Cats advance to Round of 32 with 80-60 win over Delaware

The start was a big shaky for the Cats. After hitting two of their first three attempts from the field, ‘Nova suffered through a 2-10 stretch. Delaware took advantage, building a 15-8 lead with 11:26 to go in the half.

There was legitimate cause for concern because in games like this the longer you let the underdog hang around the more it believes it can win. Villanova was struggling to put the ball in the basket and Delaware was playing well. It certainly wasn’t panic time, but it was uncomfortable.

Villanova, however, would start to get it going offensively. An old fashioned three-point play from Eric Dixon and a 3-pointer from Caleb Daniels constituted a 6-0 run for the ‘Cats that gave ‘Nova its first lead (20-19) since it was 4-2. Delaware responded with four straight to retake a three-point lead with 6:05 to play in the half. But ‘Nova would close on a 15-2 run, including the last eight points of the half, to take a 35-25 lead into the break and restore some calm to ‘Nova Nation.

After the rough 2-10 shooting stretch, Villanova hit 10 of its final 15 shot attempts in the half. The ‘Cats finished the half hitting 50% both overall (14-28) and from 3 (5-10). Delaware connected on 40% overall and just 10% from 3.

“At the start of the game it took us some time to adjust to their speed and their intelligence,” Jay Wright said.

The ‘Cats were +12 from beyond the arc and controlled the boards (18-14). They also kept things even down low, with the teams earning 18 points each in the paint.

“Just stay the course,” Collin Gillespie said of the message during the early deficit. “Keep doing what we’re supposed to do. Just making sure that we were continuing play Villanova basketball. We knew that was a possibility just trying to figure out doing, how they were guarding defensively and how they were attacking us offensively. We were just telling each other ‘stick together,’ it’s a 40-minute game and that’s what we were gonna do.”

‘Nova continued the strong play in the second half, scoring the first eight points of the period to extend the run to 23-2 and the lead to 43-25. Delaware would never threaten again as the ‘Cats would build the lead to as much as 23. At the final buzzer the ‘Cats had a comfortable 20-point win.

‘Nova shot 51.9% overall in the second half and 8-18 from 3 (44.4%). Delaware managed to hit 50% of its field goals but hit just 2-10 from 3. For the game ‘Nova shot 51% overall and 46% from 3, hitting 13 shots from beyond the arc. Delaware was 44% overall and just 15% from 3.

“Early they were beating us off the dribble pretty good and we just extended on them and gave each other help to not let them see too much space,” Wright said about the 3-point defense. “I thought we did a pretty good job closing out on their shooters and getting to them quickly.”

The ‘Cats were +30 from deep. They won the rebounding battle 33-24 and won second-chance points 10-2. Delaware had a slight 32-30 advantage in points in the paint. Villanova also converted 10 Delaware turnovers into 16 points.

Justin Moore was fantastic for the ‘Cats, scoring 21 points on 7-13 shooting and 3-5 from 3. He added six assists and three rebounds. Jermaine Samuels added 15 points and nine rebounds. Gillespie chipped in 14 points, four rebounds and four assists. Daniels added 13 points on 4-8 shooting and 3-5 from 3. Dixon rounded out the double figure scorers with 12 to go with six rebounds.

The ‘Cats really got things going after the rough stretch early and played a very good game at both ends of the floor.

Villanova will take on Ohio State in the Round of 32 on Sunday. The Buckeyes beat Loyola Chicago 54-41.