On Wednesday, Villanova wasn’t tough enough, pushed around for the higher a part of 40 minutes by previously struggling St. John’s.
Three days later, it couldn’t close out a win over mediocre Butler, blowing an 11-point lead in the ultimate 4:23 of regulation.
It was a really un-Villanova week, out-muscled one game and unable to execute in key moments the following.
Except, perhaps that is what this program is at this point.
Not less than, that is what the Wildcats have been the past two seasons, apart from the November exception that was the Battle 4 Atlantis Classic within the Bahamas where they beat three projected NCAA Tournament teams in Texas Tech, North Carolina and Memphis, in convincing fashion.
And because the inconsistency and underperformance has piled up, the main target has intensified on coach Kyle Neptune, Jay Wright’s successor.
The answers haven’t been there for a team that was ranked twenty second within the Associated Press preseason poll and added projected impact transfers TJ Bamba (Washington State), Tyler Burton (Richmond) and Hakim Hart (Maryland) to the core of Eric Dixon, Justin Moore, Jordan Longino and Mark Armstrong.
The transfers are all having significantly worse seasons in comparison with last yr, while Moore hasn’t been himself since missing five weeks with a sprained knee.
At times, it looks like a team with out a leader, which is a reasonably jarring thing to say for a bunch with a lot experience.
It was beaten up by St. John’s on Wednesday, out-rebounded by 19 and dominated over the ultimate 10 minutes, outscored by 15.
The loss to Butler was worse.
Villanova was up 17-3 out of the gate, and allowed a layup and a dunk at the tip of regulation and the primary time beyond regulation that tied the sport in each instances.
Again, just not stuff you’ve got seen from this program during the last decade. Villanova is now headed to the bubble, 11-9 overall and trending in a nasty direction having lost five of the last six games.
Neptune’s biggest issue is time — he doesn’t appear to have much of it. Expectations were too high for this team to underachieve prefer it has. The shoes he stepped into could also be too big, at the least at this point in his profession. A second straight season without an NCAA Tournament bid would make next yr likely a make-or-break season for him — and that’s if Neptune sees next yr.
Personally, I don’t think the Neptune criticism is totally fair. That is his third season as a school basketball head coach. He’s 39 years old. The issue was the hire to start with. I get that Villanova desired to keep it within the family, and Neptune served as an assistant for Wright from 2013-21, but this was an inconceivable spot for an inexperienced head coach. In Wright’s third yr as a head coach, he went 12-15 — at Hofstra. He didn’t win 20 games until his fifth season.
It’s easy to fault Neptune, which so many are. The team isn’t performing as much as expectations — it’s one of the vital disappointing teams within the country, now in peril of missing the tournament — so it’s natural to point the finger on the coach. Odds are, though, that whoever took over for Wright would struggle.
You’ll be able to’t adequately replace a Hall of Fame coach. Villanova is finding that out.
Garden of dreams
Next Saturday is lining as much as be a monster day on the Garden, a doubleheader featuring St. John’s-Connecticut at noon and the Knicks-Lakers within the evening.
After throttling Xavier by 43 points on Sunday, the Huskies will enter the meeting with the Johnnies No. 1 within the country.
St. John’s looks like a tournament team in Rick Pitino’s first season, and has proven to find a way to play with the league’s best teams, falling by a combined six points to No. 1 UConn, No. 14 Marquette and No. 17 Creighton.
Then, there may be the subplot of Pitino saying he desired to play the Huskies at Carnesecca Arena next yr, which was a method to tweak UConn and Dan Hurley. That’s not going to occur, although there may be clearly a burgeoning rivalry and a few underlying animosity between the 2 intense coaches.
St. John’s got here away feeling it should’ve won the primary contest between the 2 in Hartford, a four-point loss, back on Dec. 23. UConn star center Donovan Clingan missed that game, it must be noted.
While it stays in fine condition to go dancing, St. John’s is with out a marquee victory. This definitely can be one — with a bullet.
MSG, which is predicted to either be sold out or near it for this encounter, might be rocking.
Game of the Week
No. 12 Duke at No. 3 North Carolina, Saturday, 6:30 p.m. ET
Duke has won 10 of its last 11 games. North Carolina has reeled off 10 consecutive victories. The 2 bitter rivals meet for the primary time in Chapel Hill with loads of stake.
A Tar Heels victory would go a great distance towards them locking up the ACC regular-season crown, while a Blue Devils win can be a significant boost to a résumé in need of a high-profile road win.
Jon Scheyer’s team is just 4-4 in Quad 1 and a pair of games, and there are few opportunities within the pedestrian-at-best ACC.
Seeding
1: Purdue, Connecticut, Houston, North Carolina
2: Tennessee, Arizona, Wisconsin, Kansas
3: Marquette, Baylor, Creighton, Alabama
4: Kentucky, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Auburn
Stock Watch
Up
Devin Carter
Not all was lost when Bryce Hopkins went down with a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 3. Carter has made sure of that for Windfall.
