On Friday, March 20, for the first time in four years the Villanova men’s basketball team will be making its return to the highly touted NCAA Tournament, starting with the round of 64 in Viejas Arena in San Diego, CA, where it is are set to take on the nine-seeded Utah State University Aggies (28-6, 15-5 Mountain West). The game will tip-off at 4:10 p.m. ET on TNT.
The two teams have only met one time prior to their matchup in the first round on Friday, that being in the 1960 NIT where the Aggies walked away with the first round win over Villanova, 73-72.
Following the regular season the Wildcats finished 24-8 overall and 15-5 in the Big East, helping them land the No. 8 seed in the west region. On Thursday, March 12, Villanova suffered a tough loss to Georgetown, 78-64, in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament. In that game, senior forward Duke Brennan led the way for the ‘Cats scoring 14 points and grabbing six boards, while junior guard Tyler Perkins narrowly trailed scoring 13 points and adding four rebounds.
The Wildcats are currently led by Perkins, who averages a team-high 13.7 points per game. Brennan leads the ‘Cats on the glass, averaging 10.5 rebounds per game. As a team, Villanova is shooting 45.7% from the field, and 35.3% from beyond the arc on the season.
The ‘Cats average 77.2 points per game as a team, and hold their opponents to 70.8 points a game.
As for the Aggies, they are coached by Jerrod Calhoun who is entering his second season as the head coach of Utah State. In his first season at the helm, Calhoun had one of the more impressive debut seasons in Aggie history where he led Utah State to a 26-8 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance. Through his first two seasons in Logan, UT, Calhoun is 54-14 (30-10 Mountain West).
This season he led Utah State to one of their best seasons in program history, where they won their third ever Mountain West Conference championship defeating San Diego State, 73-62.
In the championship game, senior guard M.J. Collins Jr. led the way for the Aggies, scoring 20 points and picking up three steals. He also shot 4-for-10 from beyond the arc. Junior guard Mason Falslev also contributed to the victory scoring 16 points and adding six assists.
Utah State’s leading scorer is Collins, who averages 17.6 points per game and shoots 49.1% from the field. Falslev just trails his backcourt sidekick, averaging 16.1 per game on 52% shooting. He also shoots 41.1% from three-point range, and leads the team in rebounds averaging 5.8 a game, making him one of the players the Wildcats should watch out for.
The Aggies are typically a small ball type of team, but have two players who stand out, those being freshman wing Adlan Elamin, and senior forward Zach Keller who will likely match up against Brennan in the game.
As a team, Utah State is shooting 49.8% from the field, and 35.8% from three this season. They average 82.5 points per game and hold their opponents to 70.3 points, making it a balanced matchup against Villanova.
If Villanova wants a chance to make it to the round of 32, they are going to need to shut down the Aggies backcourt duo, and hope that Perkins and star freshman Acaden Lewis can win the matchup of the guards, while Brennan holds down the paint.
If Villanova is to win, they will play the winner of No. 1 Arizona and No. 16 LIU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The date for the second round game is Sunday, March 22.
