Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Next for ’Nova: No. 1 Kansas
RADNOR >> Rarely does a team get to play back-toback games in two of college basketball’s most historic venues.
It’s even more uncommon that a defending national champion plays the two teams it defeated for the title in the following season. Such is Villanova’s fate. Four days after seeing its 25-game Big 5 winning streak come to an end in a 78-75 loss to Penn at the Palestra, the No. 17 Wildcats will try to bounce back from that setback Saturday against No. 1 Kansas at Phog Allen Fieldhouse (Noon).
Villanova beat Kansas, 95-69, and then Michigan, 79-62, last April in San Antonio to win its second national title in three years. The Wolverines gained some revenge with a 73-46 romp over the Wildcats at the Finneran Pavilion. And now Kansas has the opportunity to exact its pound of flesh in one of the most hostile environments for visiting teams.
“The Michigan game was a difficult experience to go through, but a great learning experience. It really taught our young guys a lot,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “I wish there was another way you could learn, but that’s usually the best way. Kansas will be same, going into this environment. I think it was great playing in the Palestra, but it’s pretty amazing (Phog Allen Fieldhouse) is a similar type of arena, now Kansas will kind of be the Palestra on steroids, but a similar experience.”
“And I thought Penn was a good tough team to prepare us for them. Now (the Jayhawks) are more athletic and bigger, but all these experiences for our young guys are always going to help us learn. You can tell them a lot of things as a coach, but nothing impacts them more than the experience.
Villanova has won the last three meetings with the perennial Big 12 champion Jayhawks. The Wildcats topped 64-59 in the Midwest Regional final in 2016 to get to the Final Four and scored a 6359 triumph in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis in 2013. Both of those wins, though, were on neutral courts.
“Games like this are why you come to Kansas,” guard Cedric Lawson, who transferred to Kansas from Memphis with his brother K.J., told the Associated Press. “They don’t have the same caliber of players as last year, but it’s still Villanova.”
Both teams have vastly different lineups than the ones that met last April in San Antonio. Guards Phil Booth and Collin Gillespie and forwards Eric Paschall and Dhamir CosbyRoundtree are the only players who saw significant minutes in the national semifinal for Villanova (83). Forward Mitch Lightfoot and guards Lagerald Vick and Marcus Garrett are the only healthy players who saw meaningful time for the Jayhawks (80). Center Udoka Azubuike is out indefinitely with an ankle sprain.
“It’s impressive,” Wright said of the Jayhawks. “They’ve put together a lot of new guys quickly, but they’re more experience guys, they’re guys who were sitting out in their program last year. So they obviously great job last year while those guys were sitting out, getting them ready. They’re versatility and mobility is impressive.”
“There are some similarities in that they lost so much but they still return two very, very key starters and you could say the same about us,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “It’s two different teams and they are going to be terrific before it is all said and done, and hopefully we will continue to get better and work our way toward that as well. But it should be a fun atmosphere.”
This is Villanova’s second trip to Allen Fieldhouse under Wright. The Wildcats dropped an 86-79 decision to the Jayhawks on Jan. 2, 2004.
“I’ve heard it’s one of the most hectic places to play,” Booth said. “I’ll find out when I get there … I heard it’s a little bit loud.”