The patriarch of Villanova basketball stood beaming like a proud grandfather.
Rollie Massimino has seen great Villanova shooting before in an NCAA tournament game in the state of Kentucky. In 1985, he coached the Wildcats to its lone national championship in Lexington, Ky. That squad famously shot 22 of 28 from the field to upset Georgetown 66-64.
Thursday night, the 81-year-old Massimino was a fan, watching the No.2-seeded Wildcats shoot 62.7 percent to roll past Miami 92-69 at the KFC Yum Center in Louisville, Ky. This sets up a showdown against top-seed Kansas (33-4) in the South Regional final. Saturday’s winner will earn a trip to the Final Four in Houston.
This was Villanova’s first NCAA tournament game in Kentucky since 1985.
“They played great,” Massimino said. “Not many people are going to beat them if they play that way.”
Massimino is absolutely right. If this torrid-shooting continues, it’s hard to imagine the Wildcats (32-5) losing.
The basket must seem as big as a swimming pool. It has gotten to the point where you’re surprised when a shot for the Wildcats doesn’t go in. (Still amazing that Josh Hart missed that breakaway lay-up late in the second half).
And right now, there is no slowing down Villanova. The Wildcats are shooting 58.9 percent in the NCAA tournament and are 33 of 62 from beyond the arc. It’s one thing to shoot well against overmatched UNC Asheville (57.9 percent). It’s one thing to shoot well against freefalling Iowa (59.3). But what Villanova did against a Miami team that has wins over Duke, Louisville, Virginia and Notre Dame was different. Miami entered this game allowing opponents to shoot just 43 percent. Last week, Wichita State only made 33.9 percent of its shots in a 65-57 loss to Miami.
On Thursday, Villanova eclipsed 57 points with 12:43 left to play.
“It’s a great win for us,” Jay Wright said. “We’re thrilled against an outstanding Miami team. You could tell by that first half that both teams couldn’t stop each other. Both of us are man-to-man teams. Both of us went zone because we couldn’t guard each other.”
In the first half, Miami coach Jim Larrañaga watched his team shoot 66.7 percent (7 for 11 from beyond the arc), and still trail 43-37 at halftime. Turnovers killed the Hurricanes early (8 were converted into 14 Villanova points).
Villanova rolled to a 29-14 lead early in the game, but Miami rallied within 31-30 thanks to its own hot shooting before Villanova stabilized and took that lead into half.
In the second half, Miami (27-8) didn’t shoot as well (42.3 percent) but Villanova never cooled.
“We’ve been a very good defensive team against teams similar to Villanova,” said Larrañaga referencing offensive efficient schools like North Carolina and Virginia. “But nobody has shot the 3 and stretched our defense out like they did. They only took 15 3s. It seemed like they took 30 and made 25 of them.”
Villanova’s 3-point proficiency is a developing trend. In the non-conference schedule, the Wildcats shot only 30.9 percent from beyond the arc. But according to fivethirtyeight.com, since March 1, the Wildcats had been shooting 44.7 from long distance.
Thursday, Villanova were successful on their first four 3-point shots. The fourth one put the Wildcats up 29-14 with 8:35 left in the half.
“I think we’re taking better shots,” said senior Ryan Arcidiacono, who scored 21 points and made 4 of 7 from beyond the arc. “Throughout the season we didn’t really mix it up: catch-it-and-shoot, getting into the lane and kicking it out. I think we’re doing that now.”
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Wright said relative inexperience played a role in the poor early shooting. His players are now more seasoned. The coach reminded anyone who would listen that Kris Jenkins and Hart are starting for the first time and Jalen Brunson is a freshman, if anyone at this stage of the season is still just a freshman.
“In our program, we have a saying ‘shoot `em up, sleep in the streets,’” Wright said. “We want the guys to start aggressively. If you saw our game with Oklahoma earlier in the year, we were very aggressive shooting 3s and we were unintelligent shooting 3s. We want to be that way and then over the course of the year refine our decision-making but stay aggressive.”
Smart shooting has paved the way to the Elite Eight. Can Villanova go further?
You could make an argument that Kansas and Villanova have been the two most consistent teams all year. Both have been ranked No.1 at different times in the season. Saturday night will be a clash of the titans, with the winner certainly a favorite to become the eventual national champion.
Villanova is trying to carve out its own legacy, as any Wildcats team will continue to play in the shadows of that legendary ’85 squad until it wins a title of its own. Wright finally got the program back to the Final Four in 2009. But after three first-weekend flameouts as a high seed in the tournament, some wondered if he would ever get the Wildcats back to the Final four again.
Well, they are one victory away. They have a shooter’s chance—and that’s all Wright can ask for.
“I think what you’re seeing is a team that has experienced a lot from those games,” Wright said. “They’ve been there twice. They’ve lost. They don’t fear it. They don’t fear losing in the second round. They don’t fear losing in the Sweet 16. They’re just driven to advance.”