Villanova uses a hot second half to shoot past Alabama
Villanova blitzes Alabama in second half to advance to Sweet 16 >>
PITTSBURGH » Setting the record for the most 3-pointers made in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament wasn’t the only mark Villanova set in Pittsburgh.
With the 81-58 win over Alabama, the Wildcats also became the first men’s team in NCAA Division I history to win at least 32 games four years in a row.
“That’s good to know,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “I’ll pretend like I did.”
Wright chalked the success up to having good players, especially upperclassmen.
“It’s the consistency of very good players over four years that stayed in the program and each class, you know, got better and better,” Wright said. “... I don’t know exactly which group that was, but I guarantee you, there was some really good seniors, and then the guys ... the next year we had seniors that are really good. Just guys continuing to get better and having very good players.
“You don’t do that without very good players that have passed down their knowledge to the classes behind them.”
*** After staying up late Thursday to watch film, Wright wanted to get to bed early Friday because the Wildcats were the first game of the day.
UMBC’s 74-54 upset of Virginia, the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament, scuttled those plans.
“I got caught watching Virginia and forgot about everything else,” Wright said. “I couldn’t stop watching it.”
He wasn’t alone. It was the first time that a 16 beat a one in the history of the men’s tournament.
“Two-thirds of the way through the first half I realized watching it, and I never thought of it before, that’s the perfect team to play against the pack line,” Wright said. “That little point guard (K.J. Maura) that can get in there, and he’s not going to shoot it.
“He’s going to get in there, break you down and you’re going to have to turn and look at the ball and he’s going to find 3-point shooters. The kid (Jarius) Lyles was great, but that little point guard broke down that defense.”
*** NOTES » Junior guard Jalen Brunson needs four points to become the 22nd player in Villanova history to go over the 1,600-point mark of his career. If he reaches that mark he will become the 10th player in program history to score 1,600 points in three seasons, joining Tom Ingelsby, Bill Melchionni, Hubie White, Paul Arizin, Larry Hennessey, Kerry Kittles, Howard Porter, Scottie Reynolds and Bob Schafer. … The last time Villanova played in the NCAA tournament in Boston, it led to a trip to the Final Four. Scottie Reynolds hit a driving layup in the closing seconds to give the Wildcats a 78-76 victory over then Big East rival Pittsburgh in the 2009 East Region final.