NCAA Tournament 2017: Villanova deserved an easier second-round matchup than Wisconsin

Villanova came into the NCAAs on a roll after winning the Big East Tournament and was expected to at least escape the East but had their hopes busted and will have to relish those moments from previous year when they won their first title since 1985. Josh Hart led Villanova with 19 points. Hayes, however, gave the Badgers the lead back on their next possession with an up-and-under layup, leaving Villanova down two with 11.4 seconds remaining.

Seniors Josh Hart (18.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and Kris Jenkins (13.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg), who hit the game-winning 3-pointer in the title game last season, have each played in 145 games at Villanova. Brown was unable to connect on the second and DiVincenzo grabbed the rebound for the Wildcats and was quickly met by Hayes and Brown. Done before their title defense could even really get started. The Badgers’ 65-62 victory advanced them to the tournament’s Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive season.

Hayes and Koenig are No. 1 and No. 2 scorers in the tournament among current players, with 166 and 159 points, respectively. Wins and losses in the NCAA Tournament often dictate the longevity of coaches-not that Wright has to ever worry about that. Defensively, Villanova is yielding 62.8 points per game against the opposing teams. The Wisconsin Badgers have won four of their last five games on neutral sites. There’s also a looming contest with Duke, should the stars align for that Elite Eight matchup. He contributed 10 points, three rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. With the majority of the second half left to play, the only question for the Badgers was, when would he come back in? The selection committee undervalued a number of talented teams including Wichita State and Saint Mary’s, and Wisconsin is just the first to exploit the seeding issues. Another added, “Hey we made it to the Sweet 16 again, so you gotta hand it to Greg Gard to keep the Wisconsin sweet sixteen tradition going!” “It’s great execution, great job, great coaching job, and that’s how you win and lose these close games”. Koenig picked up his second and third foul and was forced to sit at 16:58, only to be called back into duty at 14:10 with the struggles of true freshman D’Mitrik Trice.

After shooting 49 percent in their opening game against Winthrop on Thursday, the Bulldogs stayed hot against the Blue Raiders. But he regressed as a junior to 40 percent from inside the arc and 29 percent from outside it.

Brown proceeded to bury his first three-pointer, just 1 minute 8 seconds into the game, and finished 3 of 6. Arizona coach Sean Miller coached the Musketeers from 2004 to 2009 before taking over in Tucson.

After averaging 15.5 points in past year, Jenkins averaged just 6.5 this March and the Wildcats didn’t have enough firepower to compensate.

“That’s the beauty of this game”, UW forward Vitto Brown said. “Sometimes when you’ve been in college basketball for four years, in the regular season you realize at some point, ‘OK, the NCAA tournament is coming up”.

P.J. Dozier had 21 points, 13 in the South Carolina’s second-half rally. Lauri Markkanen and Rawle Atkins each scored 20 points.

Three Final Four trips in four years isn’t too common, though UCLA put up three in a row from 2006 to 2008. There’s the talent and experience there – they just need to hit their shots (cliche’) and be the defensive team that allowed only 61.8 points per game so far this season.