By PAUL GOTHAM
HOUSTON, TX. — Maybe it’s a case of “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
Villanova coach Jay Wright saw what his team needed to become, and it came in the shape and size of the Wildcats’ opponent.
“As soon as that game started, we could see that these guys are dialed in defensively, connected defensively, they share the ball offensively, and they have great shot selection,” Wright said when recalling then No. 9 Villanova fell to No. 9 Oklahoma on December 7th . “We were not good in any of those four areas at that time.”
Villanova (33-5) suffered their worst loss of the season, 78-55 at the hands of Oklahoma. The 23-point deficit nearly equals the combined total of the other four losses (26).
Villanova shot 20-of-63 from the floor including 4-of-32 behind the arc that night. Oklahoma hit 28-of-60 (46.7 percent) including 14-of-26 (53.8 percent).
The Wildcats enter Saturday’s Final Four meeting with that same Oklahoma team holding opponents to 63.6 points a game on 40.5 percent shooting from the floor and 33.7 percent from long range. In four NCAA Tournament wins, Villanova has held its opponents to an average of 63 points including 59 to No. 1-seed Kansas.
“Just had young guys,” Wright said of his team’s first loss of the season. “But we’ve always used that game and the respect for Oklahoma to keep trying to improve.”
Villanova lost 12 days later at then No. 8 Virginia, 86-75 before rattling off nine straight wins including their first seven in Big East play. The Wildcats held opponents to 60.7 points a game during that stretch.
“Even as we got better, we would say to ourselves, ‘Okay, this is working here, but they’re still a No. 3, 2 team in the country, and they’re getting better at it, too.’ We have to continue to get better in those areas.
“They were the team we wanted to be,” Wright said. “It was a great barometer for us all through the season.”
Oklahoma (29-7) won its first 12 games of the season, and it took triple overtime on the road to finally lose at then No. 1 Kansas. The Sooners have averaged 81 points a game in their four NCAA Tournament wins.
“They’re playing great,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said of Villanova. “They’re playing with tremendous confidence. They’re shooting the ball well. They’re playing with a swagger. Jay has done a fantastic job with them. Our guys know that. They’ve watched Villanova all year long, how much success they’ve had, how well they played.
“The first game, being familiar with each other from a personnel standpoint, very little carryover. They’re doing things differently. We’re doing things differently. It’s almost like we played them last year.”
Oklahoma and Villanova tip off at 6:09 p.m. Saturday.
“We had a lot of success during the season,” Wright said. “We won our league championship. But we were always looking at that game and saying, Okay, we won this league championship, but those guys are still out there. We’re not that good yet.
“In one sense I’d rather not play them because I know how good they are. But in another sense, it’s the perfect either ending for our season or next step because we’re going to see how much we’ve improved. Because that was the team that really got us, and we looked up to all year.”
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