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BUFFALO -- Another high seed, another dangerous opponent in the second round.
Villanova has sure been here before.
Before the Wildcats were national champions, they were a program that had tremendous difficulty getting past the second game of the NCAA Tournament.
Since 2010, teams seeded No. 1 or 2 are 113-23 in the NCAA Tournament when facing opponents seeded No. 7 or lower.
But four of those 23 losses belong to Villanova.
They lost as the No. 2 seed in 2010 to No. 10 St. Mary's in Providence, they lost as the No. 2 seed in 2014 here in Buffalo to No. 7 seed U. Conn -- the eventual national champion -- and they lost as the No. 1 seed in 2015 to No. 8 seed North Carolina State in Pittsburgh.
On Saturday afternoon, Villanova faces a Wisconsin team that has been ranked as high as No. 7 in the country this year, has reached the Sweet 16 three straight years, has three wins this year over ranked opponents and will present the Wildcats a size and depth challenge unlike anything they've seen this year.
Here we go again.
"Very dangerous," Josh Hart said Friday. "Very dangerous. The experience mixed with the talent mixed with the balance, it’s going to be tough. It’s going to be a challenge for us.
"(If) you’re playing a team and they’re heavy post game, you know what you can take away. Or if they live and die by the three-point line, you know how to play them. They’re just so balanced as far as shooting and getting into the lane, we know it’s going to be a challenge.
"But it’s the NCAA Tournament, every game is going to be a tough one, every team is going to be tough, so we just have to go out and play Villanova basketball for 40 minutes."
Villanova, 32-3, faces 26-9 Wisconsin at 2:40 p.m. Saturday at KeyBank Center, with the winner advancing to the East Regional semifinals at Madison Square Garden starting on Friday.
Villanova opened the NCAA Tournament with an ugly win over No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary, which led by as many as eight points early in the game and still led early in the second half.
“We cannot come out like we did last game," Hart said. "We know that. We have to go out there and play a lot better. We know if we play terrible, how we did last game and not play Villanova basketball, like in the first half, if we do that (Saturday), we’ll be in some trouble. We’ll be in a dogfight."
Wisconsin ranks 11th in Division 1 in scoring defense, 21st in rebound margin, 41st in field goal defense and 25th in fewest turnover per game.
Senior guard Bronson Koenig, who hit eight threes against Virginia Tech on Thursday, is among the national leaders in threes and 6-8 forwards Ethan Happ and Nigel Hayes average 13.8 and 13.6 points and 9.1 and 6.6 rebounds per game.
"They are a great 8 seed," Jay Wright said. "We just look at it like next game. We love playing great teams, we really do, and we look forward to it."
Wright said if Villanova plays a first half Saturday like it did on Thursday they'll have no chance to advance.
“You’re certainly not going to do that against Wisconsin," he said. "They’re going to grind you. If they get a lead, they’re going to grind you, and it’s not a team you want to get behind. …
"These guys really remind me of Butler. Bigger, stronger Butler. Which gives us trouble. Gives us trouble. It’s a tough matchup for us. Hopefully, we learned from the other games and we’ll be better."
Wisconsin lost to Kentucky by one point in the 2014 national semifinals, to Duke by five points in the national title game in 2015 and to Notre Dame in the Regional final last year, also by five points.
This is a veteran, experienced, NCAA-seasoned team.
"What I see in Villanova is a championship-program-type swagger, and I've seen it in our guys, too, just from the benefits of being in two Final Fours," Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said.
"They understand what it's about, and what you have to go through and also (have) that air of confidence that borders on arrogance. I mean, without being arrogant.
"You watch Villanova walk on the floor and they are very confident, led by Jalen Brunson, who has always been a championship-level guard. Even when he was back at Illinois in Stevenson High School, he had the air about him then.
"And Hart carries that same type of presence about him. You look at that and I've see it in our guys too. I think it's embedded in both programs."