Villanova's Jay Wright on tourney struggles: 'It's not going to define us'

For the second year in a row, Villanova entered the NCAA tournament as a top-two seed.

And for the second year in a row, Villanova failed to make the tournament's second weekend.

While many were quick to give NC State credit for a quality performance, there was also a faction of the college basketball world that took to attacking Villanova and head coach Jay Wright, whose struggles some see as a trend.

"I know we have to answer to the fact that we did not get to the second weekend again," Wright said, according to Dana O'Neil of ESPN. "We have to own that. But it's not going to define us within our program. It's going to define us outside our program, and we accept that. ... We failed here in this NCAA tournament, and we just gotta accept that, and we've got to own it and live with it. But it won’t define us."

Even while Wright tried to stay positive, his players felt the pain of another early exit.

"It stings, man, it stings," senior JayVaughn Pinkston said. "NC State just put a knife in our hearts."

The Villanova players weren't as dejected after the game as one might expect a No. 1 seed to be after a surprising upset. The team knew it didn't play its best and didn't deserve to advance.

"These guys have meant so much to me," senior Darrun Hilliard II said. "They're my brothers, my everything. I grew up an only child, and these guys have been my safe haven. Saved my life. Going out like this, it wasn't our day, man. It just wasn't our day."