Brookover: 'Delaware's Michael Jordan' delivers for 'Nova
The game had been over for a couple of minutes and the sideline review had finally confirmed the outcome. With his only field goal Sunday afternoon, the redshirt freshman known as the Michael Jordan of Delaware had lifted Villanova to a 61-59 victory over Virginia in an atmosphere that felt a lot more like late March than late January.
The game had been over for a couple of minutes and the sideline review had finally confirmed the outcome. With his only field goal Sunday afternoon, the redshirt freshman known as the Michael Jordan of Delaware had lifted Villanova to a 61-59 victory over Virginia in an atmosphere that felt a lot more like late March than late January.
Kris Jenkins, the guy who hit the most memorable last-second shot in Villanova history last April, lifted Donte DiVincenzo into his arms as the overflow crowd went bonkers.
DiVincenzo, a 6-foot-5 guard out of Salesianum High School in Wilmington, admitted he had never been part of something quite like that before.
"No," he said. "That was the best."
The crowd of 20,907 was the largest to ever witness a collegiate sporting event at the Wells Fargo Center and the opponent - the No. 12 team in the country coming off a rout of Notre Dame in South Bend - was formidable.
With Jenkins and leading scorer Josh Hart struggling to make shots, Villanova trailed almost the entire game. But with 11.5 seconds remaining, the Wildcats had the ball and a chance to win it coming out of a timeout. Point guard Jalen Brunson took the inbounds pass, left the ball for Hart, and the rest of the Wildcats players cleared the lane.
Hart went hard to the basket, but he could not finish the job.
DiVincenzo came flying in from the left wing, maneuvered his body around Virginia freshman Ty Jerome and tipped the ball in as time expired.
"It was cool," Hart said. "I had a little different view. I think I was on the ground. I saw the ball went off the rim and I was like, 'Wait a minute, I thought I missed it.' And then I saw everyone just running toward [DiVincenzo] and I started running toward him, too. I was so happy. It was just a great Villanova basketball game and a great Villanova basketball play by [DiVincenzo]."
Villanova, of course, has played in a lot of huge games in recent years and it plans on playing in some more when the NCAA tournament rolls around. It will probably fall from the No. 1 ranking after a fall-from-far-ahead loss at Marquette last week, but it's realistic to believe the Wildcats will be a top seed in some region come March.
It goes without saying that to make another deep run, the Wildcats will need Jenkins and Hart to shoot better than they have in recent games, but it's just as vital that the only two guys off the bench - DiVincenzo and redshirt sophomore forward Eric Paschall - contribute valuable minutes.
They both played 19 minutes against Virginia and combined for nine points and seven rebounds while taking just five shots.
DiVincenzo's only shot of the game was his game-winning tip-in.
"Eric and Donte are the key, because they can play," Wright said. "I'm looking at [the stat sheet] and they played 19 minutes and I've got to play them more. One of my weaknesses is when you get older in this program, it's like a blanket to a baby. I get so comfortable with [the more experienced players] and I stick with them."
The way DiVincenzo and Paschall played in the intense environment of Sunday's game should help them gain the coach's trust even more. Most important is the fact that they both seem to understand their roles right now.
"Me and Donte talk every day," Paschall said. "We talk about bringing energy in whatever way we can by playing defense and rebounding when we come off the bench."
That's a big adjustment for these guys. You don't become known as the Michael Jordan of Delaware, a nickname given to him in high school, by simply rebounding and playing great defense. There will be a lot of nights in future years when he leads the Wildcats in scoring.
Paschall averaged 15.9 points per game when he was named the Atlantic Ten rookie of the year as a freshman at Fordham two seasons ago. This year, his first on the court since transferring to Villanova, he is averaging just under seven points but also contributing nearly four rebounds per game.
"I don't really think about [scoring] any more," Paschall said. "I used to have a mentality as a scorer, but with coach Wright, defense and rebounding are so important that I've changed my whole mind-set."
A lot of nights the contributions from DiVincenzo and Paschall might appear small in the box score, but they are vital in the big picture of where the Wildcats hope to go again.
And on this late January afternoon, the Michael Jordan of Delaware also got to be the hero because his only field goal triggered a massive 'Nova Nation celebration.
@brookob