Rush The Court

Joe Dzuback is the RTC correspondent for the Atlantic 10 Conference. You can also find his musings online at Villanova by the Numbers or on Twitter @vtbnblog. Joe filed this report after Villanova’s 77-53 victory over VCU Monday evening.

When Villanova and Virginia Commonwealth faced off in the first round of the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn last night, a trail of questions about these two dynamic teams followed them onto the court. Both had great success last season, winning their respective conference regular season titles while compiling a combined record of 55-14 (Villanova was 29-5 while VCU was 26-9) but each saw their seasons expire with a sigh that betrayed what they had worked for. VCU had run up a 24-7 record even before the conference tournament, securing no worse than an at-large place in the NCAA field as the Atlantic 10 Conference garnered a record-breaking six bids. They burned through Richmond and NCAA-worthy George Washington by 20 points apiece before bowing to a senior-heavy Saint Joseph’s squad, 65-61. But it was the two-point loss to Stephen F. Austin (77-75) that stung. Had HAVOC run its course? If the defensive turnover machine of seasons past could not produce, the Rams’ open court offense was reduced to their half court set which yielded far fewer points (and possessions). Like Gonzaga, Butler and George Mason before them, the Rams were no longer the hunters, they had become the hunted.

In “the old” Big East a 28-3 regular season record capped with a 16-2 conference record would have heralded the Wildcats as an elite team and Final Four contender even before the conference tournament. For Villanova and “the new” Big East however, double-figure losses to Syracuse and Creighton (twice) appeared to undermine the Wildcats’ — and the Big East’s — attempts to write a new chapter. Villanova dropped their first round conference tournament game to Seton Hall (64-63), secured a #2 seed in the NCAAs, then dropped their second round game to former conference mate Connecticut (77-63). The Big East garnered four bids and no conference team made it to the Sweet Sixteen.

The 2014-15 preseason previews and polls lauded both as regular season titlists in their respective conferences and Top 25 squads, but who exactly is the real 2014-15 edition of these two programs? Or as Jay Wright put it after the game, “…you have questions at the beginning of the season — that’s normal — but if it’s the end of the season and you have questions…you’re in trouble…”. Through the first three games, VCU answered with a resounding yes as the Rams dominated in their first three games, downing Tennessee by 16 (85-69), Toledo by nine (87-78) and Maryland-Easter Shore by a throat-tightening (if you happen to be MDES Coach Bobby Collins) 40 points (106-66). Shaka Smart‘s squad led Division I in three-point conversion rates and HAVOC was clicking on all cylinders as they completely flummoxed the MDES backcourt into committing 20 turnovers. Anticipating big things at the Legends Classic, their fan-base began to refer to the Barclays Center as “Siegel Center North”, a reference to their on-campus arena.

For the first 20 minutes the two squads ran their respective scripts and played to a virtual standstill (Villanova 32-30). “We were tentative, going back for the ball” explained Wright. “We were not making our shots,” countered Smart in their post game press conferences. VCU scored six points in their first three possessions coming out of half-time, taking a 36-34 lead and forcing Wright into a quick time-out to settle his Wildcats. “We did not come out aggressive…Shaka’s team is always aggressive…if we don’t come out aggressively they will take it from us. We have to get after it…and they did…”. Indeed. Darrun Hilliard forced a turnover and conversion that halved the Rams’ lead, then junior guard Ryan Arcidiacono’s attempted steal produced a loose ball that triggered a wild scramble and five five player pile. Arcidiacono tipped the ball to sophomore Josh Hart who took it to the rim and converted despite the hard foul. The converted and-1 leveled the score, and Villanova was off to the races, putting on a 16-0 run that gave them a 48-36 lead. For the game’s final 13 minutes the Rams would nibble, but never take the bite they needed to shake that lead away from Villanova. Wright pointed to his two seniors, JayVaughn Pinkston and Darrun Hilliard, as the keys for the Wildcats’ ability to remain unshaken by VCU’s pressure and trap defense. “We’ve been Guard U, but we have some pretty good forwards too. JayVaughn guarded him (VCU guard Treveon Graham “…a hell of a good player…” per Wright) early and that gave us a lot of confidence. We may come out flat tomorrow because this game was so exhausting, but tonight we played the way we were supposed to.”

The 77-53 score tallies a win for Villanova (and by extension, the Big East), but it does not answer the questions nor exorcise the ghosts, “VCU is the type of team… we could have easily lost by 20,” according to Wright. For the moment the voices may be a little quieter; by the close of business last night, the Big East has compiled a head-turning 34-2 (0.944) record to open the season. The only team to lose was Marquette (twice) while Seton Hall returns from St. Thomas with the conference’s first invitational trophy of the season. The Pirates beat Nevada, Gardner-Webb and Illinois State to win the Paradise Jam, while Villanova tries for the second invitational trophy when they take on Michigan tonight in the Legends Classic final. Questions answered? Hardly, Wolverine Coach Jon Beilein, whose motion offense system is very similar to the motion offense favored by Creighton coach Greg McDermott (remember those 20 point losses last season?). Beilein beat the Wildcats far too routinely when he coached West Virginia in the “old” Big East.