The Villanova Wildcats need a Win

Happy Monday Nova Nation. You may have noticed a lack of Arizin towards the end of last week, and that’s due to me catching the flu and being knocked out for the past 5 days. The same could be said about the Wildcats. Despite a few hard fought games, Nova is now on a three game losing streak after playing the top teams in the Big East.

These last two were especially rough. First to lose a heart breaker at Hinkel on a buzzer beating shot, and then to have the Seton Hall win within reach. In a word, brutal.

There’s certainly areas for improvement and a few players that could be pointed to as having bad games or not stepping up. But I’m going to urge us all to keep a few things in mind. First, this is a young team. I really don’t like when people insist they’ve been playing long enough this season that youth shouldn’t be an issue. That completely ignores the main issue with youth: inconsistency. This will be a young team ALL SEASON, and sometimes they’re going to play inconsistently.

Second, this team could have been 2-0 this week. I know they’re not, and we don’t get to cling to what didn’t happen, but my point is that Villanova was in these games. Despite everything that went wrong, they were there up until the very end and now know what that’s like. This team is learning how to fight through these close games, and I believe we’re going to start seeing them come out on the winning side more often than not.

And lastly, the year is far from over. It’s very possible that in the selection committees eyes the Wildcats are still a Top 4 seed based on yesterday’s bracket reveal. Nova gets Marquette at the Pavilion next, and they’ll be playing hard for a number of reasons. They need the win to end the streak, they want revenge for the earlier loss at Marquette, and they’re still fighting for a Big East Championship. Marquette showed us all that nothing is over until the end last year, who knows what could happen.

Oh, and don’t be surprised if the team plays a little bit harder on Wednesday for another reason. Ryan Arcidiacono will be back in the house.

In other “news”.... I had the flu. We’re short on clips today, but should be back to normal tomorrow.

Seton Hall basketball ends 26-year drought at Villanova | APP
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Villanova receives a No. 3 seed in the preliminary bracket reveal for the NCAA Tournament | The Inquirer
The Wildcats were ranked 12th overall by the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee and placed in the West region in the reveal, which provides a preview of the selection process.

No. 12 Seton Hall Outlasts Wildcats 70-64 | Villanova University Athletics
Seton Hall knocked off Villanova Saturday before a sellout crowd at Wells Fargo Center