Villanova's wild win over Seton Hall shows why you can never count them out
Villanova fans would be the first to admit it: For the first 39 minutes and 50 seconds of their Big East tournament semifinal matchup Friday against Seton Hall, the Pirates were the better team. The Wildcats, coming off a 41-point tail-kicking of St. John's in the quarters Thursday afternoon, put together one of their sloppiest performances of the 2016-2017 season for most of the evening.
But then, like so many other times over the last few years, Josh Hart saved them. The first-team FOX Sports All-American came through when his team needed him most, flying out of nowhere to grab a rebound off a missed Kris Jenkins shot to put the ball home and give Villanova a one-point lead with just under 10 seconds to go. Oh, and he was fouled in the process. A free throw iced the game for the Wildcats in a crazy, gutty, 55-53 win over Seton Hall.
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It was vintage Hart and vintage Villanova. It also showed in one play why the defending national champions will be so darn tough to beat in the NCAA Tournament. There may be games, halves or moments where they don't play their best. But nobody has more experience in pressure-packed situations than these guys. And nobody will benefit from it more in the Big Dance.
This is a game Villanova should have lost. The Wildcats were down by double-figures for most of the first half. And even when they made a run in the second half to get back in the game, they really didn't look like themselves at any point.
'Nova turned the ball over 12 times (one above their season average). They shot just 5 for 19 from behind the arc, just one day after they shot 15 for 29 (51 percent) against St. John's. And they were beaten up on the glass by a physical Seton Hall front-line that features the nation's leading rebounder, Angel Delgado.
And ultimately, none of it mattered. When Villanova needed to make a play they got one. Like they have so many times the last few years.
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And as we get set to head towards the NCAA Tournament, that's the biggest difference between the Wildcats and everyone else. In a sport where the best players generally only stay one year, and marquee programs are a shuttle stop for one-and-done players, Villanova is the definitive counter-culture team.
For Villanova, their entire program — their entire culture — is built on continuity. Looking at their roster backs that up. Their starting lineup features two seniors and a junior who played key roles in last year's national championship run. Most of their key players have played somewhere in the neighborhood of at least 60-70 high-leverage games, and seniors like Hart have played well over 100. Let's not forget that teams like Kentucky and Kansas don't have a single player on their roster who've ever made it to a Final Four. Villanova has a roster full of them.
That's also why you can't count out the Wildcats going forward. Not only do they have the talent of all those others teams, but they have seen it and done it all at the college level, winning conference titles and a national title along the way.
Ultimately, somebody may beat Villanova in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. But the one thing that's for sure is that they won't beat themselves.
We learned that again on Friday night.
