Bucknell came up short in its bid to upset fourth-seeded West Virginia on Thursday. The Patriot League champs hung tight all afternoon but ultimately couldn’t wrestle away the victory from a powerful Mountaineers team.
Villanova’s Jay Wright cheered up his alma mater, Bucknell, after loss to West Virginia
This was a nice move by the Villanova coach.
Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
After the game, a dismayed Bucknell locker room got a surprise visitor: Villanova’s Jay Wright. Wright graduated from Bucknell and played for the Bison from 1979-1983. He is perhaps the most accomplished alumnus in the history of the athletic department.
Losing an NCAA tournament game is obviously a huge bummer. Getting a pep talk from the reigning national championship coach? Pretty cool.
“He just told us to keep our heads up,” sophomore guard Kimbal Mackenzie said. “Part of being a warrior is losing sometimes and we’ve got to learn how to lose just as we learn how to win.
“We’re very fortunate to have him in the locker room, giving us a couple words,” Mackenzie said. “He told us to keep our heads up and keep fighting.”
This is nothing new for Villanova, who might be the sport’s kings of sportsmanship. Just last week, we saw star forward Josh Hart console Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado after he missed a layup that would have beat the Wildcats. Now we have Wright consoling his alma mater even though he has his own team to worry about.
Villanova has some good vibes going for it right now. We’ll see if they pay off down the line.
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