VILLANOVA, Pa. — They beat the No. 1 team in the country Saturday night without anybody scoring more than 13 points. Only twice all year has the same guy been their sole leading scorer two games in a row.
Josh Hart is Villanova's leading scorer this year. Kris Jenkins is their leading scorer over the past two months. Ryan Arcidiacono was their leading scorer in Louisville. Daniel Ochefu was their leading scorer in their NCAA opener.
All five starters are averaging between 9.8 and 15.4 points.
Welcome to Villanova, where there are no offensive superstars, nobody demanding the ball, nobody hogging the box score. Only unselfish team basketball players who have bought into a strict team-first system, where the good of the group outweighs the good of the individual.
“It’s definitely a brotherhood here,” Jenkins said. “We’re all brothers, we all love each other, we all depend on each other. So when a guy has success, you know how hard he worked for it because you see him every day and you’re with him every day, and it’s something special.
“Every one of us is happier for our teammates when they have a big game than we are for ourselves.”
Look at the Final Four.
Syracuse has Michael Gbinije averaging 17.6 points per game, North Carolina has Brice Johnson at 17.1, and Oklahoma has Buddy Hield at 25.4 points per game.
Villanova has nobody close. In fact, nobody at 'Nova has averaged 17 points per game since Maalik Wayns in 2012. Which happens to be Villanova’s worst season ever.
Darrun Hilliard is playing in the NBA right now as a rookie with the Pistons. He never averaged more than 14.6 points per game at Villanova.
But while Syracuse, North Carolina and Oklahoma each have somebody averaging at least 17 points per game, Villanova is the only Final Four team with seven guys averaging at least six points per game.
Hart is Villanova's leading scorer. He ranks 270th in Division I in points per game.
“There’s no egos on this team,” freshman Jalen Brunson said. “No one’s saying, ‘I want to get mine,’ no one’s like ‘I’ve got to get my stats.’ Everyone’s really out there playing for each other. The eight guys, the guys in the rotation, there’s no dropoff. Everyone that goes in or goes out has the same intensity on defense and in rebounding and that’s really what matters most.
“It’s really hard to defend a balanced team. Teams that have beaten us have done a great job of it. I think it really comes to us playing defense. Whoever scores, we’re just going to go with them, get them quality shots, and make plays.”
Hart is scoring 15.4 points per game, but since Jan. 13, Jenkins leads the Wildcats at 16.4 points per game.
But during the NCAA Tournament, Villanova’s leading scorer is Ryan Arcidiaono (15.2).
“We don’t need to rely on one person to make shots,” Hart said. “That’s what makes us so special. And we don’t care.
“Nobody cares where the points come from. All we care about is the guys in this locker room, and we genuinely love each other. That’s what this program’s built on. We’re so balanced and we love each other and that’s just how we are. We care about each other.”
All five starters have scored 20 points at least once, and Darryl Reynolds had a 19-point game. Mikal Bridges has a season-high of 13 points, but he might have been Villanova’s best player in the historic win over No. 1 Kansas on Saturday night.
“Just makes us so hard to guard,” Arcidiacono said. “We know how good Oklahoma is, and Buddy Hield can go for 40 at any given time. For us, anybody can go for 20 on any given night and I think our balance doesn’t let teams focus in on any one person. Because they have to play everyone the same.
“If they double down on Daniel, they have to fear one of our shooters, and if they want to deny us, then you have Daniel down in the paint.”
Coach Jay Wright has put together a group of guys who are genuinely unselfish, and it’s carried them to the Final Four.
Villanova, 33-5, faces Hield and Oklahoma on Saturday at NRG Stadium in Houston for a berth in the national championship game two days later against the Syracuse-North Carolina winner.
Wright said it hasn’t been easy trying to build a team full of unselfish guys because so many recruits want to be the guy. He won’t promise anybody he’s going to average 20 points or even 15 points per game.
He can promise they’ll be part of an unselfish team that can win a lot of games.
But it’s hard to find that guy.
“Really hard,” Wright said. “It really comes down to guys that are in situations where they’re used to playing with other good players or they’ve played under a really good coaches that really teach team basketball.
“Like Mikal Bridges, for example, played for Jim Nolan (at Great Valley), and he always played him off the ball, taught him how to use screens, taught him how to move without the ball, and he was his best player. Instead of just giving him the ball and letting him go.
“Daniel Ochefu played at Westtown for Seth Berger. Seth used him in the high post to pass, screen, used him in his press offense to handle the ball. Didn’t go to him all the time offensively. So Daniel learned how to play with other good players.
"Talk about Kris Jenkins. If you saw that Gonzaga (of Washington, D.C.) High School team, they run better plays than any NBA team. They’re unbelievable. So he knew how to play [around good players].
“We really look for those type of guys. The toughest guy is a guy like Arch, who played on a high school team that wasn’t overly talented and he had the ball all the time and had to do everything. It was tougher for him to adjust. It was more his character that allowed him to adjust. It’s really one of the biggest challenges we have.”
Jenkins has the ability to score 20 points per game — he’s actually averaged 19.1 over the last 12 — but he’s happier being part of a special team.
And he said Villanova’s balance is actually an effective recruiting tool. He tells recruits if they want to win and don’t care about individual accomplishments, this is the place to be.
Think about it: Villanova hasn't had anybody among the top 250 scorers in Division I over the last three years. Yet the Wildcats have the best record in Division I during that span at 95-13.
Only the right kind of kid wants to be part of such a unique culture.
“It’s the reason why guys come here, to be a part of a program that’s something that’s bigger than themselves,” Jenkins said.
“Everybody here sacrifices a lot and all for the betterment for the program and what we’re built on and what we stand for. To be a part of a program like that is special and it’s something we don’t take it for granted.”