VILLANOVA, Pa. — In recent years, the term “podium game” has become popular in the sports lexicon, especially during the NBA playoffs.
A player has a “podium game” when he has the performance of the night, so he’s the person the media most wants to speak to after the game.
If Josh Hart keeps this up, they’re going to going to name the podium in the media room at The Pavilion after him.
Hart was spectacular yet again Tuesday with 26 points, 18 of which came in the second half, as the top-ranked Wildcats stifled Big 5 rival Temple for 78-57 victory on the Main Line (see Instant Replay). Hart added three assists and didn’t turn the ball over in 34 minutes of action.
The win gave the defending champs their 17th straight victory, setting a new program record. It also gave the 'Cats their 18th consecutive Big 5 win, extending the impressive record they already hold.
The defending champs are now a perfect 11-0 to start their title defense.
But following Tuesday’s game, Hart again was the man of the hour, and rightfully so after he recovered from a slow start to bury any hope the overmatched Owls had.
After having just two points with a minute left in the first half, Hart exploded for 22 over the next nine-minute span as the ‘Cats extended what was a four-point lead to as many as 28.
All this after his sparkling, 37-point outing in the 74-66 win over Notre Dame this past Saturday.
“I don’t really think about it,” Hart said of his recent tear. “I just try to go and make the right play. Luckily my teammates were able to find me in the second half. I was able to make a couple shots.
“When I have Coach (Jay Wright) on me and my teammates are holding me accountable, I can focus on the right play and not focus on coming off a big game or not having to put up 25 or not having to do this or that. I can just try to have a clear mind about things.”
Hart wasn’t the only one who came out ice cold on Tuesday night. Both teams in general did. Temple shot just 6 for 24 (25 percent) in the first half and Villanova shot just 9 for 26 (34.6 percent).
The difference was the Wildcats got out of the shooting quicksand while the Owls never did.
After two Daniel Dingle free throws got Temple to within 20-16 with 2:51 left in the opening half, the 'Cats closed the half on a 9-0 run to head into the break up 29-16.
Of course Hart was in the middle of the game-changing run, as he had six of those nine points and capped it with a transition layup right before the buzzer sounded to end the half.
“I thought the end of that first half was big and we did it off our defense,” Wright said.
His team forced 18 Temple turnovers on the night, 12 of which came in the first half. Temple came into the contest averaging 11.2 turnovers per game.
“We got a couple steals and a couple turnovers there and got easy baskets. That all came off our defense," Wright said.
“That might have been our best defensive half, that first half. At the end of the first half, we made a couple plays that created scores for us. That’s having seniors.”
Whereas Villanova heated up and went 16 for 28 (57.1 percent) in the second half to finish the game at a 46.3 percent clip from the field, Temple never thawed out and shot 16 for 36 (44.4 percent) to finish the contest shooting at a 36.7 percent clip. Junior Obi Enecnhionyia, who entered the game as Temple’s leading scorer with 18.7 points per game, was held to eight points on 3 for 9 from the field. It was the first time all season Enechionyia scored in single digits.
After that run and once Tuesday’s edition of the Hart show took off, Fran Dunphy knew his Owls were in trouble.
“Hart was Josh Hart there,” Dunphy said of the crushing run after the loss that dropped his Owls to 7-4 on the season. “In the second half, those couple of threes he made were daggers for us. And we didn’t have a whole lot of opportunity to respond.”
When asked about Hart’s scorching run at the end of the first half and start of the second half, Wright said he didn’t even know it happened. And that’s the way both he and Hart like it.
“The beauty of that is I’m sure he didn’t know that. I didn’t know that,” Wright said. “He was just defending and getting good shots.
“I think the key is, and I think this is being a senior, he doesn’t lose his composure. There are a lot of guys who just had a 37-point game and you have two in the first half would just start panicking. He just keeps making the right play and letting it come to him with his defense. That’s what makes him a great player.”
Villanova seniors Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds will end their college careers with a perfect 16-0 record in Big 5 play. Over that stretch, the 'Cats have pummeled Big 5 competition by an average of 21 points per game.
“It’s an honor and definitely humbling,” Hart said. “We know the Big 5, with the tradition, we have great teams every year. So it’s something 10, 20, 30 years down the road that we’ll look back on and it’ll be pretty cool. But right now, there’s no time to celebrate. We have to get ready for our next game.”
Perhaps no one has spent more time around Big 5 basketball than Dunphy. He’s spent parts of five decades playing and coaching in the league.
“Jay’s done a wonderful job of putting it all together,” Dunphy said. “This is a pretty special group. Hart and Jenkins have done some unbelievable things as a twosome. They were really good last year. They were really good the year before. And they’re going to continue to be really good because I think they have a great leader at the helm.
“It’s hard to argue they’re not the best grouping of guys who have had the best four-year career.”
Added Wright: “We’ve had a good run here with a lot of really good players. It’s a lot of good players. That’s really what it is. It’s a lot of really good basketball players. And that’s what any top program has.
“We’re very fortunate to have had these guys on this run. Especially [Hart and Jenkins] and Darryl Reynolds. This senior class, they’ve been impactful since they were freshmen.”