Mikal Bridges gets set to address reporters prior to Villanova's 57-40 win over Maryland on Friday night. Bridges' jersey was retired in a halftime ceremony. (Photo: Aaron Bracy)
Before their important 57-40 victory over Maryland on Friday, 21st-ranked Villanova’s players got a visit in the locker room from Wildcats great Mikal Bridges.
Bridges, in town for his jersey retirement ceremony after capturing two national titles in a storied career at Nova, is everything that Villanova basketball represents. He is a player who has gotten seemingly everything out of his talent through hard work, commitment and mastering details that seem foreign or inconsequential to others. Like other recent Wildcats who have gone on to professional basketball success, Bridges learned under the expert, Hall of Fame tutelage of Jay Wright.
With Wright’s absence from the sideline entering Year 2, the Wildcats have wobbled at times, like in their 76-72 defeat on Nov. 13 to Penn at the Palestra. (By the way, while national pundits will call this a “bad loss” come March, keen local observers understand the challenge any favorite faces in a Big 5 game at a packed Palestra.) On paper, though, Villanova looks like a team back on the ascension thanks to the program taking an unusual but necessary route in the NIL era of loading up with talented transfers.
And they sure looked like a team on the up against the Terps, stifling Maryland’s offense into just 12 made field goals. Most noticeably to me was the two young men under the baskets working furiously all night wiping the court with towels after Wildcats dived for loose balls like their lives depended on it. When you hear the cliche from players and coaches about “playing Villanova basketball,” those floor burns are it.
TJ Bamba and Tyler Burton drained consecutive 3-pointers to start the game and, after a dreadful night from the outside against the Quakers, the Wildcats found some early rhythm and confidence that sent them on the way to the convincing victory that might have Associated Press voters thinking twice about knocking them out of the Top 25 poll tomorrow.
So, how much of that victory was just playing better and how much was Bridges?
I asked coach Kyle Neptune afterward whether Bridges addressed the team and what his message was to the Wildcats. While there apparently wasn’t a formal address in the locker room, Bridges clearly had an impact on the outcome.
“We felt his presence,” Neptune said.
–Hell weekend: While the Wildcats were putting smiles back on folks on the Main Line, it was a hellish 24 hours for much of the rest of the Big 5 – and the impact will be felt at Villanova, as well.
On Friday night, Texas A&M-Commerce defeated St. Joe’s 57-54 at Hagan Arena; Columbia downed Temple 78-73 on Saturday afternoon; and hell weekend ended with Penn falling 83-80 in OT at Maryland-Eastern Shore in a finish that you had to see to believe.
First, let’s look at the Villanova impact. The Wildcats’ performance against Maryland should be a signal to AP Top 25 voters that this is a team worthy of its ranking. But the Penn loss is going to stick out more now, considering the Quakers lost to St. Joe’s, which lost to Texas A&M-Commerce and now Penn has lost to Maryland-Eastern Shore, which beat Temple, which lost to Columbia. Following? Good. Haha. To put it simply, in a bubble the Penn loss will hurt Villanova come March. The defeat got exponentially worse in a cruel 24 hours.
As for St. Joe’s, I honestly didn’t know there was a Division I team called Texas A&M-Commerce. Googling, I found that the program was a warm-up opponent for Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Kentucky, losing those three games by a combined 79 points. There have been many bumps in the road on Hawk Hill since Billy Lange took over for Phil Martelli, but Lange raised hopes after a solid run in the Atlantic 10 tourney last year and assembling talent this season that observers feel is equipped to be among the top tier in the A-10. Lange told reporters afterward about learning from the defeat, important lessons he said would have come even had they won, but the loss sapped much of the goodwill and hope the program had built among its supporters. (Don’t believe me? Check the replies to the final score on the program’s X account.) One loss doesn’t ruin a season, but this one sure will make an NCAA tournament at-large selection extremely difficult.
