BROOKLYN– Villanova’s nationally ranked basketball team has not been able to go anywhere this season without being accompanied by the elephant in the room.

The second seeded Cats (30-5) have established themselves as an elite regular season program, winning three straight Big East regular season championships and becoming a fixture in the AP final Top 10. But, since 2009, when they advanced to the Final Four, they have a 1 or 2 seed five times and have yet to make it past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. The most recent early exit came last year in the Round of 32 when the Cats were a No. 1 and lost to eight-seeded North Carolina State in the Round of 32 at Pittsburgh.

Nova will get a chance to break through that glass ceiling again Sunday when the second seeded Cats play seventh seed Iowa in the second round of the tournament at the Barclays Center. “It’s been a big part of our season, it’s been a big part of our program,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “As soon as we lost to NC State last year, it became a big issue, even in the off season. And when we started this season, it was the first thing everybody talked about. So we had a talk with the team about and and just said, ‘Okay, this is just something we’re going to have to deal with.”
It is a game that will likely define the careers of Wright’s two beloved seniors– 6-11 center Daniel Ochefu and four year starting guard Ryan Arcidiacono.

“I just think it’s sports, and that’s the beauty of coaching college athletics is that you get to use these as life lessons. They’re either going to get by this weekend and be the winningest class in Villanova history and they’re going to the Sweet 16 or they’re not, and they’re going to be the winningest class in Villanova history and didn’t get past the second round.

“I don’t think they’re going to define themselves by this for the rest of their life, but I understand it, it might seem unfair, but that’s the way it is. You got a lot of benefits playing for Villanova. They’re going to use those the rest of their life. But this is all part of it, man.

“I heard Denzel Valentine from Michigan State saying after their loss to Middle Tennessee Friday, ‘This is something I’m going to carry with me the rest of my life.’ If you’re a big time athlete, you put yourself on the stage in the arena, that’s all part of it. That’s why you’re got to respect what these guys do.

The Cats warmed up for their moment of truth by rolling by UNC-Asheville, 86-57, in a first round game and unleashing Ochefu for 17 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes.

“Everyone’s been talking about this next game coming up for the whole year, even before we got in the tournament,” Ochefu said. “Going forward, we can’t think about the shortcomings in the past years. We have to focus on the things we can take care of that will help us get a W.”

Ochefu had been out of the starting lineup for the two previous two games in the Big East tournament with a sprained right ankle. He didn’t play more than 19 minutes in any of the Wildcats’ three games in the Garden.

Wright gave Ochefu three days off and the rest paid dividends. Ochefu was energized from the start against smaller Ashevile’s several defensive looks. The Wildcats dominated the Bulldogs, who didn’t a stasrt bigger than 6-5, outscoring them 36-26 in the paint.

“I was just trying to be aggressive, doing what my teammates expected me to do,” Ochefu said. “Their defensive plan was kind of tripping me up in the first half mentally and I was making some wrong decisions. So coach (Wright) got on me in the locker room, in the huddles and I responded and made the adjustment that we needed– kicking the ball out to shooters like Ryan, Josh (Hart) and guys cutting and scoring when I couldn’t.”

Nova will get a different against Iowa, a Big Ten team with physical front court size.

The Hawkeyes, once the No. 1 team in the country, got a put back from 7-0 center Adam Woodbury as time expired to beat Temple, 72-70, in the first round and prevent the rematch of a Philadelphia Big 5 game. Iowa led the game by double figures in the first half and had an eight point lead with under seven minutes to go, only to see the Owls storm and force overtime. The Hawkeyes got 23 points from 6-10 All America forward Jarrod Uthoff and 16 from dramatically improved small forward Peter Jok. Both players will have to shoot produce again against the Cats solid defense in the half court and not allow Nova to get out in transition.

“They’re tough,” Arcidiacono said. “They can really score the ball. They have great size and great length. Clearly, Uthoff can go off at any moment, same with Jok, and they have Woodbury on the inside. I don’t think we’ve seen anyone in particular that has the length they have and the scorers they have. I would think a couple years ago when we played Creihton and they had (Doug) McDermott and all those shooters, they were that good.

“So that’s the one team we were kinda thinking had the length, the shooters and the skill guys that they had.”

Wright and Iowa coach Fran McCaffrey both have Philadelphia roots and have been friends for a long time.

“I think Fran and I have been in this for a while,” Wright said. “We’re always going to run into our friends. People are asking us about playing Temple,’ all the Philadelphia people, and I was thinking in the back of my minds, it doesn;t get any better if we play Iowa. I think very highly of Fran.

“I don’t know if you guys in Iowa know this, but Fran’s kind of a basketball legend in Philly, White Magic, and in my era– he was a little bit older than me, just a couple of year– but he was a big time high school player and very well known among our generation. He coached at Lehigh. I played at Bucknell. I followed everything he’s done. He’s won everywhere he’s been, everywhere– Greensboro, Siena, Iowa. I think he’s one of the great coaches i the country, I really do.”