Villanova Basketball: What’s wrong with Wildcats after upset loss to Furman?

Villanova Basketball is off to a 2-2 start following two deflating losses at home to Michigan and Furman. What’s wrong with the defending champs…and can it be fixed?

The Villanova Wildcats came into the 2018-19 with tempered, yet high, expectations.

Four of the top six players from last season’s national championship team left for the NBA Draft, leaving head coach Jay Wright with a bigger void than expected. Sure, they were prepared for Jalen Brunson and even Mikal Bridges to leave school, but the surprising rises of Omari Spellman and Donte DiVincenzo – both first-round picks – left Villanova with a bare cupboard.

Of course, this is the kind of program that is built to handle such losses, right? Wright has instituted the best culture in the country and he’s one of the best developers of talent there is in the college game. They’d be able to figure it out with last year’s leftovers and their new pieces.

But Villanova hasn’t figured it out.

Following easy wins over Morgan State and Quinnipiac, the Wildcats were blown out 73-46 by Michigan and followed that up with a shocking 76-68 overtime loss to Furman. Making matters worse, both losses came at home.

At 2-2, the last defending national champion to get off to this poor of a start was UCLA in 1995-96. It is only four games into the season, but those losses – and how the Wildcats are playing in those losses – are troublesome.

So what exactly is ailing Villanova? Can they turn it around?