Ford: Villanova still in the grind

Villanova is 20 games into the regular season with 11 more to go, and the Wildcats will tick off another beginning noon Sunday in Madison Square Garden against St. John's. On Monday, the calendar flips to February, and the quick slide toward the madness of March will have begun.

Except that's not how it feels on the inside.

"To me, it feels like we're dead center in the middle of the grind right now. There's no looking back. There's no looking forward. You're just in it," said coach Jay Wright. "Somewhere around the middle of February, you pop your head out, and people are talking about tournament seeding, and you feel close to the end. But right now it feels like it's been going on forever, and it's never going to end. And, as a basketball person, you love that."

Some days he loves better than others. A week ago, when the Wildcats lost in the Wells Fargo Center to Providence, an overtime defeat that broke a 22-game Big East winning streak, he didn't love that quite as much.

Villanova is a very good team, currently ranked sixth in the nation and with 17 wins in those 20 previous games, but there are things the Wildcats have to do to keep winning. They can't just throw their shoes on the floor and wrap up another one.

"I think our guys know they can lose to anybody, but when you win and you get on a roll like we did, you also think you can beat anybody," Wright said. "The danger in that is you don't pay attention to the details to make sure it happens."

Against Providence, one of three Big East teams ranked among the top 10, Villanova built an 11-point first-half lead and then became complacent, according to Wright. The Wildcats settled for the three-pointers that Providence's defense allowed, didn't get to the foul line and ultimately paid the price.

The other two losses this season came against Oklahoma, currently in a battle with North Carolina for the No. 1 spot in the nation, and Virginia, now ranked No. 11. Both were the result of defensive lapses against teams that shoot extremely well. That wasn't the case against Providence, a game in which Villanova held the Friars to 66 points in regulation.

"We got smacked in the face, but I think we've responded well. For us, it's about defensive rebounding and shot selection," Wright said. "We know we've got to get a lot better. I think our guys get it."

What Villanova has avoided thus far is a loss that would truly hurt them in the eyes of the NCAA tournament selection committee. Other Big East schools are struggling to stay relevant, like Seton Hall, which lost at home to Villanova by a single point. The Pirates are still wearing an early home loss to Long Beach State. The same goes for Georgetown, which has a decent enough record but has a losing record against teams ranked in the top 50 RPI and lost at home to UNC-Asheville. Butler started 12-1, including a win over No. 21 Purdue, but has stumbled during conference play to the edge of the NCAA tournament bubble. It happens quickly.

"We could have lost to Marquette. We could have lost to Seton Hall at home and at their place. We got down in those games but fought through it," Wright said.

While fighting through the schedule and grinding from game to game, Villanova has been able to fashion a solid eight-man rotation, with junior forward Darryl Reynolds and redshirt freshman swingman Mikal Bridges developing into reliable players who add length to the mix.

"Those are the final two pieces. Reynolds and Bridges have really come into their own and given us legitimate depth," Wright said. "We're getting good minutes from them, and I think we're getting better with all our young players, including Jalen [Brunson], who's a freshman; Phil Booth, a sophomore; and now Bridges and Reynolds, who's really getting minutes for the first time."

The grind continues on Sunday against St. John's and if there is a danger of complacency, it would be in a game like this. St. John's is 7-14, winless in the conference, and winless entirely since Dec. 13. Wright fought that fight by emphasizing in practice that St. John's is similar in some ways to Providence and will provide a good test of the lessons from that loss.

"They have length and athleticism, like Providence, and can give you trouble by extending their zone to take away your three-point shooting," Wright said. "We didn't do a good job making decisions against Providence, so in one sense this game scares me, but it's also a great challenge."

Wright's point is not backed up by conference statistics, which find St. John's ranked last in three-point defense. But if it got Villanova through the work of another week's practices, then it served its purpose.

Unlike the groundhog, the Wildcats still have another two weeks before they can pop their heads up and see the end of winter's long road toward spring. Until then, if it is Sunday, then it must be New York, the start of a week that includes a home game against Creighton and a trip to Providence for an important rematch.

"I feel like we're in a good spot," said Jay Wright, looking only at that spot, not ahead and not back. It is still the time to grind and not yet the time to find out where all the grinding leads in the end.

bford@phillynews.com

@bobfordsports