Nova Slogs Past St. John's
Villanova struggled past St. John's in an evening tilt at the Wells Fargo Center Saturday by a score of 73-63. The Wildcats struggled on offense in the first half and on defense in the second in a game that the prognosticators thought would be more of a walk in the park for the #1 ranked team in the land.
The Cats struggled shooting the deep ball in the first half with an 0-11 three-point performance that was as cold as the frigid February air braved by a crowd of 18,000+ to attend the game. 'Nova did drain 10-10 free-throws in the half to cling to a 28-27 lead at intermission. The bright spot on offense was Daniel Ochefu who feasted on the soft under-belly of the Johnnie's defense to off-set the stone cold three-point effort.
Though Villanova found more of an offensive groove in the second half - shooting 50% from both the field and from beyond the arc, the defensive effort was lacking. St. John's got to the rim with some consistency and canned 6-11 (54.5%) from beyond the arc in the second half.
Villanova was led by 25 points and 9 rebounds from game MVP, Daniel Ochefu and 13 points from Ryan Arcidiacono. This game was won by 'Nova in the paint. 'Nova advances to 12-1 in league play and 22-3 overall.
Goods:
- First half defense
- Second half offense
- Out-rebounded the Johnnies
- 85.2% FT shooting
- +18 scoring advantage from the FT line
- +10 scoring advantage in the paint
Others:
- 0-11 shooting from 3-point range in the first half - 21.1% for the game
- 15 turnovers
- -13 in bench scoring
- the offense was more stagnant then usual and struggled with St. John's length
- offensive spacing, ball movement and player movement were not up to recent standards
- defense was slow to close out on the perimeter at times while the help defense and rim protection were also lacking on occasion
- scored less FGs than St. John's
- 0-13 beyond the arc combined for Booth, Jenkins, Brunson, and Hart
Player by Player:
Ryan Arcidiacono: This was not a vintage floor game from Arcidiacno - but he was able to knock down 3 of 5 3PFG attempts on his was to 13 points. His offensive efficiency (ORtg of 123) was solid but his overall performance was a notch or two below his norm. Fully expect him to bounce back quickly. His three made three-balls were huge.
Daniel Ochefu: The inside presence of Ochefu and Villanova's strong perfromance from the line made the difference in this game. The big fella dropped in 11 of his 14 FG attempts on his way to his 25 points. He was also a factor on defense with 3 steals, a block and 6 of his 9 rebounds. The MVP of the game for Villanova was easily Daniel Ochefu.
Josh Hart: After scoring in double-figures in all 24 games this season, Hart tallied only 7 in the in double-figures, Hart scored only seven with one lone FG on only four FG attempts. He did grab nine boards and dish out three assists.
Kris Jenkins: One mid-range bucket and a pair of FTs is all Jenkins managed on the offensive end on his way to a 4 point, 1 rebound outing. This game breaks a strong of eight consecutive games with multiple made three-balls.
Jalen Brunson: The Frosh experienced some Freshmen moments in this game on his way to an 8 point, 2 assist, 7 turnover game. He drove the ball into odd spots of the floor and/or into heavy traffic repeatedly. Brunson posted a team-low 63 ORtg.
Phil Booth: Another game, another bit of a struggle for Booth to find clean looks at the basket on which he can go straight up. get square, and hoist his jumper. Instead, he seems a bit rushed or hurried up and is leaning into shots or falling sideways on his release. This results in repeated missed jumpers with minimal chance of success. Booth needs to get back the confidence in his shot, play more assertively, attack the rim and elevate authoritatively on his jumper. Right now, he appears to be thinking too much and not letting the game come to him.
Mikal Bridges: Bridges played only 18 minutes in this game despite being efficient on offense (ORtg of 191) and grabbing 4 boards during his run. The minutes were impacted by his foul difficulties but he did find time to shoot 3-4 from the floor and 2-2 from the stripe.
Darryl Reynolds: After a pair of high visibility, break-out games, Reynolds came back to earth ... a little. He still posted 4 points and 4 boards in only 14 minutes of play and posted an ORtg of 163.
Perhaps this game is just what Coach Wright needed? A series of teachable moments - especially at the defensive end. A game to motivate the team to continue grinding and continue improving. On the positive side, Villanova found a way to win a league game by double-figures despite being outscored by 18 from three-point range and playing a sub-par defensive game. Back to the practice grind in preparation for the game at Temple on Wednesday night (7PM, ESPN2)
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