Heading into KU game, Villanova’s three-point shooting remains dangerous
Villanova, the team that buried Kansas under an avalanche of three-point shots in the Final Four last season, has continued to fire away during the 2018-19 nonconference campaign.
The No. 17-ranked Wildcats (8-3), who meet No. 1-ranked KU (8-0) in an 11 a.m. tipoff on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse, have launched 30 or more threes in six of their 11 games. KU has taken no more than 23 threes in any game.
Jay Wright’s defending national champs — they hit 18 of 40 threes in a 95-79 victory over KU on March 31 in San Antonio — converted 14 of a season-high 44 three-point tries in a 76-68 overtime loss to Furman on Nov. 17. The Wildcats made 13 of 43 in a 70-58 win over St. Joseph’s on Dec. 8 and went 16 of 40 in a 77-58 win over Oklahoma State on Nov. 23.
“They will have five guys out there at all times to shoot threes,” KU coach Bill Self said.
His Jayhawks have had their national title hopes spoiled by the Wildcats two of the last three seasons. KU fell victim to uncanny outside shooting last season after holding Nova to 4-of-18 three-point shooting in a 64-59 Elite Eight loss to the Wildcats on March 26, 2016 in Louisville.
“Obviously you’ve got to defend the arc. If you shoot 30 threes and make 10, that means somebody else has to make 15 of 30 from two to tie you, which is hard to do against a good defensive team.
“I know you remember they shot and made a lot of threes against us last year. Against St. Joe’s they score 70 points and shot 43 threes — 43,” Self exclaimed. “What have we not done great so far is defend the arc as well as we can.”
Senior guard Phil Booth — he scored 10 points on 2-of-6 three-point shooting versus KU in the 2018 Final Four — leads the Wildcats with 26 three-point makes in 72 attempts for 36.1 percent.
Senior guard/forward Eric Paschall, who burned KU for 24 points (4 of 5 from three), has made 17 of 52 threes for 32.7 percent. That’s as many as senior newcomer Joe Cremo has made in 39 tries for 43.6 percent. Sophomore guard Collin Gillespie is 19 of 44 for 43.2 percent and freshman forward Saddiq Bey 12 of 35 for 34.3 percent.
As a team, the Wildcats have hit 111 of 324 threes for 34.3 percent. In comparison, KU has made 57 of 151 for 37.7 percent.
However, Lagerald Vick has been the main threat, making 29 of 52 for 55.8 percent. Everybody else is 28 of 99 for 29.8 percent.
“They shoot the ball really well,” KU junior forward Mitch Lightfoot said. “Make a bad close out they’ll get in the lane and throw the ball out which they did a lot against us in the Final Four last year.”
Booth, a 6-3 Baltimore native, leads the Wildcats with a 15.8 scoring average. Paschall, a 6-8 native of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., averages 14.5 points and 5.7 boards.
“He was the best of the best last year against us. He was 4 of 5 from three and dominated us on the glass,” Self said of Paschall, who had three offensive rebounds versus the Jayhawks. “He can post, but post from 15 feet and back his way down to get to the basket.”
Gillespie, a 6-3 native of Warminster, Pa., is the squad’s other double-digit scorer at 11.6 per game.
“They have nice pieces, long interchangeable parts,” Self said.
He is ready to see his team become a bit more dangerous from three, like Villanova.
“Look at Dedric … he is 2-for-13 on the year from three,” Self said of Dedric Lawson, who averages 19.1 points and 10.6 boards per game. “Charlie (Moore, 3.6 ppg) is 3-for-22. That is 5-for-35. Those guys are 35 to 40 percent three-point shooters,” Self added. “I think Dedric needs to shoot more threes if anything to space out the defense and give us little more of an arsenal offensively.”
Villanova, which started out 2-2 (losing to Michigan and Furman) before rattling off six straight victories, lost to Penn, 78-75, on Tuesday.
“Jay’s teams will always be tough, physical. Really the thing that would stick out most to me is they play ridiculously hard and play ridiculously tough and they’ve got good players,” Self said. “If you have those three things you are going to obviously have success. They are very disciplined both ends in the way they play (averaging 75.0 points and allowing 66.0; KU averages 81.8 points and allows 71.4).
“They are good and getting ready to be a lot better. They are just young like we are,” Self added. “Hopefully we’ll continue to get better and work toward that as well. It should be a fun atmosphere Saturday.”
KU’s student body, which could have made Lawrence a ghost town Saturday (final exams concluded on Friday with second semester classes not starting until Jan. 22), has elected to remain for the game, evidenced by dozens of student groups camping out all week at the fieldhouse.
Obviously the fans would like to see revenge on a Nova team that not only won two of the last three national titles but ended KU’s season twice in the process.
“You’ve got to kind of take it personal, but you’ve also got to understand it is just a game,” Lightfoot said. “Whether we’re playing an exhibition game or we’re playing Villanova, we prepare the same way. It has been a big part of our team being consistent, how we prepare. If we do that we can come out on top.”
He did concede that “it is a big game obviously. You go back four years ago when they beat us. They got us last year too. It’s a big game for a lot of people, our fans. It means a lot to them, also our players and coaches. They’ve got a good team. We’ve got to listen to scouting report like we do every game.”
KU will meet South Dakota at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse, then meet Arizona State a week from Saturday in Tempe, Ariz. After that the team breaks for the Christmas holiday before a Dec. 29 game against Eastern Michigan at Allen.
Nova ready for road challenge
Senior guard Booth said the Wildcats were looking forward to playing KU on the road.
“It’s great for the team to get a good road test like this,” he told Philly.com. “Michigan (73-46 loss) was a good test for us, we learned from that. Going to Kansas will be a big one for us but it’s just coming together for a good road game, something we want to do.”
Coming off loss
Villanova is coming off Tuesday’s 78-75 loss to Penn at the famed Palestra in Philadelphia.
“I thought Penn was a really good, tough team to prepare us for them,” Wright told Philly.com. “Now, (the Jayhawks) are a lot more athletic and bigger. But all these experiences for our young guys are what’s going to help us learn. You can tell them a lot of things as a coach, but nothing impacts them more than the experience.”
Wright called the KU’s Allen Fieldhouse, “Kind of like the Palestra on steroids.” The Palestra, often called the “Cathedral of College Basketball,” seats 8,722; Allen Fieldhouse 16,300.