He refused to let the Friars lose in Ed Cooley’s anticipated return, pouring in 29 points together with 4 steals and two blocks, and within the six games since Hopkins’ injury, the 6-foot-3 guard is averaging 23.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and a pair of.5 steals.
He’s a Big East Player of the 12 months favorite, a surefire All-American selection and a future NBA player.
Just remember, Windfall fans, Cooley brought you Carter. This team wouldn’t sniff the NCAA Tournament without him.
Grant McCasland
The primary-year coach at Texas Tech needs to be a Big 12 Coach of the 12 months favorite at this point.
The Red Raiders were picked eighth within the conference, lost three of their top 4 scorers and all McCasland has done is make them the highest of the perfect conference within the country after Saturday’s gutty road win at No. 11 Oklahoma.
Oh, and he lost starting center Devan Cambridge to a season-ending knee injury on Dec. 6.
This, after all, shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has followed his profession, from the junior college ranks to working under Scott Drew at Baylor from 2011-16 to winning 20 games five times in six seasons at North Texas.
Down
Auburn
The metrics love the Tigers. They’re a top-10 team within the NET, are ranked seventh by KenPom and have a defense that’s fifth in efficiency. And, yet, this team lacks a marquee victory, now 0-3 in Quad 1 games after road losses to Alabama and Mississippi State this week.
This isn’t about whether Auburn will make the NCAA Tournament — the Tigers are just about a guarantee barring a significant collapse — but for a team that has been so impressive for the higher a part of the season, the record against quality teams is concerning for March
Bruce Pearl’s group could have probabilities in the approaching weeks to enhance its résumé, facing the likes of Alabama, South Carolina and Kentucky at home.
Pac-12
The ultimate yr of the present composition of the conference had a breakthrough football season. Washington reached the national championship. Basketball has not enjoyed the identical success.
Even Arizona, the league’s lone Final 4 contender, stubbed its toe this week by losing to woeful Oregon State. UCLA and USC are under .500 overall because the two most disappointing teams within the country. Utah, a vivid spot through the non-conference season, is 0-5 on the road in conference play and playing its way onto the bubble.
The league has only three teams — Arizona, Colorado and Utah — in the highest 40 of the NET rankings. That’s not a recipe for greater than a couple of at-large bids come Selection Sunday.
On Wednesday, Villanova wasn’t tough enough, pushed around for the higher a part of 40 minutes by previously struggling St. John’s.
Three days later, it couldn’t close out a win over mediocre Butler, blowing an 11-point lead in the ultimate 4:23 of regulation.
It was a really un-Villanova week, out-muscled one game and unable to execute in key moments the following.
Except, perhaps that is what this program is at this point.
Not less than, that is what the Wildcats have been the past two seasons, apart from the November exception that was the Battle 4 Atlantis Classic within the Bahamas where they beat three projected NCAA Tournament teams in Texas Tech, North Carolina and Memphis, in convincing fashion.
And because the inconsistency and underperformance has piled up, the main target has intensified on coach Kyle Neptune, Jay Wright’s successor.
The answers haven’t been there for a team that was ranked twenty second within the Associated Press preseason poll and added projected impact transfers TJ Bamba (Washington State), Tyler Burton (Richmond) and Hakim Hart (Maryland) to the core of Eric Dixon, Justin Moore, Jordan Longino and Mark Armstrong.
The transfers are all having significantly worse seasons in comparison with last yr, while Moore hasn’t been himself since missing five weeks with a sprained knee.
At times, it looks like a team with out a leader, which is a reasonably jarring thing to say for a bunch with a lot experience.
It was beaten up by St. John’s on Wednesday, out-rebounded by 19 and dominated over the ultimate 10 minutes, outscored by 15.
The loss to Butler was worse.
Villanova was up 17-3 out of the gate, and allowed a layup and a dunk at the tip of regulation and the primary time beyond regulation that tied the sport in each instances.
Again, just not stuff you’ve got seen from this program during the last decade. Villanova is now headed to the bubble, 11-9 overall and trending in a nasty direction having lost five of the last six games.
Neptune’s biggest issue is time — he doesn’t appear to have much of it. Expectations were too high for this team to underachieve prefer it has. The shoes he stepped into could also be too big, at the least at this point in his profession. A second straight season without an NCAA Tournament bid would make next yr likely a make-or-break season for him — and that’s if Neptune sees next yr.
Personally, I don’t think the Neptune criticism is totally fair. That is his third season as a school basketball head coach. He’s 39 years old. The issue was the hire to start with. I get that Villanova desired to keep it within the family, and Neptune served as an assistant for Wright from 2013-21, but this was an inconceivable spot for an inexperienced head coach. In Wright’s third yr as a head coach, he went 12-15 — at Hofstra. He didn’t win 20 games until his fifth season.
