Villanova meets Marquette, a three-point threat
It's not that top-ranked Villanova has struggled defending the three-point shot. On the contrary, the Wildcats are holding their opponents to 29.5 percent from beyond the arc, first in the Big East and 10th in the nation.
It's not that top-ranked Villanova has struggled defending the three-point shot. On the contrary, the Wildcats are holding their opponents to 29.5 percent from beyond the arc, first in the Big East and 10th in the nation.
However, every now and then, the Cats show some inconsistency in that area. On Saturday, Providence knocked down 13 threes and shot 50 percent, the worst mark they've allowed all season. Marquette drilled 14 threes against them on Jan. 7, the most 'Nova has given up.
And it just so happens that the Wildcats (19-1, 7-1 Big East) will run into Marquette again Tuesday night, this time at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The Golden Eagles (13-6, 4-3), who are coming off a 102-94 upset Saturday at No. 7 Creighton, lead the Big East in threes made per game, averaging 10.2.
"It's a team effort," Villanova coach Jay Wright said Monday after practice at the Davis Center. "It's kind of going to our consistency. We'll have three or four possessions where we do a great job defending three-pointers, and then when you slip two or three possessions against a good team . . . even Providence, we gave up two or three at the end. We were doing all right and we just slipped.
"It's just concentration and commitment for 40 minutes. And we still have some young guys," he said, referring to sophomore starters Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson, and the team's two regulars off the bench, freshman Donte DiVincenzo and sophomore Eric Paschall.
Senior Josh Hart said the key to guarding the arc is to stay sound as a team.
"We've got to be solid," he said. "We can't go for unnecessary steals, fake hustle plays. If we do that, the defense is rotating and they can find open shots. We've got to realize, being solid for us, we've just got to do what our teammates expect us to do. That's more important than getting a steal and a dunk."
The Golden Eagles have four players who have combined to make 151 three-point baskets, led by two freshmen - guard Markus Howard with 41 and swingman Sam Hauser with 40. Howard leads the conference in three-point marksmanship at 50.6 percent.
Perhaps the most dangerous long-range shooter is Katin Reinhardt, a graduate transfer from Southern California, who drilled five in the first matchup against Villanova and five versus Creighton.
"We might have helped there, because at the end of our game, he started drilling threes," Wright said with a chuckle. "But he's gone to another level. Howard's gone to another level."
The Wildcats need to show the consistency on guarding the arc that they exhibited in the three games between the first Marquette game and Providence. They allowed Xavier, St. John's, and Seton Hall to shoot a combined 24.7 percent (21 of 85) from deep.
"We need to find defensive intensity," Wright said. "We need to get better defensively. We go on runs where we take leads, and then we slip up defensively and we're back in a tight game. We have not gotten that consistency yet."
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