Improved defense aids Villanova’s return to Sweet 16
PITTSBURGH » Jay Wright was a little surprised to see that Alabama shot 41.7 percent from the field overall in Villanova’s 81-58 victory over the Crimson Tide Saturday in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The way the Wildcats played defense, the Villanova coach thought that number would be lower.
Wright, though, wasn’t complaining. Since the 8983 overtime loss at Creighton on Feb. 24, Villanova’s last loss, the Wildcats have lowered their point-pergame against average by a full point, their field goal percentage defense by sixtenths of a point and their 3-point field goal percentage defense by a point.
While those numbers aren’t drastic improvements, they are telling. Villanova is making strides defensively. The Wildcats may have shot lights out in Pittsburgh, but their defensive improvement is another reason why they’re in the Sweet 16, where they will take on the winner of Sunday’s game between West Virginia and Marshall Friday at TD Garden in Boston.
“What is exciting about this team, we’re playing the best defense and rebounding the best we have now than we have all year,” Wright said. “Sometimes you get that spot in January where you get a little stale. But it’s exciting with this group.”
The numbers back that up. Since the Creighton game the Wildcats have held five of their last seven opponents under 70 points, including the last four.
“Coach really challenged us after that game and we took on the challenge to be the best team we can be and it started with our defense,” guard Jalen Brunson said. “The thing that was good to see was how well we were playing defense when we weren’t making shots and how we continued to play good defense when we were making shots. That’s where we’ve made the most improvement.”
Over the last seven games, all wins, Villanova has allowed an average of 64.8 points per game and teams are shooting 40.4 percent overall (163-for403), 28.9 percent from 3-point range (28.9) and are plus-37 in the rebounding department.
“Defense takes the longest time to generate cohesion,” Wright said. “And then when certain guys are out hurt, you’re not helping your cohesion. Individual guys might be getting better, but you’re not building your cohesion.”
The Wildcats had their share of injuries. Redshirt junior guard Phil Booth missed seven games with a fractured bone in his right (shooting) hand. He is considered one of Villanova’s best defenders. Freshman guard Collin Gillespie sat out eight games with a fractured left hand. Freshman forward Jermaine Samuels was sidelined for 10 games with a broken left hand. And redshirt junior forward Eric Paschall missed two games with a concussion.
It’s hard to build defensive cohesion when some of the key pieces are watching from the sideline.
“That’s what I said about getting Phil Booth back,” Wright said. “Phil comes back and it adds to your cohesion because the guys all know him. It’s that whole thing where the injuries actually helped us (get other players time), but if we didn’t play well Thursday night we don’t get to keep playing. And if we didn’t play well (Saturday) … so extending the season is good for us because we’re a team that can get a lot better.”
Being healthy, however, isn’t the only reason for the improvement on the defensive end.
“It was a combination of the younger guys getting better, Omari (Spellman) defending the pickand-roll and Phil coming back,” Wright said. “Phil’s not 100 percent, but he’s getting there. We kept saying as a staff that the longer we can play we can get Phil back closer (to 100 percent). I thought he was really good defensively these last two games. He’s really smart. He knows everything we’re doing.”
Booth was one of the players tasked with slowing down Alabama guard Collin Sexton. Mikal Bridges was the other. The pair combined to hold the standout freshman to 17 points and forced him into five turnovers. They never let Sexton take over the game the way he had in Alabama’s win over Virginia Tech in the first round when he scored 22 of his 25 points in the second half.
“We’ve made big strides defensively,” Booth said. “We got everybody healthy at the right time and that was huge. Our rotation is back. We have a group of young guys who are getting better so we’re figuring it out and coming together at the right time.”
*** NOTES » This is Villanova’s second trip to the Sweet 16 in three years and fifth under Wright . ... Villanova is 1-0 against West Virginia in NCAA tournament history. The win was a 90-62 triumph over the Mountaineers in 1962. Overall, the Wildcats are 22-20 against WVU. That includes a 13-11 record when the Mountaineers were a member of the Big East Conference from 1995-2012. Villanova is 2-1 against Marshall. The last meeting was an 80-68 victory over the Thundering Herd at the Pavilion in 2011. … The last time the Wildcats played in a regional in Boston they defeated Duke (77-54) and Pittsburgh (7876) to reach the Final Four in 2009.