are still learning how to play the game on the college level.”
That’s the scary part. There’s so much room for improvement and they’re going to get better, which will only help the Wildcats come NCAA Tournament time.