Villanova ended their regular season on a high note when they defeated Georgetown 81-55 in D.C.. The Wildcats finished the season 28-3 after the win, and are now set to begin their title defense with the Big East Tournament in NYC this week, then the NCAA Tournament the following week. Despite a slow start, Villanova ended the first half with a 10 point lead and did not let up in the second half. Four Wildcats finished in double digits, led by Josh Hart, a finalist for the Wooden Award, who had 21 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Kris Jenkins had 19 points, including 11-13 from the free throw line, but did finish 0-4 from 3. Jalen Brunson stayed hot with 17 points. Mikael Bridges had 12 points to round out the double digit scorers.
Georgetown, who will miss the NCAA Tournament, only had one player, Rodney Pryor, finish in double figures, as he finished with 21 points. The next highest scorer on the Hoyas was Jessie Govan with his 7 points. Clearly Villanova was playing lockdown defense throughout the game, and despite the solid game by Pryor, really had no trouble at all having their way both offensively, but defensively in particular. The Wildcats defense held the Hoyas to 36 percent shooting overall, and 4-15 from three point land. The Villanova offense, on the other hand, finished at 46 percent overall from the field and 8-23 from the three point line, including 4-8 from distance by Hart and 2-5 by Donta DiVencenzo, who played 28 minutes off the bench and had 3 assists and 3 rebounds as well.
The Big East Tournament begins on March 8 with the 8/9 and 7/10 matchups. Georgetown will play St. John’s and Xavier will play DePaul. Villanova awaits the winner of the St. John’s vs Georgetown game, and will need three wins in the tournament to not only win the Big East Championship, but also to keep their position as a 1 seed in the 2017 NCAA tournament. Though it isn’t a given that they will make it to the championship on March 11, Villanova has the easiest route to the Final with a matchup against St. John’s/Georgetown, then a matchup against the winner of Marquette/Seton Hall being the only thing separating them from a trip to the finals once again.