Red alert: Wisconsin a harsh second-round test for Villanova

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Hanging on the wall just outside Villanova’s locker room is a sign pointing the players toward the floor.

It should read: Danger ahead. Wisconsin’s waiting. Of all the teams the top-seeded Wildcats may face on their journey to a possible second straight NCAA championship, the eighth-seeded Badgers just might pose the biggest threat. Wisconsin has weapons, for sure, but more importantly, the Badgers have tournament chops as the only school in the country to make the Sweet 16 in each of the past three seasons and a national-best 12 tourney wins in the last four years.

And the Badgers can slay giants in March.

In 2014, Wisconsin beat No. 1 seed Arizona in the national quarterfinals and the following year, the Badgers stunned No. 1 — and previously unbeaten — Kentucky in the Final Four.

Watch out.

As they prepared to meet a team as physical as any they’ve played all season, the Wildcats are wary of Wisconsin.

“Very dangerous,” Villanova guard Josh Hart said in describing the big boys from the Big Ten. “You see how well-balanced they are.”

Inside, outside, the Badgers can do damage both places. They can play fast or slow, with finesse or brute strength. On Thursday night, they leaned on their experience from previous NCAA visits down the stretch to defeat Virginia Tech 84-74.

Senior Bronson Koenig made a school record eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points and Nigel Hayes recorded his third straight double-double as the Badgers (26-9) set up a meeting with the Wildcats (32-3).

Villanova’s opening night performance as a No. 1 overall seed did nothing to inspire confidence that this group — Nova’s seniors are 129-16 in the past four years — is capable of becoming the first team since Florida in 2007 to cut the nets down for the second straight year.

The Wildcats looked very beatable as they struggled to put away No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s, which outplayed the Big East champions for much of the game before the Mountaineers were eventually overwhelmed by a more talented team. Mount’s smaller guards were initially too quick and the Philadelphians found themselves in a dogfight at halftime.

Hart and Jalen Brunson scored quickly to open the second half and the Wildcats erased any thoughts this would be the historic No. 16 over No. 1 upset that’s bound to happen someday.

“I would love to tell you I went in there and ripped them, and they all came out fired up, but I really didn’t,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “We had a little nerves. They did a great job of holding the ball until late in the possession and then letting their little guards go and create plays, and it was working.”

The matchup against Wisconsin figures to be a grind-it-out affair. And that could help the Badgers, who have seemingly flipped a switch since losing five of their last seven games in conference play.

For Hayes, whose 147 career points in the tournament are the most among active players, and fellow seniors Koenig, Zak Showalter and Vitto Brown, this is their last chance at an NCAA title.

Hayes remembers being an younger and not understanding the urgency.

“But you also have to cover your ears and block out noise, people in the organization — it can be the owner, but I didn’t have that problem in Denver — saying, ‘Well, so-and-so, who’s a Hall of Famer, said this on ESPN the other day.’”

HOW AND WHEN TO SPEND

It’s not just about having room under the cap. It’s also about having cash available.

“Fans don’t necessarily get this one — and I don’t think the media always does, either. You have rich teams and poor teams. Everybody’s playing with ‘Monopoly money,’ so to speak, but it matters when the cash arrives,” Sundquist said. “Maybe we offer $20 million in the first year, but it’s a $10 million payment right away, $5 million in November, another $5 million in February, when there are season-ticket renewals and money is coming from other sources. And then the agent says, ‘This other team will give us $20 million right now in March.’”

Other keys include spacing out when certain deals expire, and figuring out how to divvy up spending by position.

“You would not want Aaron Rodgers or Clay Matthews coming up the same year,” Brandt said. “You’d want to stagger your big salaries.”

CHECKING OTHER CLUBS

Researching how other teams spend cap money, Brandt noticed better clubs tended to spend evenly on offense and defense.

Sundquist picked up on trends, too.

“I’m paying attention to the Steelers, Giants, Patriots, Packers — teams consistently competing for a Super Bowl,” he said. “Should we spend more at defensive end than at safety, for example, based on other teams’ success? And I would say, ‘Coach, we’re not spending enough on the offensive line.’ Or ‘Coach, I got to tell you, we’re not spending enough at wide receiver.’”

Free agency philosophies get copied.

The Steelers generally are less interested in other teams’ veterans, preferring what GM Kevin Colbert described as a “draft, develop, keep-our-own” approach.

As clubs follow that model, Colbert said, “you’re seeing less and less quality free agents. There’s an inherent danger in that, because some of the players who are hitting the market, with the number of dollars that are available, might not be quite worth what they’re going to get paid because of the supply and demand.”

HANDLING VETERANS

Some veterans are asked to give up money to keep a job. Others are let go.

“Is a player producing at the level you anticipated? Is he going to maintain or improve upon that? Do you see value in that player but you think you need to renegotiate? Is it a player you can approach about changing his deal? Is it an agent you can approach?” Sundquist said. “It’s a big thing to ask: ‘We’re in the fourth year of a five-year deal and we can’t carry that. Would you be willing to renegotiate to help the club?’ There’s a pride factor there.”

Brandt remembers being told by Packers GM Ron Wolf to shave millions because they were up against the cap.

Brandt needed to “go to a lot of Packer Hall of Fame players, whether it be LeRoy Butler, Dorsey Levens, Gilbert Brown, Santana Dotson, and sort of get money back. ... You’re talking about reductions, not just restructures. Everyone sort of equates those two. But restructures are just moving cap around; reductions are actually taking away money.”

WHERE DID THINGS GO WRONG?

Another calculation: How did THAT happen?

“You’ve got to look back at your evaluation process,” Sundquist said, “and say, ‘OK, what broke down? Why were we willing to give that guy so much money?’ Look at the Brock Osweiler situation, and you say: ‘Oh, my gosh. Something broke down in ... their understanding of what Brock was bringing.’ That seems to happen quite a bit at the quarterback spot.”

Look at the Brock Osweiler situation: ‘Oh, my gosh. Something broke down in ... their understanding of what Brock was bringing.’ That seems to happen quite a bit at the quarterback spot.”