3 keys to Villanova Wildcats pulling off potential upset of No. 1 UConn Huskies

2. Continued good play from Mark Armstrong

One of the biggest x-factors heading into the season was Mark Armstrong and his development as a sophomore playmaker. In the first 14 games of the season, the 6’2 guard was averaging around 6.0 ppg and never scoring more than 10 points in a single game.

He’s come into a zone in the past couple of weeks in extended minutes while Justin Moore was coming back from his latest injury. In the last three games, Armstrong had 14 points and four assists against St. John’s, 15 points versus DePaul and a season-high 24 points at Marquette, making 5/9 shooting from deep.

If Armstrong is now suddenly a double-digit scoring threat, Villanova’s offensive potential for the rest of the season has raised. Besides the injury concerns, Moore (11.9 ppg and 2.3 apg) hasn’t had a double-digit scoring outing since November 29th. He’s been a combined 6/27 from the field in the past four games, with the team losing three of them.

For the Wildcats to have enough to beat UConn, they quite frankly, need big outings from both Moore and Armstrong. Right now, the sophomore guard is the one with all of the momentum and maybe Villanova needs to lean on him this game.