As for Temple, wins over Maryland-Eastern Shore (This is the most I’ve ever typed Maryland-Eastern Shore in my life!) Navy and Drexel brought some good feelings to first-year coach Adam Fisher’s program. Nice wins, for sure, but nothing that would make you think greatness on Broad Street at the moment. As much as I liked Aaron McKie, I really like the Fisher hiring and think he has a chance to do well at Temple. Not great optics, but really no biggie to me to drop a home game to Columbia at this point in the process for Fisher.
As for Penn, you had to see the finish to believe it. The Quakers trailed 80-74 with 23 seconds left in OT. Sam Brown, playing in his first collegiate game, hit a 3 with 15 seconds to play to pull Penn within three points. George Smith stole the ensuing inbounds pass and found Brown for an improbable, game-tying 3 with 8 seconds remaining. Maryland-Eastern Shore (that name again) drove down the court and, looking like a carbon copy of Kris Jenkins’ game-winner for Villanova in the 2016 NCAA title game, but on the other side of the court, hit an eventual game-winning 3 with 0.9 seconds to play. It was one of the more amazing finishes I’ve seen. This defeat, while disappointing certainly for the Quakers, is of greater consequence to Villanova. Penn has one way into the NCAA tournament, and that’s by winning the Ivy League – something, by the way, the Quakers look built to do.
Rankings (through games 11/19): There can be much argument and debate over what follows, and rightly so, but here’s how I’d rank the Big 5 at the moment:
1. Villanova (3-1)
2. La Salle (4-0)
3. St. Joe’s (3-1)
4. Penn (3-2)
5. Temple (3-1)
6. Drexel (2-2)
Big 5 leaders (through games 11/19):
Scoring Top 10
1. Hysier Miller, Temple, 20.0
2. Clark Slajchert, Penn, 18.8
3. Khalil Brantley, La Salle, 17.5
4. Sam Brown, Penn, 17.0
5. Justin Moore, Villanova, 16.0
6. Tyler Perkins, Penn, 15.2
T7. Jhamir Brickus, La Salle, 14.3
T7. Erik Reynolds II, St. Joe’s, 14.3
9. Jahlil White, Temple, 14.0
10. Amari Williams, Drexel, 13.8
Rebounding Top 10
1. Amari Williams, Drexel, 10.0
2. Tyler Burton, Villanova, 8.3
3. Jahlil White, Temple, 8.0
4. Tyler Perkins, Penn, 7.4
5. Eric Dixon, Villanova, 7.3
6. Nick Spinoso, Penn, 7.2
7. Christ Essandoko, St. Joe’s, 6.7
8. Sam Hofman, Temple, 6.3
9. Daeshon Shepherd, La Salle, 6.0
10. Steve Settle III, Temple, 5.5
Last week’s results/this week’s schedule:
Monday, Nov. 13
Penn 76, Villanova 72
Tuesday, Nov. 14
Saint Joseph’s 100, Stonehill 58
Temple 66, Drexel 64
La Salle 69, Bucknell 57
Friday, Nov. 17
Texas A&M-Commerce 57, Saint Joseph’s 54
Drexel 65, Fairfield 47
Villanova 57, Maryland 40
Saturday, Nov. 18
Columbia 78, Temple 73
La Salle 79, Southern Indiana 78
Maryland Eastern Shore 83, Penn 80, OT
Sunday, Nov. 19
2 pm, Queens (N.C.) at Drexel
Monday, Nov. 20
7 pm, Saint Joseph’s at Kentucky
Tuesday, Nov. 21
7 pm, La Salle at Duke
Wednesday, Nov. 22
2:30 pm, Villanova v. Texas Tech, Nassau, Bahamas
3:30 pm, Ole Miss at Temple
Thursday, Nov. 23
TBA, Villanova vs. TBA, Nassau, Bahamas
Friday, Nov. 24
4:30 pm, Lafayette at Penn
TBA, Villanova vs. TBA, Nassau, Bahamas
Saturday, Nov. 25
4:30 pm, Belmont at Penn
Sunday, Nov. 26
1 pm, Coppin State at La Salle
2 pm, Drexel at Old Dominion
2:30 pm, Monmouth at Penn