Paschall shines with more than just shooting
SAN ANTONIO » The chant began during the TV timeout with 7:55 to play in Villanova’s 95-79 romp over Kansas Saturday night in the second game of the Final Four doubleheader at the Alamodome.
The Villanova faithful began chanting, “Eric Paschall, Eric Paschall.”
It was a fitting tribute for a guy who struggled with his shot last season and the early portion of this year. Paschall never got down during those tough times, and Saturday night was the payoff.
On a night when the Wildcats were on fire from 3-point land and set a Final Four record for triples made in a game with 18, no one was hotter than the 6-9, 255-pound redshirt junior from Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Paschall put on quite a shooting display to send the Wildcats (35-4) to the national championship game for the second time in three seasons, where they will take on Michigan Monday night. The Wolverines punched their ticket to the final with a 69-57 victory over Loyola-Chicago in the opener.
Paschall connected on 10 of 11 shots overall and 4-for-5 from 3-point range to score 24 points, the most he has scored in a Villanova uniform and his best effort since he poured in 31 points against New York Tech in his collegiate opener for Fordham in 2014.
“I can’t believe the job that he did, and he is one of our best shooters,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “He knows how to make plays. He’s really our best defensive player and our best rebounder, too. Everybody on the team knows how valuable he is.”
The 68,257 in attendance loved Paschall’s performance, especially the dunks. He had three, one of which was a thunderous put back of an Omari Spellman miss that helped the Wildcats jump out to a 22-4 lead.
In typical fashion, afterward.
“My teammates found me some good shots,” Paschall said. “They trust me and my coaches trust me and that gives me confidence. It just feels good to keep playing.”
Yet Paschall Paschall wasn’t a was humble one-dimensional standout. He also was part of a defensive effort that shut down the Jayhawks 3-point game. Kansas (31-8) came into the game 12th in 3-point field goals attempted (953, 25 per game) and 19th in triples made per game (10.1).
The Wildcats took that part of the game away from Kansas, specifically in the first half. It took the Jayhawks 12 minutes and 41 seconds to attempt their first 3-pointer and were just 2-for-6 from deep in the opening 20 minutes and finished 7-for-21.
While Kansas did shoot a decent percentage from beyond the arc (33.3), the Jayhawks could not get up enough 3-pointers to come close to matching the record-setting 18-for-40 barrage the Wildcats put up.
Paschall was matched up with Svi Mykhailuk much of the night. The 6-8 Mykhailuk came into the game 12th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage. He shot 25 percent against the Wildcats.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m making shots,” Paschall said. “The important thing is to play defense and rebound and that’s what I try to concentrate on.”