After one half of basketball, it looked like the Villanova Wildcats’ nine-game winning streak was going to come to an end Wednesday night. But just like they did against Cincinnati on Sunday, the Cats came alive in the second half.
Villanova Vs. Louisville: Wildcats Overcome Sloppy First Half En Route To Victory
The first half was one of the worse defensive halves of basketball I’ve ever seen from a Villanova team, and that falls partly on the shoulders of Jay Wright. As mentioned earlier, the Cards seemed to blow right through the Nova press, which had the Wildcat players scrambling to find open shooters. More often than not, Louisville had a wide open player on the outside, who eventually sank a three ball. Jay should’ve abandoned the press to let Villanova drop back and match up against their guys.
Just like they did on Sunday against Cincinnati, Villanova had another chance to bury a team in the second half. Three days ago, they let Cincy hang around, but this time, the good guys put the nail in the coffin. Villanova finally played a little defense on the Cardinals shooters, which translated into some easy transition opportunities for Fisher and Wayns. In addition, Yarou could not be stopped down low, and he demanded the ball late in the game, usually a rarity for Villanova big men in the past. In the end, the Cats went on to notch their 15th victory of the year.
On the Cardinals side, reliance on the three-pointer almost won them the game in the first half and likely cost them the game in the second.
After starting off hot, Nova’s adjustments in the second half to prevent open three point looks proved to be our downfall. Most of us knew the crazy hot shooting couldn’t last, and the real world caught up to us in a brutal stretch that put the game out of reach. Their bigs did a good job of pushing us around, dominating us on the boards. Rock, if you’re gone, at least you could teach your replacements how to grab the ball with both hands. I hope the guys stay up until 3 AM working on blocking out OR only having one guy go for the block while the other stays home for the rebound. Lack of rebounding and bad defense has made us mad all season. I don’t see things changing too much on that front, we are who we are. Hopefully Saturday we get back 2 good by beating hated rival Marquette.
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