Top-ranked Villanova pulls away from Seton Hall
PHILADELPHIA » Omari Spellman did not have to look at the scouting report to find out his defensive assignment for Sunday’s preSuper Bowl showdown with formerly ranked Seton Hall at the Wells Fargo Center.
Villanova’s redshirt freshman forward knew he would be matched up with Angel Delgado, the leading rebounder in Big East history, and one of the NCAA’s leaders in rebounding (third) and double-doubles (tied for fourth).
And so Spellman went to head coach Jay Wright for a little advice on how to deal with the 6-10, 245-pound Delgado for the first time in his career.
“Coach told me that he was going to essentially try to bully me and that I couldn’t go back at him,” Spellman said. “I couldn’t feed into that. I couldn’t foul him. I had to play smart and play under control.”
And so even though Spellman nearly had a career day offensively and on the boards with 26 points and 11 rebounds, one shy of his career-highs in both categories, it was his work on the defensive end that Spellman took the most pride in as the top-ranked Wildcats (22-1 overall, 9-1 Big East) pulled away in the second half for their ninth straight win with a 92-76 triumph over the Pirates in front of a season-high crowd of 16,115.
“Defense and rebounding is what the program is based on,” said Spellman, who also had three blocked shots, also one off his career high. “If I had the same amount of rebounds, the same amount of defensive possessions and only had four points and we won the game, I’d be happy.”
Spellman wasn’t the only one to square off against Delgado. Eric Paschall and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree also took turns against the top big man in the conference. Spellman, though, bore the brunt of the work.
And even though Delgado did finish with 18 points and nine rebounds, Wright was happy with Spellman’s effort, especially in the second half. Delgado only had four points and two boards after Khadeen Carrington’s layup gave the Pirates (17-6, 6-4) a 48-45 lead with 16:10 to play in the game. Delgado only had four shots from the field in that span, too.
“I thought (Spellman) was really intelligent,” Wright said. “I think Delgado, because he’s a senior, is one of the most intelligent big men in the country. There’s a lot of great young big men who are really talented, but I think he may be the smartest big man in the country so when you go against a young guy that’s excited to go against you, you can take advantage of his inexperience. I thought Omari played like a veteran. He stayed on his feet. He didn’t foul him. He worked hard to get position. I thought he really played intelligently.”
A lot of that had to do with the advice he received from Wright. Spellman said he heard Wright’s words of wisdom every time he went back on defense.
“Delgado’s really strong and it’s hard to move him off of his spot once he gets position,” Spellman said. “You just have to keep moving on him and it’s kind of tough because you’re moving a lot and trying to knock him off balance. It’s just difficult to guard someone who’s so strong and so experienced and who has been in this league for four years. It was a challenge. I just had to play smart and stay under control.”
Spellman took the same approach on the offensive end. He didn’t force the issue, but picked his spots. Seton Hall gave him the outside shot and Spellman made the Pirates play by connecting on 9 of 12 attempts overall that included a 6-for-7 performance from 3-point range.