Villanova goes into attack mode to move past Winthrop

Villanova took a rather unusual approach to avoid being upset by Winthrop in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday night.

Unable to stop Winthrop big man D.J. Burns in the first half, the fifth-seeded Wildcats decided to attack the 6-9, 275-pound center-forward and see if they would get him in foul trouble.

It turned out to be a winning strategy.

By attacking the rim in general and Burns in particular, the fifth-seeded Wildcats shot 18-for-25 from the free-throw line in the second half to pull away for a 73-63 triumph over the 12th-seeded Eagles at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis.

“He’s a really talented player and you know he can pass it out of there,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said of Burns. “I think the best thing we did was Jeremiah (Robinson-Earl) going at him and getting him into foul trouble. I thought that was the best way to stop him because when he got the ball he was tough to stop.”

Burns was a handful in the first half. He had nine points and one assist to keep the Eagles (23-2) within 34-33 at the break. He connected on 4 of 6 shots from the field and 1-for-2 from the line. Robinson-Earl did his best, but Burns sheer physical size was too much for even a solid defender as RobinsonEarl to handle.

And so the Wildcats (176) went into attack mode. They took just nine 3-ponters in the second half after launching 16 triples in the first 20 minutes. No one was more aggressive in attacking the basket that Robinson-Earl. The 6-9 sophomore shot 8-for11 from the free throw line and scored 14 of his gamehigh 22 points in the second half. Robinson-Earl also pulled down 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season and 16th of his career. He also found time to set career highs in assists (six) and blocked shots (three).

Burns finished with 12 points, had just two field goal attempts and eventually fouled out with 4:39 to go in the game. By that time the Wildcats had a 61-52 advantage.

“Jeremiah is just growing and growing as a player,” Wright said. “He keeps getting better every day. It’s a shame that he didn’t have the spring and summer with us because he loves to work and improve. You can see he’s getting better every day. He’s willing to defend which is really important to us. He was also matched up on (Chandler) Vaudrin a couple of times and got a few blocked shots.”

The 6-7 Vaudrin did finish with nine points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, but he also had five of Winthrop’s 10 turnovers, three in the second half.

“I think we did a good job with our transition defense,” Wright said. “They get the ball quickly and we matched up really quick. We did a good job on Vaudrin, who’s an outstanding player. It was first getting matched up and getting on

Vaudrin.”

Being more balanced on offense was key, too. The Wildcats finished with four players in double figures. In addition to Robinson-Earl, Justin Moore had 15 points and showed no ill effects of the right ankle sprain he suffered against Providence. Jermaine Samuels had 11 points and seven rebounds. Caleb Daniels chipped in with 10 points, the first time he’s been in double digits since the loss to Butler on Feb. 28.

And sophomore Bryan Antoine provided a careerhigh eight points off the bench. He hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 9-1 run to start the second half that gave the Wildcats a 43-34 advantage.

“Bryan is really coming along,” Wright said. “He’s healthy, finally, and he’s been able to practice so he knows what we’re doing. Defensively, he was really good in the first half, actually. In the second half he hit some huge threes and handling the ball against the press.”

Next up is 13th-seeded North Texas (18-9), which upset No. 4 Purdue in overtime, 78-69. It was the fifth straight win for the Mean Green (18-9) and the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history. Tip-off for that game is 8:45 Sunday night.

“Man, are they talented,” Wright said of the Mean Green. “Their post guys are really talented and they’re an outstanding defensive team. They’ve got a lot of guys who can break you down individual when they find the right matchups.”