NCAA Tournament 2017, Villanova vs Mount St. Mary’s: Highlights, score and recap

Highlights, score, and recap of the clash between Villanova and Mount St. Mary’s in the NCAA Tournament

Villanova has put together the most impressive post-national championship campaign in years. Despite losing its starting point guard and center from last year’s title-winning team, it posted a 31-3 campaign in 2016-17 that was good enough to earn it the tournament’s top overall seed. The Wildcats have done it on the strength of a NPOTY-worthy campaign by senior Josh Hart, as well as an excellent campaign from sophomore point guard Jalen Brunson and a quality senior campaign from last year’s national title hero, Kris Jenkins.

RELATED: Updated 2017 NCAA Tournament Bracket

Mount Saint Mary’s rumbled through the Northeast Conference Tournament to earn its bid, and took down New Orleans on a last second basket to win its First Four game in the Tournament. But it was always going to be hard for them to replicate the feat against Villanova.

They got pretty close for a 16-seed, though. The Mountaineers led for most of the first half against top-seeded Villanova, and went into the half at just a point deficit. Villanova owned the 2nd half, though, outscoring Mount Saint Mary’s by 19 in the 2nd half en route to a 76-56 victory.

Three Stars

Donte Divincenzo had a huge role off the bench in this game. The redshirt freshman scored 21 points on 9 of 15 shooting, and also added 13 rebounds, scoring a double-double in his first NCAA game. If Villanova’s 6th man can continue playing like this, the Wildcats will have an extra lift as they try to battle through the next rounds of the tournament.

Jalen Brunson was also smooth as the captain of the offense. He scored a cool 14 points on 11 shots, and attempted just one 3-pointer. He got to the rim at will, and added 3 assists to go along with his scoring. He was key to Villanova’s 2nd half run.

Miles Wilson was the best player for Mount St. Mary’s in this game. He scored 20 points, though it took 22 points to get there. His play in the first half helped lift the Mountaineers to the early lead, though they were unable to hold it against the talent of Villanova.

Highlights

https://twitter.com/marchmadness/status/842543824685666304

Next Game

Villanova will play the winner of the Wisconsin-Virginia Tech game, which tips off later tonight. Wisconsin will be the favorite, but Virginia Tech can always get hot from 3. The winner will meet Villanova on Saturday to compete for a spot in the Sweet 16.