Josh Hart didn’t make a basket until 7:58 left in the game. Kris Jenkins didn’t make a basket until 30 seconds later.
Villanova’s two superstars, one a National Player of the Year candidate, the other the buzzer-beating hero of the National Championship Game, were a combined 0 for 14 in the first 32 minutes of the Wildcats’ non-conference battle with No. 12 Virginia on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center.
They finished a combined 4 for 19 from the field, which you might assume means Villanova got killed.
But Villanova won, and that speaks volumes about two things: 1) The skill of sophomores Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges, who kept the Wildcats in the game until Hart and Jenkins finally got going, and 2) Hart's and Jenkins' ability to help in other ways when their shots aren’t falling.
We know the Wildcats can win when Hart and Jenkins are doing their thing. For them to beat a ranked team that had won five straight and built a 13-point second-half lead with Hart and Jenkins struggling badly is a very good sign for 'Nova.
“It’s something that great leaders do and I just was so proud of those two,” coach Jay Wright said.
“Virginia had an outstanding game plan. I’m not hiding it. Everybody knows watching Virginia what they do and they’re going to see what they did with Kris and Josh, and they forced those two to make plays for other people.
“And if you go after two great players like that and they can’t get their points, a lot of time they slip defensively or their leadership slips. Those two just brought their leadership to another level, their defense to another level. I’m so proud of them. It’s what our program’s been about for four years.”
Jenkins contributed five rebounds and a steal before burying back-to-back deep threes to help Villanova get back in the game, and Hart had four rebounds and two assists and made 6 of 8 foul shots for 12 points.
Both found ways to help even when the shots weren’t falling.
“At first I was frustrated, but I know I can’t focus on just scoring," Hart said. "I have to focus on different things, especially when we’re playing a great defensive team like Virginia that’s trying to stop you.
“I know a couple shots I kind of forced (when) I probably should have gotten into the lane. It’s a growing experience for me, but I can’t worry about making shots. This is just a prime example.”
Villanova shot just 4 for 22 in the first half before going 13 for 18 in the second half and winning, 61-59, on Donte DiVincenzo’s tip-in at the buzzer of Hart’s drive through the lane.
Bridges shot 6 for 9 for 15 points with five rebounds and Brunson was 3 for 4 plus 9 for 10 from the foul line with four assists.
Wright would never tell Hart or Jenkins to keep shooting. But he did tell them to take smarter shots.
“Coach told me just keep doing what we’re doing,” Hart said. “Just make sure we don’t force contested shots. I told the guys right before we got on the court, I said if we all play Villanova basketball for 20 minutes, if we all buy in and we’re one unit, we’re going to be in the game at the end. I can’t guarantee that we’re going to win it, I don’t think anyone can, but I said we’ll be in the game.
"And in the second half, we just played tough. I’m proud that we kept playing Villanova basketball even when our shots weren’t falling."
Jenkins, in particular, was going through a very tough stretch before he hit those two threes just 34 seconds apart that turned a 49-42 deficit with 7½ minutes to go into a one-point deficit half a minute later.
Before those two baskets, he had missed 13 consecutive threes going back to the 9:35 mark of the Providence game.
Did Wright consider letting him sit for a while? No way.
“The shooter has to do a lot of other things to remain in the game,” Wright said. “If he’s just a shooter and he’s missing shots but he’s not defending, he’s not rebounding and he’s not passing, you can’t keep him in the game.
“The beauty of Kris is that when he’s not making shots, he’s doing everything else, so you can keep him in there. You know eventually he’s going to get one, and with him, when he gets one, it’s going to come again.
“It really shows the team how committed he is. It brings us together because they know, ‘This is our guy and he’s playing his butt off and he finally got one and now we’re all fired up, now everybody’s on all cylinders.’
“And this building explodes when he makes those shots. That was big-time.”
With the win, Villanova avoided back-to-back losses for the first time since the last two games of the 2012-2013 season and improved to 21-2 overall. Still, Villanova fell to fourth in Monday's AP poll, behind Gonzaga, Baylor and Kansas (see rankings).
This isn’t the first time this year Hart and Jenkins have both struggled badly on the same day.
In the La Salle Big 5 game, they were a combined 12 for 31, but the Wildcats won by 10.
Against St. John’s two weeks ago, they were a combined 5 for 23, but the Wildcats won by 13.
“We never worry if Josh and Kris aren’t making shots,” Wright said. “We never worry.
“But if we’re in a game where they’re not and everybody else is kind of doing their thing, and then they get it going? It’s almost like the calvary came in. ‘OK, now we’ve got reinforcements.’ And I think that’s the way it was in that game.”