CATS REACH ELITE 8
Poised Villanova holds off W. Virginia
BOSTON — Jay Wright looked like he mistakenly had grabbed a suit off the rack.
He kept adjusting his custom job, growing more uncomfortable by the possession. He kept fidgeting with his second button, occasionally opening it to breathe. He kept tugging on each cuff with increasing frequency as his always-composed players became rattled by the West Virginia press, making each moment uncomfortable.
But not one hair on the Villanova coach’s well-coiffed head was out of place when he left the floor. His pocket square still looked pristine.
Villanova’s poise and leadership and barrage of timely shooting ultimately made the top seed in the NCAA Tournament’s East Region unshakable, and still the favorite to take home its second national title in three years, following a 90-78 win Friday night over fifth-seeded West Virginia at TD Garden.
Led by Jalen Brunson’s 27 points, and freshman Omari Spellman’s 18 points and eight rebounds, the Wildcats (33-4) advanced to the Elite Eight for the fourth time under Wright, and next play third-seeded Texas Tech, on the same court where Scottie Reynolds’ buzzerbeater sent Villanova to the Final Four in 2009.
“That was the most physical, physically demanding, mentally demanding 40 minutes we’ve played in a long time,” Wright said. “They’re so relentless. They keep coming at you. … They don’t say anything. They just come at you physically, aggressively, and mentally tough. So if you’re not better in those areas, they’re going to get you. To see our guys come out, and be able to compete with them physically and mentally, it was really impressive to me.”
The Mountaineers (26-11) suffered their third loss in the Sweet 16 in the past four years, but looked as if they were ready to break through and pull off the tournament’s latest upset.
Though Villanova averages just 10.4 turnovers per game, the Wildcats committed nine in the first half against West Virginia’s pressure. Behind senior Jevon Carter (12 points, nine assists, three steals), the Mountaineers took a 60-54 lead with 11:08 remaining.
A media timeout was set to come on the next whistle, but Wright couldn’t wait, and gathered his players.
“That’s our leadership, I just looked at Jalen, Mikal [Bridges], and Phil [Booth], and I could see in their eyes we were good,” Wright said. “If I looked in their eyes and saw fear or worry, I would have maybe went a little crazy, but I didn’t.
“When we got down six, I saw they pulled everybody together and just kept us together to grind it out.”
Villanova returned, and responded with an 11-0 run in two minutes — which became a 22-6 stretch — breaking the press, and breaking free for an assembly line of 3-pointers.
After hitting 31 3-pointers in the first two rounds — the most by any team since 1990 — the Wildcats added another 13, and shot 54 percent from the perimeter, while committing only four turnovers in the second half.
“I think we got used to the physicality, we got used to the aggressiveness, and we were executing better,” Wright said. “We thought that was going to be the case. You just can’t simulate that, you know. You got to just get in that game and feel it.”