Found Their Groove?

With 18:15 remaining in their first round NCAA Tournament game against the American Eagles, the Villanova Wildcats trailed 45-31. From that point on, the Wildcats have gone into another gear, first outscoring American 49-22 to win 80-67, and then dismantling the UCLA Bruins, a Final Four team the past three seasons, 89-69.

The difference between the Villanova Wildcats of the first 21 minutes and 45 seconds of the NCAA Tournament and the Villanova Wildcats through the next 68 minutes and 15 seconds is immense. Villanova settled for jump shots and struggled throughout the first half against American. However, ever since that 45-31 deficit against American, Villanova has attacked the basket, resulting in more high-percentage shots, and turned up the pressure on defense, allowing the Wildcats to create more turnovers. Villanova needs to continue doing those two things in order to beat Duke and Pittsburgh to advance to the Final Four.

With an extremely talented roster and a very good coach in Jay Wright, Villanova has a legitimate shot at reaching the Final Four in Detroit. However, they need to continue working the ball inside to Dante Cunningham (25 points, 7 rebounds against AU, 18 points, 10 rebounds against UCLA), which in turn will create more oppurtunities for Scottie Reynolds (9.5 ppg in Tourney), Dwayne Anderson (17.5 ppg), and Corey Fisher (12 ppg) to contribute. The Wildcats also cannot afford to slack off on defense. With their pressure D, 'Nova has forced 32 turnovers in the first two games of the NCAA Tournament. Jay Wright's squad is a major threat to Duke and Pittsburgh if it continues to play the same way it has since that 45-31 deficit.