Villanova

It's been an interesting year in the new Big East. One team that has thrived is the Villanova Wildcats. They're currently 19-2 and 7-1 in conference, tied for 1st. Villanova's two losses were a loss at Syracuse who lead the majority of the game and ran away and hid at the end and a game where Creighton simply couldn't miss. Villanova announced itself to the nation by winning the Battle for Atlantis where it pocketed wins over Kansas and Iowa.

Villanova is 9th overall in KenPom. They're slightly better offensively than defensively as they rate 8th in adjusted offense and 29th in adjusted d. Villanova lacks overall depth in size but does a lot of things well to negate this problem.

On offense, they're 24th in the nation in effective fg%. They're above average in protecting the ball. The WIldcats turnover % is 17.2%, 92nd. For a team that is supposed to have issues with size, they do a good job getting to their misses. Their offensive rebounding % is a healthy 34.4%. The national rate is 31.6%. Also, despite being perimeter oriented, they get to the line. The Wildcats FTA/FGA is 48%, 43rd best in the land. In the paint, they shoot 55%, 8th best overall. They share the ball. Their A/FGM is 61.4%, 17th best. There's a lot to like to their efficient offense. As for tempo, they average about 1 more possession per game than the national clip.

Teams have an effective fg% of 46.2% against Villanova. They force some turnovers. Opponents turnover % is 20.3%. They also do an adequate to above-average job on the defensive glass holding opponents to an offensive rebounding % of 29.7%. That's 93rd best. Again, considering concerns about their lack of height, that's good. Teams only shoot 42.8% in the paint against Villanova. That ranks 20th.

The main cog in the Villanoa attack is senior guard, James Bell.Bell averages 15.3ppg while shooting 38% from 3. Bell is a good rebounder, too, getting nearly 6 a game. 6'7" junior F, JayVaughn Pinkston also gives the Wildcats 15 and 6, shooting 54% from 2. Junior G Darrun Hilliard adds 13.5 while shooting 38.5% from deep. Freshman Josh Hart has an effective fg 5 of 64.4%. He's 38-54 from 2 and 21-54 from deep. Surprisingly, he only shoots 64% at the line. The Wildcats big man is sophomore Daniel Ochefu. Ochefu isn't a huge offensive presence, scoring 6ppg but adds rebounding on both sides of the ball and is a threat to swat some shots. His offensive rebounding % is 12.5% and defensively, it's 19.5%. He should only get better.

Their best player is arguably, sophomore guard Ryan Arcidianco. He runs the point and gets 10 points per game but is capable of carrying a larger load on the offensive end. He'll be a thorn in the side of Big East opponents this and the next two years.

Villanova was pegged as a tournament team prior to the season and have probably exceeded expectations. They've answered concerns about their size and it would be interesting to see how much better their defensive numbers would be if you took the Creighton game out (That game was truly remarkable and a n outlier). No reason they can't be a Sweet 16 team and maybe better. They lose Bell next season but should still be better next year. Things are looking bright in Philly for Jay Wright and the Wildcats.