Game preview: Delaware

The 40 and change miles that separate the campuses are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the familiarity between the programs. The connections between the two are plentiful.

There’s Delaware’s head coach, Martin Ingelsby. To say he comes from a Villanova family would be an understatement. His father, Tom, starred at Villanova from 1970-73 before playing several pro seasons in the NBA and ABA. His uncle, Ed Hastings, played for Villanova as well. Three of his siblings are Villanova graduates. And Baker Dunleavy, the former ‘Nova player and assistant coach, is his brother-in-law. So yeah, familiarity.

Then there’s Delaware’s roster. It starts with former Villanova player Dylan Painter, who averaged 11.9 points and 6.6 rebounds this season for Delaware while shooting 55.1% from the floor and 38.1% from 3. There’s Ryan Allen (11.8 PPG), who played with Villanova’s Justin Moore at DeMatha High School. There’s Andrew Carr (9.9 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 39% 3PT), who is from West Chester and was on Villanova’s radar in high school. There’s Kevin Anderson (10.8 PPG, 3.6 APG, 3.2 RPG), from northeast Pennsylvania, who Collin Gillespie says he played with a few times coming up through high school. There’s Jyare Davis (9.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG) who went to the same high school as Villanova’s Nnanna Njoku. Finally, Daniel Ochefu’s brother, Anthony, plays for Delaware, although he’s seen action in just two games this season.

“Obviously, Dylan was here so we know him really well,” Gillespie said. “He’s a great player. He’s gotten a lot better over the course of his five years in college. They have other guys we’ve played against, Ryan Allen who was at DeMatha with Justin is a fifth-year guy, Kevin Anderson was my year in high school, so I’ve played with him a few times and they have other local guys, Jameer Nelson, Carr, so many guys, Jyare Davis.”

In addition to the specific connections and relationships highlighted above, there’s the simple fact that Delaware’s roster is filled with both local PA/DE players but also a plethora of players from Maryland and Virginia, a fertile recruiting ground that has become a favorite of Jay Wright and Villanova. Needless to say, coaches from both teams have seen the other team’s players a whole lot, and the players themselves have played with and against each other a lot.

Depending on how you look at it, the familiarity could be considered an advantage or a disadvantage. Jay Wright thinks it will end up canceling itself out.

“I think it probably evens itself out because we watch them, we watch Dylan and we watch Martin Ingelsby, we want them to be successful, not anymore (laughs),” Wright said. “They’re all local guys, Jameer Nelson’s from here, Carr’s from here, we recruited Carr, we looked at him, so we all know each other really well. I wish they woulda been in another bracket so we could root for them, but it is what it is, we gotta compete.”

As for the actual competition on the court, Delaware is a team that has performed better offensively than defensively this season. KenPom ranks the Blue Hens 145th overall (102nd offensively, 212th defensively) while Haslametrics has them 131st overall (104th offensively, 200th defensively).

The Blue Hens have been very strong inside, hitting 54.2% of their 2-point attempts. They get to the free throw line at a decent rate and have converted a solid 74.2% of those attempts. They’ve also posted respectable 3-point shooting at 35%. In addition to Painter’s 38.1% and Carr’s 39%, Jameer Nelson Jr. connects on 36.9% of his attempts and Ebby Asamoah hits 40.3%.

Delaware has played solid inside defense, holding opponents to 47.5 on 2-point attempts. However, opponent’s have hit 34.9% from beyond the arc against the Blue Hens. They’ve had some issues on the glass as well and have allowed opponents to grab 31.2% of their offensive rebound opportunities (298th).

Ideally, Villanova will be able to take advantage of that 3-point defense and establish an advantage from beyond the arc. Of course, Delaware has some players who can get it going from deep as well, so ‘Nova will have to be aware there. We’d also like to see the Wildcats control the boards.

It will also be interesting to see how things play out inside, where the Blue Hens have had some success on both ends of the floor.

One final challenge Delaware presents is balance. Six Blue Hens average at least 9.5 PPG. Nelson Jr. leads the way with 13.7. The others are Painter, Allen, Anderson, Carr and Davis, who we mentioned above. Villanova won’t be able to focus on just one or two Delaware players and will have to be aware that a handful of Blue Hens can get it going and drive the offense on any given night.

“They’re a really balanced team,” Wright said. “They can shoot it well, they’re really good off the dribble and they got good post players, Dylan Painter and Carr and the young freshman from Nnanna’s team (Davis). They’ve got balance, that’s what makes them good. You see all those guys scoring double figures, that’s a tough team to prepare for because you know any one of those guys can have a big night.”

One benefit of the familiarity is that the ‘Cats won’t be looking past the 15th-seeded Blue Hens.

“They’re a really experienced group,” Gillespie said. “They’re well-coached, super athletic, they’re big and it’s gonna be a battle, they’re a really good team, they won a really tough conference in the CAA so we’re expecting a battle. We have to come prepared.”

Perhaps Moore summed it up best: “They’re a great team. They know a lot about us, we know a lot about them. It’s gonna be great competition and we gotta come out and play hard.”

The game is scheduled for a 2:45 p.m. tip on CBS.