Villanova Men’s Basketball’s Second Unit Finding Their Footing

Villanova Men’s Basketball’s bench put on one of its best performances of the season on Wednesday, Feb. 4, scoring 25 points in the Wildcats’ 72-60 home win over Seton Hall.

While it wasn’t their best game in terms of scoring output, almost all of those came about because of heroic performances from sixth man Devin Askew.

Against the Pirates, it was 6-foot-6 wing Malachi Palmer, who played under Willard at Maryland last year, who set a career high with 15 points. He also dished a pass to reserve center Braden Pierce for a highlight reel dunk.

Willard said that Palmer and his fellow wing, the 6-foot-8 Matt Hodge, compete against one another in practice, iron sharpening iron as they adjust to their first season in the Big East.

“Malachi…it’s the reason I wanted him to come here. We saw this a lot starting to develop last year, and he works hard and he’s been practicing great,” Willard said. “Him and Matty have been working hard against each other, and I think that’s really helped both of them play at a high level. He’s come in, and I think defensively, he’s playing really well. I know offensively, everybody looks at him, but I think defensively, he gave us a huge lift.”

True freshman guard Chris Jeffrey, who missed six weeks after undergoing knee surgery, continued to ease his way back into the lineup. Jeffrey showed his two-way ability early, using his lengthy frame to deflect the ball and then hustling down the court, taking his own steal for a layup.

Perhaps more important than their immediate impact, Villanova head coach Kevin Willard trusted his reserves together, giving his team a legitimate second unit after injuries and inexperience decimated their depth early in the season.

It All Starts With Practice

With his team back at full health, Willard said that he can play a full second unit rather than needing to manage minutes with limited substitutions. Even though it’s young starters like Acaden Lewis and Bryce Lindsay drawing much of the fanfare this season, the Wildcats’ young reserves are growing up too. Much like with Palmer and Hodge, it all circles back to how they practice.

“I don’t look at it as reserves or starters. I think that the second unit has really practiced at a very high level. You’re starting to see Braden take a nice little jump, Malachi, all these guys,” Willard said.

“And I think Chris has really helped them because I’ve had to keep switching Dev and teams, and there was just no consistency. I think right now, we have a lot of consistency in practice, and that’s helping us on the offensive and defensive ends.”

Although he’s played just eight minutes across two games since returning to health, Willard continued to credit Jeffrey’s presence for unlocking a new dimension to the team. Before his injury, Jeffrey averaged 10.6 minutes per game, a key presence for the understaffed Wildcats.

“The only person I’ve gotta get back into the rotation a little bit more is Chris Jeffrey, just because I think he’s been a difference maker in practice for us right now. He’s changed the level of how we’re practicing just because we have bodies,” Willard said. “I’ve just gotta get him back out there and get him a little bit more comfortable because he just gives us a different dimension at the guard spot, just defensively. But yeah, I’m pretty comfortable. I’ve got confidence in all these guys. They all put the work in, so I have confidence in them.”

Picking Their Poison

Willard also described his defensive game plan against Seton Hall: he was willing to give Philadelphia West Catholic alumnus Adam “Budd” Clark open looks if it meant that A.J. Staton McCray and Tajuan Simpkins, the Pirates’ most effective shooters from three, stayed quiet. Clark put up 18 points; the other two combined for just 15.

“I think the biggest thing for us, Jer, is the way we play pick-and-roll coverage. We’re okay with Budd shooting jumpers. Our whole game plan was to pretty much take away A.J. and Simpkins. I thought Simpkins, I thought he’s been a difference maker for them over the last two games, so for us, it’s you have to take away something,” Willard said.

“You know it’s gonna be a struggle to score, but we’re okay with Budd shooting twos and those guys not going off, because I think A.J. coming off those downscreens is really tough, and I think when Simpkins gets going down to his left hand, he creates, he puts a lot more pressure, gets fouled, gets to the free throw line… It also helps us stay at home and rebound [with Clark] taking jump shots. That’s where we’ve struggled a little bit, and I thought I was really proud in the first half. We only gave up two offensive rebounds.”

Despite the successful strategy and strong win, Willard remains focused.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do. February’s not a time to be satisfied… You should be looking at your team right now in February and saying, what do I need to improve? What do I need to fix, what do we have to do?” Willard said. “Like, I have to fix our offense a little bit. I’m not satisfied with anything.”