No. 1 Villanova tops Notre Dame
Josh Hart scores a career-high 37 points as No. 1 Villanova rallies from an 11-point deficit to beat No. 23 Notre Dame 74-66.
NEWARK, N.J. — Jay Wright doesn’t follow who is in the running for national player of the year. However, the Villanova coach thinks he has the best player in the country in senior guard Josh Hart.
After Saturday’s career-best performance, it would be hard to argue.
“He’s as good as any player in the country is and he’s so complete. He will do whatever it takes to win a game and he has the ability to do it and at the right time,” Wright said. “He got big rebounds at the end of the game. He got offensive rebounds, he scored, he made passes, he made free throws, he defended. He did everything. He’s as complete a player as we’ve ever had.”
Hart scored a career-high 37 points and No. 1 Villanova rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat No. 23 Notre Dame 74-66 on Saturday at the Prudential Center.
“I honestly didn’t know how many points I had. I was just trying to make the right play,” Hart said, later adding, “I want to be great. I want to be as good as Josh Hart can be, and I have
no idea how good that is, but I’m going to try and figure out.”
Hart was the only Villanova (10-0) player to score in double figures. He was 10 of 14 from the field, including 3 of 4 from behind the arc, and he made all 14 of his free throw attempts.
Matt Farrell and Steve Vasturia had 18 points each for Notre Dame (9-1), which entered the game as one of eight remaining unbeaten Division I teams.
Villanova took its first lead of the game at 57-56 after Eric
Paschall blocked Vasturia’s 3-pointer with 9:15 left. Hart assisted on a layup by Jalen Brunson at 9:09 to give the Wildcats the lead. The teams exchanged the lead from there until Villanova pulled away in the final minute.