{"id":61341,"date":"2018-03-24T09:03:35","date_gmt":"2018-03-24T09:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=61341"},"modified":"2018-03-24T09:03:35","modified_gmt":"2018-03-24T09:03:35","slug":"no-team-left-ncaa-tournament-will-tougher-one-villanova-just-beat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/no-team-left-ncaa-tournament-will-tougher-one-villanova-just-beat.html","title":{"rendered":"No team left in NCAA tournament will be tougher than the one Villanova just beat"},"content":{"rendered":"

No team left in NCAA tournament will be tougher than the one Villanova just beat<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Villanova will not face a tougher test than the one it got from West Virginia.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s no disrespect to Texas Tech or Kansas or Duke or anyone else the Wildcats might face on the way to the national championship game. It\u2019s simply fact.<\/span><\/p>\n

Playing the Mountaineers is the basketball equivalent of boot camp, as much a mind warp as it is a physical grind. They keep coming and coming and coming, never giving you a break and rarely making a mistake that allows you to feel as if you\u2019re in control. Or gives you hope you\u2019re anywhere close.<\/span><\/p>\n

Survive that, and you can do anything. Beat anyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole game, they don\u2019t say anything. They just come at you physically, aggressively, and mentally tough,\u201d Villanova coach Jay Wright said, respect evident in his voice. \u201cSo if you’re not better in those areas, they’re going to get you.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd to see our guys come out, more to be able to compete with them physically and mentally, it was really impressive to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The final score of 90-78 doesn\u2019t do justice to just how demanding Friday night\u2019s game was. Or how close top-seeded Villanova was to having it all slip away.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Mountaineers are called Press Virginia for a reason, and Villanova was clearly flustered by being hounded for the entire length of the court. A team that averaged 10 turnovers a game this season had nine at halftime. It managed just two field goals in the first 14 minutes of the second half, and didn\u2019t have a basket in the paint until shortly before the 10-minute mark.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a team that has barely been challenged this month \u2014 Villanova had won its previous six games by an average of 21 points \u2014 this was the ultimate measure of who the Wildcats are, and where they want to be when all is said and done.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Wright, it was a flashback to the Big East of old, where teams scrapped and scraped and banged like they were still out on the playground, fighting for who had next. But his players have never known that Big East, and there was no guarantee of how they\u2019d respond to being punched in the mouth on every possession.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just looked at Jalen (Brunson), Mikal (Bridges), and Phil (Booth), and I could see in their eyes we were good. We were good,\u201d Wright said of the timeout he called after Jevon Carter\u2019s steal and layup gave West Virginia a 60-54 lead, its largest of the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I didn’t, if I looked in their eyes and saw fear or worry, I would have maybe went a little crazy,\u201d he added. \u201cBut I didn’t.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Said Brunson, who has a poise and maturity far beyond his 21 years, \u201cNothing changes for us. \u2026 Sticking to our core values, 40 minutes of Villanova basketball.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And then, in a two-minute sequence that unfolded like it was being played at double speed, the tide turned. It started with Brunson, who made a free throw and then converted a three-point play \u2014 that first bucket in the paint.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eric Paschall tied the game with a pair of free throws and, at the other end, Brunson came up with a huge defensive rebound. He rifled the ball to Bridges, who glanced at the floor as he caught the ball and quickly stepped behind the 3-point line before letting fly.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Mountaineers\u2019 ears might still be ringing from Omari Spellman\u2019s block on James Bolden, and he came flying in to slam home a miss by Booth to cap the 11-0 run. Two minutes later, the big man made a three-pointer that put Villanova up 71-64 and, effectively, into the Final Four.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started watching film, I just thought, man this is a tough matchup, No. 1,\u201d Wright said. \u201cAnd if we survive this, we\u2019re a pretty mentally tough team.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There are no more easy games from here, not that there\u2019ve been any in this roller coaster of a tournament. But as the Wildcats learned when they won it all two years ago, the ability simply to survive, to take body blow after body blow and stay standing, is every bit as important as a stingy defense or a high-octane offense.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s what a final eight game is going to be like,\u201d Wright said. \u201cI think that’s a really valuable game for us. Really valuable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If Villanova cuts down the nets 10 days from now, this will be the game where the title was won.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/columnist\/nancy-armour\/2018\/03\/24\/no-team-left-ncaa-tournament-tougher-than-one-villanova-just-beat\/455245002\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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