Experience the Difference as Villanova Drops Rematch With No. 5 UConn

“Every once in a while, you get your ass kicked.”

That’s how Villanova head coach Kevin Willard summed up his team’s 73-63 home loss to No. 5 UConn on Saturday, Feb. 21, a game far more lopsided than that ten point margin.

“We’ve been playing good basketball. You’ve just got to bounce back. It’s not the end of the world,” Willard said.

“That’s a good basketball team. They’re coming off a tough loss against Creighton. I thought their defensive intensity was so much different than it was against Creighton. I think them being on the road was probably good for them at this point. Sometimes you come off a tough home loss, you go on the road, and you can really find a way. I think [Huskies head coach] Danny [Hurley] did a great job with his team with that.”

Reed Wins the Rematch

Willard identified UConn center Tarris Reed Jr. (11 points, six rebounds, three blocks) as a difference maker in the matchup. During the first clash between Villanova and the Huskies, Wildcats’ forward Duke Brennan got the better of that matchup, posting a 16 point, 13 rebound double double and forcing Reed to foul out in overtime. Reed got his licks back in the rematch, holding Brennan to seven points — all of them scored with the game well out of reach — and a season-low three rebounds.

Willard said that Reed sniffed out a number of the Wildcats’ play calls, a rare display of ability from a center.

“He doesn’t get a lot of credit for his defense, but Tarris Reed, he’s a very smart basketball player as a center. He knew like four or five of our play calls and actually jumped plays where you don’t see centers do that very much,” Willard said.

“When he played the way he played tonight, they’re going to be tough to beat. Obviously, he can get a bucket anytime down low, but I thought defensively, he was just phenomenal. I just thought that he was jumping our high-post action, his pick-and-roll defense was really smart. He was hedging on the guys he wanted to hedge. He didn’t hedge on other guys. They’re diving on Acaden [Lewis’] pick-and-rolls, so he wasn’t hedging that.”

Askew Slumps Hard

Villanova sixth man Devin Askew also endured a rough night at the office, going 0-for-5 with three turnovers committed. Askew checked in out of the first media timeout and committed a shot clock violation on his first possession as the primary ball handler. He committed a turnover as he scrambled to avoid a second violation, and those early yips remained throughout.

Willard said that some of the Wildcats’ struggles stemmed from a fast-paced game with few stoppages, boxing him into his chosen lineups with limited opportunities to react. Of the second unit and Askew’s struggles, Willard said “probably a lack of execution on our part, but also give their guys credit for playing good defense.”

He continued.

“We went some stretches that we had some lineups that probably were self-inflicted by me, to be honest with you. There just wasn’t a lot of foul calls for long stretches, so we got caught with some lineups that probably hurt us a little bit more than it has in the past.”

Beyond Reed, Willard credited experienced Huskies like Alex Karaban, Silas Demary Jr. and Solo Ball for their ability to take the lessons learned from their first game against Villanova and apply them to great success in the rematch: the Wildcats led for the majority of their road duel with UConn before eventually falling in overtime, a marked change from their struggles in the return game.

For a young team like the Wildcats, Brennan and Askew typically fill that role. With them going through a slump, the Wildcats had little chance of upsetting the No. 5 team in the country.