Amidst a day where much of the talk in sports surrounded Covid talk and postponements, which obviously isn’t fun, Friday gave us a solid slate of games. Villanova continued their struggles from beyond the perimeter, St. Bonaventure was blown out by Virginia Tech, while the rest of the night had some competitive games that came down to the wire. That means it’s time for the daily roundup from Friday’s action.
Villanova drops to 7-4 with blowout loss at Creighton
Coming into this game, Villanova was 7-3 but all their losses were against currently ranked Top-5 teams, so people just seemed to toss aside any issues Villanova seems to have, but this loss should be the first time when people take a look as a major reason for concern. The Wildcats offense struggled, they went 4-23 from three which is a major concern given they don’t exactly have any sort of inside offense. The Wildcats aren’t shooting it well, they don’t have a way to get any sort of easy baskets, and they don’t have any sort of bench. That trifecta was on full display as this team seemed to run out of gas once again with eight minutes left in the game, which led Creighton to finish the game on a 23-5 run. It’s high time we admit that this Villanova team is simply not the best team in the Big East and is not a team that belongs anywhere near any sort of Final Four talk. Jay Wright is a Hall of Famer, Collin Gillespie is a great player, but it is beyond time to keep believing this team can be at that level this season, especially when time after time, this group of six players has proven unable to win a game of any sort of magnitude.
Virginia Tech gets key win in blowout fashion
In a game between two teams who badly needed a quality win, only one of those teams showed it as the Virginia Tech Hokies won this game by 37 points. The game was never close, Virginia Tech led 13-0 at the start and never let the game get within 10, and even that would be disrespectful towards Virginia Tech. They led by 22 at the half and just poured it on in the second as well. Hunter Cattoor had a game-high of 21, Storm Murphy had 18, which is certainly a good sign for their backcourt. The Hokies have previously looked pretty uninspiring but getting a win like this will definitely help their case as being a Top-3 team in the ACC, as well as an NCAA Tournament level team. As for St. Bonaventure, I’m not going to say that their at-large hopes are completely dead, but I will note that they have certainly dug themselves into a nice little hole heading into Atlantic 10 play.
Richmond gets an impressive win against NC State
While Richmond certainly isn’t in a good spot at getting an at-large bid, given their early-season struggles against high-major programs, it was good to see them pull a game out for once. The Spiders pretty much led throughout, but still needed late baskets to put the game away, which Jacob Gilyard provided to them. Much like the Bonnies, Richmond’s at large chances aren’t dead yet, but they will have to get to winning basketball games fast, as they don’t have many more opportunities to take losses.
San Diego State gets win of season against Saint Mary’s
While not having played that quality of a schedule to this point, San Diego State still hadn’t been playing that well entering their game against Saint Mary’s, so this win felt like a must-win for San Diego State, and they played like it. While the first half was a possession-by-possession battle, the Aztecs took the lead early in the second half and held on late for a key 63-53 win. Trey Pulliam was the star of the night, while Matt Bradley had a typical 14 points, but the key was Adam Seiko, who had a key 12 points and made timely baskets. The jury is still out on San Diego State being a Tournament team, but they are in a much better position to be that than they were 24 hours ago.