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City Six: Villanova seniors keep the Wildcats focused

OMAHA, Neb. - In an era when so many top college basketball players are one-and-done, making a brief pit stop before enjoying the riches of the NBA, there is something to be said of teams that have seniors. More importantly, seniors who can lead and produce.

OMAHA, Neb. - In an era when so many top college basketball players are one-and-done, making a brief pit stop before enjoying the riches of the NBA, there is something to be said of teams that have seniors. More importantly, seniors who can lead and produce.

Villanova won a national championship last season with seniors Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu playing a vital role on and off the court.

This season's seniors are doing the same so far, stepping up after Villanova earned a tight 68-65 win last Wednesday over a DePaul team that fell to 7-7. At that point, the seniors understood that barely escaping at home against a .500 team wouldn't suffice.

"The best thing our seniors did was take that DePaul win, when we didn't play well, and demanded everybody get refocused without waiting for a loss," Villanova coach Jay Wright said shortly after Saturday's 80-70 win at Creighton.

Villanova's three senior starters - Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds - carry a lot of weight.

Hart, who averages 20.3 points per game, is a national player of the year candidate.

Jenkins will forever be known as the player who hit the game-winning three-pointer in last year's 77-74 national title game win over North Carolina.

Reynolds is a true program player, one who only played 66 minutes as a freshman but has been a starter in all 14 games this season, averaging 5.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and providing boundless energy.

So when Villanova was down by 10 points in the first half at Creighton and the crowd at sold-out CenturyLink Center appeared ready to blow the roof off with noise, the Wildcats kept their cool, ran off 11 unanswered points and immediately got back in the game.

When a team wins a national title in such clutch fashion as Villanova, being down by 10 even to an undefeated and top 10 team won't make them flinch.

For Jenkins, it is not only that the players have been through pressure-packed games, it's what they face in their own gym every day in practice.

"Our coaches put us in difficult situations that we need to respond to as a Villanova basketball team, and it is something we are getting better at each and every day," Jenkins said.

Another byproduct of a team that has been through a championship run is that Villanova didn't get overly excited about a win, especially one on New Year's Eve.

"That win was a step in the right direction, but it is far from where we want to be," Jenkins said. "We are not satisfied with just winning, and we have to learn from this game and get better."

Villanova was far from flawless against Creighton, with 11 assists and 15 turnovers. That's not a ratio that will win consistently.

Yet the Wildcats did win the game, and they has another challenging game Wednesday at No. 18 Butler.

"We are proud of [beating Creighton] but realize it does nothing for us going into Butler," said Wright, whose team has a school-record 20 consecutive wins and is 14-0 to start a season for the first time in its illustrious history.

"For a second we will say [the Creighton win] was pretty cool. But if we spend any time thinking about that, we will get beat by Butler."

mnarducci@phillynews.com

@sjnard