You can see the passing of the baton in this game. Villanova is an old, slow team that couldn't handle UConn's athleticism. Diarra and the press changed the game. FYI: the average age of the Villanova points scored was 22 years old! Uconn average aged points scored was just over 20 years. Villanova has no recruiting class coming in, will lose Daniels, Slater, Moore and Whitmore. No idea if Dixon comes back, he probably will.
They had a week to prepare for what is perhaps one of two chances the rest of the year to get a true statement win (right now Villanova is not even a bubble team), did a lot of things right, saw Uconn shoot poorly, and yet never were ever really in the game in the second half. Dixon played great but got tired, as is expected.
Whitmore has to be asking himself why he decided to go to Villanova. He gets to hang out with a bunch of 22 year olds who play back to the basket and at a mind-numbingly slow pace. It was a bad decision for him and he looks miserable.
Uconn is better with Clingan on the court. As he gets more time, he will play more and Uconn will be better for it. Loved Hurley going to press, it was obvious they needed to speed up the game and not get lulled into the muck. Diarra was great, Karaban was great.Hawk was great in first half, but forced a lot in 2H. Sanogo really struggled but the pass to Jackson forced them to defend him different and he was able to get a couple of key looks later.
Good win, learned something about themselves this game. FT shooting was generally great, which will be key. At Xavier will be a tougher game on paper, they move the ball well on O, but not sure they match up well with UConn.