Those Villanova players on the Knicks? One March day, WVU gave them fits

As I’ve pointed out in the past, watching the NBA has been fun this season for WVU basketball fans. Former guard Joe Mazzulla is now coaching the Boston Celtics. Former guard Mike Gansey is the GM of the Cleveland Cavaliers. And those teams are clashing in the playoffs.
Jevon Carter plays for the Chicago Bulls. And, of course, Miles “Deuce” McBride is kicking tail with the New York Knicks, who are deadlocked with the Indiana Pacers at 2-2 as I write this.
It’s been fun watching McBride blossom. But the bigger story league-wide has been the trio of Villanova stars that have led New York to success: Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo are one of only two trios to win an NCAA championship (2016) and NBA playoffs series. (Cliff Barker, Ralph Beard, Alex Groza, Joe Holland and Wah Wah Jones, who won national titles at Kentucky in 1948 and 1949 before the Indianapolis Olympians in 1950 – surely you remember that – were the others.)
Anyway, remember that Villanova also won a national title in 2018 with Brunson and DiVincenzo playing – and no one played better against the Wildcats in that championship run than WVU in the Sweet Sixteen.
I remember it vividly. Because I was covering WVU at the time. I was there at the TD Garden, where the Celtics play their home games.
Early in the tournament, Villanova blew out Radford by 87-61 and Alabama 81-58. In the Final Four, the Wildcats blew out Kansas 95-79 and Michigan 79-62.
Only two Big 12 teams – West Virginia and Texas Tech in the Elite Eight – kept the scores to within 12.
Believe me, looking back, that was impressive.
Brunson led a barrage of 3’s for Villanova and had 27 points. (He’s doing the same against NBA competition.) DiVincenzo was COMING OFF THE BENCH to score seven points.
Hart played on the 2016 team but was not on that 2018 squad. But Brooklyn Nets star Mikal Bridges was a Villanova starter against WVU and had 16 points.
How good is Bridges these days? Folks in New York are clamoring for a trade to the Knicks and giving up Jerico Sims and Bojan Bogdanovic and draft picks.
“It’s like that SpongeBob meme when Squidward is looking out the window and he sees SpongeBob and Patrick having fun,” Hart told Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. “Mikal is Squidward.”
Yet the fifth-seeded “Press Virginia” gave Villanova all that and more on March 23, 2018, forcing the Wildcats into 16 turnovers.
Daxter Miles led WVU with 16 points, while Carter and Sagaba Konate had 12 each.
“What a game, man. I hope that looked as good as it did from the bench, man,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said afterward. “That was the most physically demanding, mentally draining 40 minutes we’ve played in a long time. They are so relentless.”
As was the case many times, though, foul trouble hurt WVU. Carter was called for his third with 17:33 left in the game and then Miles was hit with his third and fourth over a two-minute span that set him down with 15 minutes remaining.
“When the whistle keeps blowing it really takes away your aggression,” said former WVU coach Bob Huggins.
Final: 90-78. Nonetheless, it was a great run for WVU. The Mountaineers finished 26-11. The senior class made the Sweet Sixteen three of four seasons. Mountaineer memories were made.
And the New York Knicks remind us of one tough battle every time they play.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.