SHEER MADNESS
Villanova: Tourney’s top dog has to shake off a slow start in opener Northwestern: Wildcats don’t look a gift horse in mouth in debut
With 15 seconds left and down by one, Bryant McIntosh cannot believe his good fortune after the Northwestern guard was intentionally fouled by Vanderbilt’s Matthew Fisher-Davis (5), who got his signals crossed. Coverage of Thursday’s opening games on pages
BUFFALO, N.Y. — For 20 minutes, Villanova looked ordinary, vulnerable, maybe a little scared.
The Wildcats finished like champions.
Donte Di Vincenzo scored 21 points, and the NCAA Tournament’s top seed shook off a shocking start and stumbled forward in the East Region on Thursday night with a 76-56 victory over No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s.
Leading by one at halftime, the Wildcats (32-3) opened the second half with a 21-6 run and took their first step toward defending their championship. Villanova is trying to be the first back-to-back titlist since Florida in 2007, and the Wildcats will have to play better to do it.
“I’m not annoyed,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “I really am shocked, not how Mount St. Mary’s played, but that we didn’t start the game with energy. We don’t have time to figure it out.”
In the NCAA Tournament, No. 1 seeds are 130-0 against No. 16s. The historic upset remains elusive, but it looked like it could happen inside Key Bank Center.
Mountaineers’ rapid ascent
Freshman Miles Wilson scored 22 points as the Mountaineers (20-16), who edged New Orleans in a First Four matchup Tuesday, gave the defending champions all they could handle in the first half.
“I was thinking we could get the win,” Mount St. Mary’s Elijah Long said.
But the Big East champions, who entered this tourney with more wins than any past champion, regrouped at halftime.
“They outplayed us,” Wright said. “At the end, we had more size and some more talented players who made plays. They deserve a lot of credit.”
Jalen Brunson scored 14 points, and Mikal Bridges had 13 for the Wildcats.
Villanova not only survived a test from the Mountaineers but a horrendous shooting night by senior Kris Jenkins. The hero of last year’s NCAA title game, when his 3-pointer at the horn defeated North Carolina, Jenkins missed his first 10 shots and finished just 2-of-13.
“I’m not worried about him at all,” Wright said. “
The Mount St. Mary’s players wear warm-ups with “Mayhem” written on the back, and they caused a commotion early.
Showing no fear against a team the smart-money guys in Las Vegas said would beat them by 25, the Mountaineers jumped to a 10-2 lead against the Wildcats, who missed their first eight shots, committed two turnovers and had three shots blocked in the opening five minutes.
Villanova coach shocked
“I thought we were capable of coming out and, you know, missing some shots, coming out and making some mistakes,” Wright said. “But the level of energy we started the game with, I just didn’t think we were capable of that. I’m in a little bit of shock myself.”
The Wildcats looked nervous and played that way, and when Long threaded a no-look pass to Chris Wray for an easy basket to put the Mountaineers ahead 23-20, two seminarians from the tiny school in Emmitsburg, Md., high-fived in the stands.
Villanova, though, recovered and took its first lead at 26-25 when Eric Paschall dunked with 2:33 left in the half.
The Mountaineers left the court at halftime down 30-29 and full of confidence.
It didn’t’ last. Villanova senior Josh Hart opened the second half with a layup and Di Vincenzo, who added 13 rebounds, hit a 3 to cap a 13-2 burst that knocked the air out of Mount St. Mary’s.