Villanova defense steps up even as offense struggles

BOSTON » Phil Booth’s jumper was off the mark. Mikal Bridges missed a 3-pointer, and Jalen Brunson could not get a layup to go.

It was evident early Sunday afternoon that Villanova could not count on its highpowered offense, ranked No. 1 in Division I, to get past Texas Tech in the East Region final at TD Garden.

The top-seeded Wildcats had to return to their defensive roots to beat the thirdseeded Red Raiders, 71-59, and earn their second trip to the Final Four in three seasons.

“We try to be the best we can be by the end of the year, and to outrebound that team and hold them to 33 percent (shooting), that was definitely our best defensive effort of the year,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said.

The 33.3 percent was Tech’s worst shooting performance of the season, and no one was immune. Leading scorer Keenan Evans scored 12 points on 3-for-14 shooting overall and 0-for-4 from 3-point range. He came into the game averaging 20.3 points per game in the tournament despite revealing after the game that he has been playing with a broken toe since February.

“That’s one of the best defenses we’ve played against,” Tech coach Chris Beard said. “… We got some good shots, but they were all contested.”

It took a little while for Villanova to get its defense together. Tech jumped out to a 7-0 lead and had a 9-1 advantage with 16:57 to play in the first half before the Wildcats cranked it up. The Red Raiders scored 14 points the rest of the half and was 4-for-19 from the field after a 5-for-8 start.

“We just had to keep the pressure on,” forward Eric Paschall said. “We couldn’t let up. Shots weren’t falling but we couldn’t let that affect us on the defensive end. We had to keep playing hard.”

Tech made some shots in the second half to get within five three times, but not enough to make the Wildcats sweat.

*** NOTES » Dhamir CosbyRoundtree only played 12 minutes but he made the most of his time. The 6-9 freshman forward from Neumann-Goretti collected seven rebounds and four points to help the Wildcats to a commanding 51-33 edge on the board. … Donte DiVincenzo bounced back from a tough night Friday with 12 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes. He only committed two turnovers after having six in the win over West Virginia … The Final Four pairings are set. Loyola-Chicago, the Cinderella story of the tournament, takes on Michigan in Saturday’s opener at 6:09 p.m. The top-seeded Wildcats square off with Midwest champ Kansas in the nightcap. The Jayhawks topped second-seeded Duke in overtime, 85-81. The Wildcats beat Kansas to win the South Region title in 2016 and advance to the Final Four where they eventually won the second national title in program history.