NCAA Tournament: Villanova puts on a clinic in victory over Oklahoma

Villanova shuts down Buddy Buckets to advance to the NCAA Tournament National Title Game.

It was the beginning of December. Oklahoma was ranked 7th in the country and Villanova was ranked 9th.

But it certainly didn’t seem that way in their match-up in Honolulu. The Wildcats were dominated in the Pearl Harbor Classic, losing by 23, as the Sooners shot over 50 percent from downtown and the Wildcats couldn’t buy a bucket, finishing 4-of-32 from beyond the arc (!).

Boy have things changed.

The Wildcats won their third straight Big East regular season title, dominated Iowa in the Round of 32 to crush their reputation as a team that struggles mightily in March, and then went on to beat top ranked Kansas to advance to their first Final Four since 2009.

Now they are one step closer to their first National Title since 1985.

The Wildcats put together a clinic on both ends of the floor as they embarrassed Oklahoma on the biggest stage in all of college basketball, winning 95-51 in the first game of the Final Four. Josh Hart led the Wildcats with 23 points on an efficient 10-of-12 shooting, but it wasn’t just the junior from Maryland that helped the ‘Cats complete the largest margin of victory in the history of the Final Four.

Jay Wright’s team shot a stunning 71 percent from the field and nailed 61 percent of their threes while they contained Oklahoma star guard Buddy Hield to just nine points on 4-of-12 shooting. They had six players score in double figures and forced the Sooners to commit 17 turnovers.

Villanova had a 14-point lead at the break due to their relentless defense and toughness, but Oklahoma picked up their energy to start the second and actually cut the lead down to nine before the first timeout.

That was as close as they would get with the Wildcats using their balance, effective ball movement and knock down jump shooting to go on a remarkable 33-to-4 run to blow out Lon Kruger’s unit.

The Wildcats will face the winner of North Carolina and Syracuse in the National Title game on Monday night.

On the flip side, the Sooners will lose one of the best players in the country in Hield and will also miss the presence of Isaiah Cousins and Ryan Spangler.

Kruger might not be back to the Final Four for a while.

You got to have a little Hart

Hart was in total command of his match-up with Hield and it wasn’t even close. The junior, who developed into Villanova’s best player this season, was scoring inside and out, his rebounding prowess was impressive (he had eight boards) and his activity on Hield defensively made the sharp shooter uncomfortable.

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He averaged 15.3 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game this year and could have easily won Big East Player of the Year due to his emerging leadership on the best team in the conference.

As a forward with guard-like skills, Hart’s heart is a major reason why the Wildcats will have an opportunity to cut down the nets in Houston on Monday night.

Villanova’s defense is tough, tough, tough

It’s been evident since mid-way through Big East Conference play. Villanova is a different basketball team this year because of their work on the defensive end. They are active, aggressive and freshman Mikal Bridges brings a unique dimension off the bench (he can guard positions 1-4).

The Wildcats also switch up their looks on that end of the floor. They are capable of playing straight man-to-man, switching man-to-man, a zone and they also throw on a 3/4 court press that can chop the shot clock in half.

Held only scored in single digits once this season (against West Virginia), but on Saturday night, the Wildcats threw numerous defenders his way. While Hart did most of the work, Ryan Arcidiacono began the game on the star and Bridges also took advantage of his chance.

No shot making means no victory

The Sooners had one major weakness coming into the Big Dance: they live and die by the three ball. And versus the Wildcats, they couldn’t buy a bucket – they shot 22 percent from long range.

Cousins, Hield and Jordan Woodard were a combined 10-of-36 from the floor. Your not going to win many games when your three best players are off the mark like that.

Moving forward, the Sooners will return Woodard, Christian James, Khadeem Lattin, Jamuni McNeace, Dante Buford and Akola Manyang, but only Woodard was a key contributor on this Final Four squad.

Next: How did the Big East fare in the NCAA Tournament?

Kruger will hope for a summer of massive development while the head coach will also hope to gain a big lift from transfer Austin Grandstaff and two four-star recruits, Kameron McGusty and Kristian Doolittle.

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