No. 1 Villanova looks to stay perfect against American (Dec 21, 2016)
VILLANOVA, Pa. -- The reigning top-ranked Villanova Wildcats look to extend their winning streak to 18 games when they host American University on Wednesday night at The Pavilion.
The Wildcats won all six games in last year's NCAA Tournament en route to the program's second national championship in addition to the 11 victories thus far in 2016-17.
Villanova (11-0), which will also be in search of its 44th straight victory at its on-campus arena on the Main Line, captured its fourth consecutive Big 5 title with a 78-57 win over Temple on Dec. 13.
Villanova was ranked No. 1 for three weeks last February, so this isn't completely new.
"It's the hardest thing you have to face, it really is," Wildcats head coach Jay Wright said. "Thank god we went through it last year, and it was hard. When I say hard, it's a challenge and I'll take that challenge any day of the year.
"It is difficult and again, having Josh (Hart), Kris (Jenkins), Darryl (Reynolds), it takes the players to do it. The coach can only say it so much, these guys get their teammates prepared. They have much more impact on the team, even than I do and I don't know if you can come from what we did last year without doing it with our seniors.
"Without our guys, I'm not sure if we could do it. It wasn't easy."
Hart, a preseason National Player of the Year candidate, has been sensational in the month of December, averaging 25.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
In Hart's last two games, he scored 37 points against then 23rd-ranked Notre Dame and 26 against the Owls with 18 coming in the second half. Hart has knocked down 20 of 33 shots in those last two games.
"We all believed Josh would develop into this kind of leader," Wright said. "But we thought it would take him a little longer. He had Arch (Ryan Arcidiacono) and Daniel (Ochefu) ahead of him for three years and is just a fun-loving guy. What he was doing when we were down was just bringing everybody together.
"In watching the La Salle tape, I lost count of how many times he grabbed (teammates) to encourage them, rub their head. He's just been an incredible leader."
American has struggled to a 3-7 start with a young team but it has won back-to-back games over Youngstown State and Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Freshman guard Sa'eed Nelson, a two-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week, scored 16 points in the Eagles' 61-58 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Monday.
"He's got a really good feel for the game," American head coach Mike Brennan told AU Hoop Talk. "He rarely makes bad decisions and has been a beast offensively and defensively."
Sophomore guard Delante Jones (12.2 ppg) and freshman forward Mark Gasperini (12.0 ppg) also average in double figures for the Eagles.
This will be the second game in American's history against a No. 1 team. On Dec. 12, 1984, American fell 86-64 against top-ranked Georgetown.
The Eagles are 2-59 all-time against Top 25 opponents in their history. The two wins came against No. 17 La Salle (68-62) on Feb. 24, 1971, and No. 5 Georgetown (62-61) on Dec. 15, 1982.
