Villanova uses Alabama to remind everyone why it's the favorite
Make no mistake about it: Alabama was not an easy out.
Just in the last week alone, the Crimson Tide recorded victories over three tournament teams: Texas A&M, Auburn, and Virginia Tech. Alabama boasts an impressive collection of lively athletes - headlined by a lottery pick in Collin Sexton - who play a tough and physical style of basketball under head coach Avery Johnson.
When faced with Villanova in the Round of 32, however, the Crimson Tide looked utterly helpless. Alabama managed to get Jalen Brunson into foul trouble early, but it evidently wasn't enough, as the Wildcats rolled to an 81-58 victory.
Alabama should have been a tough out, but Villanova dominated the game and showed why it is the favorite to win it all. The rest of the field has been put on notice.
Bench support
Villanova was in tough early on, especially after Brunson was sent to the bench at the 10-minute mark due to foul trouble.
For any other team, losing a Naismith award finalist for any amount of time would be a death knell. But the Wildcats happen to have one of the nation's most formidable scorers on their bench.
The Crimson Tide were held at an arm's distance thanks to super sub Donte DiVincenzo, who finished with 18 points and five assists. The 6-foot-5 gunner exploded for five 3-pointers off the bench in the first half to buoy the scoring.
Villanova primarily plays through Brunson and Mikal Bridges, but DiVicenzo's instant offense is often the straw that breaks the defense's back. It's not enough to stop two of the best scorers in college - there's also the sixth man to account for.
Long-range barrage
Villanova can overwhelm opponents in an instant with an avalanche of threes, as evidenced on Saturday.
It sank 17 threes to beat Alabama, which is pretty much par for the course. The Wildcats made more threes than anyone else in the nation this season, and their current tally of 419 triples ranks third in Division I history.
Threes kept them in the game in the first half, and threes helped them pull away in the second. It was just a five-point advantage at the half, but Bridges quickly put the game out of reach with a triplicate of threes, a dunk, and three freebies off a fouled jumper to stretch the lead to 19 after just six minutes.
The Wildcats shot 41 threes as compared to 22 twos, and they actually connected on a higher percentage from deep (41.5 percent) than when they stepped inside the arc (36.4 percent).
Their drive-and-kick offense forces the defense into an impossible choice of either conceding easy layups or collapsing and risking outside jumpers.
Composure under pressure
There are plenty of teams in the tournament with talent, but very few programs have the experience similar to Villanova.
This type of continuity is rare in modern day college basketball. You can draw direct parallels between the 2016 championship team and this one. Three holdovers in Brunson, Bridges, and DiVincenzo have grown from secondary role players into the stars of today's team, and head coach Jay Wright remains the mastermind behind it all.
Villanova plays with a steadiness and confidence that comes from having been through the battles. It's won it all, and it's flamed out in the second round. Nothing fazes the Wildcats anymore.