Second-half surge helps Villanova roll past Georgetown to set up a Saturday showdown with No. 2 UConn

The difference isn’t in the adjustments as much as it is the inherent advantage of where each team’s bench is during the first half, according to Villanova coach Kevin Willard.

Villanova runs its offense in the first half in front of Ed Cooley and Georgetown’s bench, and the Hoyas run their offense in front of Willard and his bench.

“I get to yell their plays out,“ Willard said after Villanova’s 66-51 victory over Georgetown on Wednesday. ”The coaches all know the plays. I’ve watched Georgetown play nine times now. You know when the center is out in the corner they’re going to run a boomerang. You know when [Malik] Mack’s on the block it’s going to be an iso.”

Villanova used a 16-1 surge in the first four minutes to blow open what was only a three-point halftime lead, and there has to be more to it than the orientation of the court. Save for a few games, Saturday’s loss to St. John’s being one of the outliers, Villanova has been a solid second-half team. It entered Wednesday night with a plus-4.1 margin over its opponents in the second half. That ranked 62nd nationally and fourth in the Big East. It is not amazing, but considering there are 365 Division I teams, it’s not nothing.

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There is, of course, more to it than Willard’s initial explanation.

Villanova watches a lot of film at halftime. Willard watches the offense to figure out what he wants to call in the second half, but the rest of the staff and team focus on the defensive end. There was a lot to like on that end from the first 20 minutes. It was an ugly opening frame that ended with the teams combining to shoot 15-for-56 (26.8%). Villanova’s offense looked clunky, but the Wildcats forced nine first-half turnovers from a Georgetown team that entered Wednesday on a five-game losing skid but was 15th nationally in turnover percentage.

There was less tactical messaging during the break, too.

“It’s just getting a very young team to understand, it’s all I talked about at halftime, this is Big East play,” Willard said. “They’re a really good, physical defensive team. It’s not going to be easy. We have to rebound and get out. That’s usually all the message is and just cleaning up what we’re struggling with defensively.”

Villanova allowed a 20-4 St. John’s start to the second half Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena, but Wednesday, against a lesser opponent that dropped to 1-7 in conference play, was a much different story. Georgetown turned it over four times in the first four minutes of the second half and Villanova finally got out in transition and found cleaner shots.

“That first stretch won us the game,” said Tyler Perkins, who led Villanova with 16 points.

The 16-1 spurt stretched to 29-8 midway through the second half to give Villanova its largest lead, 55-31. The defense that kept Villanova in the game during the first half carried over. The Wildcats held Georgetown’s Malik Mack, who averages 14 points, to five points on 1-for-14 shooting. The 51 points the Hoyas scored were the fewest by a Villanova opponent this season.

“I think we all knew we’d be better on offense in the second half,” said freshman point guard Acaden Lewis, who had 15 points and a season-high seven rebounds. “That’s kind of what happened. We stayed solid defensively and the offense came around late.”

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Bryce Lindsay, who hit a three-pointer from the edge of the mid-court logo in the second half, and Duke Brennan joined Perkins and Lewis in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. It was far from the cleanest offensive night from the Wildcats, who got just nine assists on their 24 makes, far below their season-long assist percentage of 53.7. But it was more than enough against a Georgetown team that Cooley said was “emotionally and physically frustrated” by Villanova in the second half.

“Villanova does what they do, they use a ball screen 118 times a game and they took advantage of that and made some shots,” Cooley said.

“This game is all about discipline. It’s all about connection. It’s all about emotional and mental toughness.”

One team had it Wednesday, the other didn’t. One team’s season is spiraling, the other’s continues Saturday afternoon in Hartford, where it gets another opportunity for a signature win.

The good part about this time of year, Willard said, is that he’s seen just about all of his league opponents on film. UConn, he said, has a lot of veteran talent and he loves watching freshman Braylon Mullins, who attempts nearly six three-pointers per game in 26 minutes and is “always hunting.”

Villanova ended Wednesday night rated 24th at KenPom and 33rd at Torvik, two of the primary college basketball metrics sites. It entered Wednesday 33rd in the NCAA’s NET rankings. The Wildcats are on a path to snapping their NCAA Tournament drought of three seasons. But what they don’t have yet is a marquee victory, due respect to Wisconsin and Seton Hall. Each major step up in competition has been met with much resistance.

“Every league game is important,” Lewis said when asked about Saturday. “It’s the same approach, same things we always do.”

If that’s not working early on, there’s always halftime.