Villanova continues to be dangerous beyond the arc after crushing Marquette

Villanova had little trouble defeating Marquette to advance to the Big East semifinals.

In a few days from now, the Villanova Wildcats will know if they were fortunate enough to earn a No. 1 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, although it’s safe to say Jay Wright‘s squad shouldn’t have any trouble when looking at how well the team has been playing as of late. But for now, Villanova is focused on winning the Big East tournament.

Thursday night’s 94-70 win over Marquette was just another example of how dangerous this Villanova team can be when they’re on top of their game from beyond the arc. Just like the team that won it all two years ago, the Wildcats have proven on numerous occasions this season how tough they can be to defeat when the shots from 3-point range are falling, and that was the case once again when facing the Eagles.

Not only did Villanova hit 15-of-29 shots from beyond the arc, but four of the five starters for the Wildcats ended up delivering at least three 3-pointers, with Eric Paschall being the odd man out (1-of-2). Keeping up with this pace may be difficult for the remainder of the Big East tournament, but if guys like Mikal Bridges (4-of-7 from 3-point range, finished with 25 points) and Jalen Brunson (3-of-6 from 3-point range, finished with 21 points) continue to play like they did against the Eagles, the Wildcats could be on their way to another tournament title.

However, Wright understands the importance of focusing on one game at a time, and instead of looking ahead to a potential championship game battle, his team needs to prepare for Friday’s game against Butler, who is coming off a close call after squeaking by Seton Hall 75-74. Not to mention, it was the Bulldogs who upset the Wildcats with a thrilling 101-93 win back in December, so another loss on Friday could end up impacting on what seed Villanova receives on Selection Sunday.

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Then again, if Villanova picks up right where they left off by continuing to shoot well from downtown like Thursday’s game against Marquette, Butler could be in for a long outing. For the sake of the Wildcats, let’s hope they use the second meeting with the Bulldogs from February, which resulted in a 86-75 win, as a strategy to avoid a potential upset on Friday night.