PHILADELPHIA—I know the sky almost seems like it’s falling for the Villanova faithful whenever the Cats lose a big nationally televised game these days.
But sometimes, the other team is just better.
Baylor’s defending national champions schooled the sixth-ranked Cats, 57-36, in Waco Sunday, completely shutting down Villanova’s normally offense along the way. The unbeaten 9-0 second ranked Bears, who deserve to be No. 1 in this week’s AP poll, limited Villanova to just 22.2 shooting and only 10 free throws. Baylor outrebounded the Cats 42-35 and forced 13 turnovers as they built a 25-15 lead at halftime.
This was Nova’s first game under 40 points since 1979 and the 36 points tied the fewest by a top 10 team in the shot clock era.
If the Bears ascend to the mountain top when the poll is released, it will be the third time since 2017 they have been ranked No. 1 and the 39th straight week they have been ranked in the Top 10, the ultimate tribute to coach Scott Drew, who rebuilt this program from the depths of a major scandal when he took over in 2003. At the time, Baylor was dealing with the murder of sophomore Patrick Dennehy by teammate Carlton Dotson and subsequent attempted cover up by former coach Dave Bliss.
The Bears are at a point now where they can be perennial Final Four contenders if they continue to recruit impact transfers.
Point guard James Akinjo, a transfer from Arizona who was the MVP of the Battle of Atlantis, led Baylor with 16 points while guard Adam Flagler added 10. Freshman Jeremy Socham, a seven- foot center with one and done ability, had nine points and 10 rebounds for the Bears (9-0), who have won 15 straight games.
“We’ve got a really good team. Everybody can score 1 through 5. But the separator is those stops,’’ Akinjo said. “We all take pride in our individual matchups. We compete against each other every day.’’
But this game was all about defense. Justin Moore was the only Villanova player in double figures with 15 points on 5 of 14 shooting. The Bears, who had to replace four starters including guards Davion Mitchell, Jared Butler, MaCeo Teague and 6-5 wing Mark Vital– held Villanova’s fifth year senior pre-season All American guard Collin Gillespie to just six points on two three- point field goals in the final 2:36 of the half and pointed out a glaring flaw in Jay Wright’s team—the lack of a true rim protector.
The Cats had one when they won it all in 2016 and again in 2018 but their biggest player this season is 6-8 sophomore Eric Dixon, who is still growing into his position. Villanova (7-3), which is playing the most challenging schedule of the Jay Wright era, is still the favorite to win the Big East, but their lack of size could come back to haunt them in a fluid league where Seton Hall, UConn, Creighton and Providence all have true centers.
“We’re a pretty good shooting team,’’ Wright said. “I really chalk up our missed shots to their defense. They did a good job being physical with us, getting up on us. Then we make the extra pass they’re recovering.’’
