’Nova does it the hard way, returns to Final Four
SAN ANTONIO » Jermaine Samuels had 16 points and 10 rebounds as Villanova advanced to its third NCAA Final Four in the last six NCAA Tournaments with a grind-itout 50-44 victory over Houston in the South Region final Saturday.
Caleb Daniels added 14 points for the Wildcats (307), and fifth-year senior Collin Gillespie’s only made field goal was a clutch shot late, even though they led throughout.
“It was an in-the-moment decision,” Gillespie said. “They were soft blitzing me basically the whole game. That time they just happened to switch. So I wanted Jermaine to go down into the post. I had a mismatch, so I wanted to attack it and either get somebody else a shot or give myself a shot. Then Jermaine had a guard on him so he could rebound.”
With both teams willing to limit possessions, the first spot for this year’s Final Four in New Orleans was settled in a game that was ugly to watch with all the missed shots.
Villanova shot 28.8% from the field (15 of 52). The Cougars were only slightly better at 29.8% (17 of 57), missing their last five shots and 10 of 11 overall, and they made only one of their of 20 attempted 3-pointers in their lowest-scoring NCAA tourney game ever.
“We couldn’t get Justin (Moore) or Collin in ball screens,” Wildcats head
coach Jay Wright said. “They just took it away. We couldn’t get Justin and Collin in postups. They took it away. It was hard to even get them back door cuts. They are a great defensive team, great defensive team.
“They took away our two leading scorers, and other guys had to step up.”
The Wildcats and Wright won’t complain as he seeks to add a third national title to those he won in 2016 and 2018. Villanova will play either Kansas, the only No. 1 seed remaining, or 10thseeded Miami next Saturday as it seeks its fourth championship overall.
Unfortunately for Villanova, it might have to go on without Moore, who slipped and suffered a lower leg injury late in the game. He was on crutches during the Wildcats’
post-game celebration.
Moore was dribbling against a defender, and it looked like he slipped and fell, then went back down after trying to get up.
“X-ray was fine, no broken bones,” Wright reported. “Probably not good for Justin. Like we’re going to get an MRI when we get back. Probably not good.”
Taze Moore had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars (32-6), who were denied making consecutive Final Four appearances for the first time since 1982-84 during the Phil Slama Jama era. The starting five was completely changed from last season, including Moore and two other senior newcomers.
After Villanova missed three shots on the same possession — and was still without any second-chance
points in the game — Moore got the long rebound on the break. After initially slowing things down, Moore scored on a drive against Gillespie, getting Houston within 4240 with 5:25 left.
It was the closest the Cougars had been in the game at AT&T Center, only about 200 miles from their campus, and the crowd was in a frenzy when Wright called timeout. Houston never got a chance to take the lead.
Gillespie, who played in the national championship game for the Wildcats in 2018, was 1-of-6 shooting. But his only field goal came on the possession after the timeout when he stepped inside the 3-point line and hit a jumper with 5:02 left.
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Gillespie said. “They’re well coached, and they play super hard on every possession. They go to
the glass on both ends of the floor. They play extremely hard. That’s something we talk about every time we step on the floor, is make sure we’re playing hard and we’re competing on every possession. We take pride in that. Just making sure we play Villanova basketball every time we step on the floor.”
There was a nearly twominute scoring drought before Justin Moore made two free throws — the Wildcats were a perfect 15-of-15 from the line. A foul by J’Wan Roberts bailed them out with the shot clock about to run out. Those were Villanova’s first and only second-chance points.
Villanova had scored the first five points of the game, including a 3-pointer by Samuels on the first shot.
Samuels was also on that 2018 title team as a freshman with Gillespie, but the 6-foot-7 forward logged only one minute total while making late-game appearances in those two Final Four games.
As a senior, Samuels goes into the Final Four after being named MVP of the South Region. He is averaging 17.5 points a game in this NCAA tourney — so far.