Villanova Reaches Sweet 16 Again
Wildcats Eliminated by Kansas in NCAA Tournament
For the third time in six seasons, Villanova makes the Sweet 16 of NCAA Tournament
The Villanova men’s basketball team has a lot to look forward to next season.
Despite not having a senior on the team, the Wildcats made it to the Sweet 16 round of this season’s NCAA Tournament before losing to Kansas 72-57 Friday night at the Ford Center in Detroit.
The Wildcats were a 12th seed team in the Midwest Regional and got to the round of 16 by defeating fifth seed Clemson in an opening round game, and 13th seed Siena in the second round.
Villanova had visions of pulling off an upset like the 1985 season where the Wildcats beat Big East rival Georgetown for the national championship,
But if the Wildcats wanted to do the same thing in the 2008 tournament, they first they had to get by the No. 1 seed in the regional and one of the top teams in the country in Kansas.
The Philadelphia Big 5 tradition was kept alive just by Villanova getting into the tournament along with St. Joseph’s and Temple.
Wildcats faithful travel with team
The Villanova crowd at Detroit’s Sheraton Riverside Hotel knew their team would have a tough time against the Kansas.
The team left the hotel early Friday afternoon to a round of applause from band members, cheerleaders and alumni. With the exception of a few Wisconsin fans, the hotel’s guest list was a Villanova who’s who.
Former players from the 1985 national championship team, Harold Pressley and Harold Jenson, were among the alumni faithful.
The next day, Saturday, was check out time. But talk among the Wildcats already centered around the 2008-09 season.
Kansas a true contender for title
The Jayhawks lived up to their No. 1 seeding in the regional against the Wildcats as Brandon Rush scored 16 points and Russell Robinson contributed 15, Kansas virtually put the game away at halftime by building a 41-22 lead.
Kansas took Villanova out of the game by making seven three-point field goals and using the alley-oop play with Rush and Robinson. Reynolds was held to just 11 points while Cunningham scored 10.
The Jayhawks simply had too many weapons. Consider that Rush would have been playing in the National Basketball Association this season if not for an ACL knee injury suffered last season.
Rush, a 6-6 junior guard, could make himself available for the NBA draft this summer. He will first want to come away with a championship banner.
The Jayhawks had a harder time against Davidson on Sunday, but won 59-57 to advance to the final four this Saturday against Memphis in San Antonio.
Everybody coming back
The 2007-08 Wildcats are led by a sophomore guard Scottie Reynolds, who averaged 16 points per game. Reynolds was the Big East Rookie of the Year as a freshman.
Other top players include junior forward. Dante Cunningham, freshman guard Corey Fisher and sophomore center Casiem Drummond.
Villanova (22-13) was the last at-large team to qualify for the tournament, and one of eight teams from the Big East Conference to appear in the 65-team field. The Wildcats first round win over Syracuse in the Big East Tournament gave the team its 20th win, the mark on-the-bubble teams need to be considered for at-large berths.
Drummond did not play against Kansas, having suffered a knee injury in the team’s second round tournament win over Sienna the week before. He had surgery during he week and did not make the trip to Detroit.
Wildcats should make another run
Villanova made the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament three times in the last six years, so the experience is nothing new to head coach Jay Wright, his staff and players.
The Wildcats were ranked as high as 18th in the nation this season, but the tough Big East schedule brought the team down to earth and put them in a position to fight for an NCAA berth.
Villanova had a 9-9 record in the conference and was a 10th seed in the Big East Tournament.
With a good recruiting class and more experienced players, the Wildcats should be a ranked team next year and make a longer run in the NCAA Tournament.
