Villanova is on a nine-game winning streak and now projected to win an outright Big East title for the fifth time in six seasons -- this after starting this season 8-3 with losses to Furman and Penn. It's quite a turnaround, obviously. And how the Wildcats are doing it, with the 3-ball, is especially impressive.
Here are Villanova's numbers from its past five games:
- 12-of-27 from 3 in a 90-78 win at Creighton
- 15-of-34 from 3 in an 85-75 win over Xavier
- 12-of-26 from 3 in an 80-72 win at Butler
- 17-of-42 from 3 in an 80-52 win over Seton Hall
- 15-of-35 from 3 in an 86-74 win at DePaul
Add it up, and the Wildcats are 71-of-164 from 3 in their past five games. They're shooting 43.3 percent from beyond the arc in this stretch and averaging 14.2 makes per contest. Incredible stuff. So Matt Norlander and I opened this episode of the Eye On College Basketball Podcast on the reigning national champs.
After that, the conversation went like this:
- 12:00: We previewed No. 9 North Carolina at No. 15 Louisville.
- 18:30: We previewed No. 7 Kentucky at Florida.
- 23:30: We previewed No. 16 Texas Tech at No. 11 Kansas
- 27:00: We previewed Indiana at No. 6 Michigan State
- 35:30: Did you know six of the past seven national champs have finished top-11 in both offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency? It's true. And, right now, three teams are meeting those standards. Can you name them?
The latest Eye on College Basketball podcast is below. Give it a listen. If you're not already subscribed, please subscribe via iTunes. And if you've already done that, thank you. #ShoutsToDevanDowney.