It’s easy to fault Neptune, which so many are. The team isn’t performing as much as expectations — it’s one of the vital disappointing teams within the country, now in peril of missing the tournament — so it’s natural to point the finger on the coach. Odds are, though, that whoever took over for Wright would struggle.
You’ll be able to’t adequately replace a Hall of Fame coach. Villanova is finding that out.
Garden of dreams
Next Saturday is lining as much as be a monster day on the Garden, a doubleheader featuring St. John’s-Connecticut at noon and the Knicks-Lakers within the evening.
After throttling Xavier by 43 points on Sunday, the Huskies will enter the meeting with the Johnnies No. 1 within the country.
St. John’s looks like a tournament team in Rick Pitino’s first season, and has proven to find a way to play with the league’s best teams, falling by a combined six points to No. 1 UConn, No. 14 Marquette and No. 17 Creighton.
Then, there may be the subplot of Pitino saying he desired to play the Huskies at Carnesecca Arena next yr, which was a method to tweak UConn and Dan Hurley. That’s not going to occur, although there may be clearly a burgeoning rivalry and a few underlying animosity between the 2 intense coaches.
St. John’s got here away feeling it should’ve won the primary contest between the 2 in Hartford, a four-point loss, back on Dec. 23. UConn star center Donovan Clingan missed that game, it must be noted.
While it stays in fine condition to go dancing, St. John’s is with out a marquee victory. This definitely can be one — with a bullet.
MSG, which is predicted to either be sold out or near it for this encounter, might be rocking.
Game of the Week
No. 12 Duke at No. 3 North Carolina, Saturday, 6:30 p.m. ET
Duke has won 10 of its last 11 games. North Carolina has reeled off 10 consecutive victories. The 2 bitter rivals meet for the primary time in Chapel Hill with loads of stake.
A Tar Heels victory would go a great distance towards them locking up the ACC regular-season crown, while a Blue Devils win can be a significant boost to a résumé in need of a high-profile road win.
Jon Scheyer’s team is just 4-4 in Quad 1 and a pair of games, and there are few opportunities within the pedestrian-at-best ACC.
Seeding
1: Purdue, Connecticut, Houston, North Carolina
2: Tennessee, Arizona, Wisconsin, Kansas
3: Marquette, Baylor, Creighton, Alabama
4: Kentucky, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Auburn
Stock Watch
Up
Devin Carter
Not all was lost when Bryce Hopkins went down with a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 3. Carter has made sure of that for Windfall.
He refused to let the Friars lose in Ed Cooley’s anticipated return, pouring in 29 points together with 4 steals and two blocks, and within the six games since Hopkins’ injury, the 6-foot-3 guard is averaging 23.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and a pair of.5 steals.
He’s a Big East Player of the 12 months favorite, a surefire All-American selection and a future NBA player.
Just remember, Windfall fans, Cooley brought you Carter. This team wouldn’t sniff the NCAA Tournament without him.
Grant McCasland
The primary-year coach at Texas Tech needs to be a Big 12 Coach of the 12 months favorite at this point.
The Red Raiders were picked eighth within the conference, lost three of their top 4 scorers and all McCasland has done is make them the highest of the perfect conference within the country after Saturday’s gutty road win at No. 11 Oklahoma.
Oh, and he lost starting center Devan Cambridge to a season-ending knee injury on Dec. 6.
This, after all, shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has followed his profession, from the junior college ranks to working under Scott Drew at Baylor from 2011-16 to winning 20 games five times in six seasons at North Texas.
Down
Auburn
The metrics love the Tigers. They’re a top-10 team within the NET, are ranked seventh by KenPom and have a defense that’s fifth in efficiency. And, yet, this team lacks a marquee victory, now 0-3 in Quad 1 games after road losses to Alabama and Mississippi State this week.
This isn’t about whether Auburn will make the NCAA Tournament — the Tigers are just about a guarantee barring a significant collapse — but for a team that has been so impressive for the higher a part of the season, the record against quality teams is concerning for March
Bruce Pearl’s group could have probabilities in the approaching weeks to enhance its résumé, facing the likes of Alabama, South Carolina and Kentucky at home.
Pac-12
The ultimate yr of the present composition of the conference had a breakthrough football season. Washington reached the national championship. Basketball has not enjoyed the identical success.
Even Arizona, the league’s lone Final 4 contender, stubbed its toe this week by losing to woeful Oregon State. UCLA and USC are under .500 overall because the two most disappointing teams within the country. Utah, a vivid spot through the non-conference season, is 0-5 on the road in conference play and playing its way onto the bubble.
The league has only three teams — Arizona, Colorado and Utah — in the highest 40 of the NET rankings. That’s not a recipe for greater than a couple of at-large bids come Selection Sunday.
