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LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Ryan Arcidiacono won it with a three-pointer with 10 seconds to go, and Arcidiacono making a big shot at the end of a game might be the only similarity between Villanova then and Villanova now.
It was Nov. 30, 2013, in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament at Atlantis Resort Arena in Paradise Island, the Bahamas.
Villanova beat Kansas, 63-59, that day, and on Saturday evening the two teams will meet again with slightly more at stake (see breakdown).
The Wildcats and Jayhawks meet at 8:49 p.m. at the KFC Yum! Center in the NCAA Tournament South Region title game.
“That was a grind-it-out, street-fight type of game,” Arcidiacono said. “It was not a very high-scoring game. I don't think either team had any rhythm offensively. It was a defensive battle. Guys all over the floor and just all over the place rebounding and taking charges and everything like that.
“The shot I hit was, I think, my only shot I made the whole game. We were fortunate enough to get the win and get a stop after that.”
Darrun Hilliard, now with the Pistons, led Villanova with 14 points, and Dylan Ennis added 14 off the bench.
The four current Wildcats who played in that game — Arcidiacono, Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Daniel Ochefu — combined to shoot 4 for 14 for 12 total points.
Kansas had Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid back then, but Perry Ellis, Wayne Selden Jr. and Frank Mason III, who played in that loss to Villanova, remain with the program.
“It was huge,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “It kind of made a statement to our guys that we were back. And Arch hitting that and us winning a championship — didn’t matter where it was — to the team kind of meant we’re back. We still had work to do, but we’re kind of on the right track.”
Villanova actually won the Battle 4 Atlantis a day later against Iowa, which means two of ‘Nova’s opponents in the Bahamas have also been its opponents in the NCAA Tournament.
Wright said he and his assistant coaches watched film of the Kansas game from two years ago, but he said there wasn’t much there that could help prepare for Saturday night in Louisville.
“We looked at it to see if there’s anything, but everybody was so much younger,” he said. “They had Embiid and Wiggins as freshmen, the guys on this (Kansas) team were freshmen. Our guys were freshmen. It was a bunch of young guys playing out there.
“Both these teams are a lot better. Both of us. The players are different, they’ve all gotten better. Which is pretty cool to see. We watched that thinking we would get something and we watched it and we were like, ‘Oh, we’ve come a long way.’
“They were young and we were bad. It wasn’t the prettiest game. It wasn’t a well-played game. It was November with a bunch of freshmen.”
Kansas coach Bill Self said he remembers it being an ugly game as well, but he said Villanova made it an ugly game with the way it defended what would become a 25-win Kansas team.
“’Nova kept us from playing with any rhythm at all,” he said. “I mean, Wiggs and Joel were freshmen and they had young guys playing too, but they out-scrapped us. And certainly their pressure and their press bothered us at times.
“But we had a one-point lead with out-of-bounds under Villanova's basket, and Ryan makes a three to win the game by two, if I'm not mistaken.
“So certainly not a good memory but one that I think that we certainly grew from.”
Arcidiacono was a sophomore back then and now he’s leading Villanova as a senior.
Self said he’s been a fan of the Neshaminy High School graduate since he first saw him play for the Wildcats.
“I think every team would love to have Ryan as their point guard or as one of their lead guards,” he said. “We would too. We'd love to have Ryan. I don't know if there's a college program in the country that wouldn't love to have him.
“He's a great leader. He's tough, probably as much as anything else. He does such a good job of playing at different speeds and getting guys off balance.
“He gets inside of people because he's so good with the ball, shot fakes or he's got great feet. But he's a winner. I think I heard Jay say that he can basically coach his team because he's heard his voice so many times and he knows exactly what Jay wants. And there's times that he can instead of being an extension of him, he can actually run things.
“I certainly think that Ryan is one of the best leaders and one of the best guards in the country.”
Wright has called Arcidiacono one of the greatest Wildcats ever, and either Saturday night or next weekend in Houston his brilliant career will come to an end.
Safe to say he’s going out at his best.
Arcidiacono has made 17 of 25 shots in the NCAA Tournament, 10 of 17 threes and has 12 assists, five steals and three turnovers in wins over UNC Asheville, Iowa and Miami.
His 51 points in the three games are his most in any three-game stretch since early in his freshman year, when he had 54 against NJIT, St. John’s and South Florida.
“I’ve always been proud of Arch, the way he’s represented Villanova basketball,” Wright said.
“He has taken it to another level because he’s just willing this team right now. I can’t say I’m surprised. It’s just kind of life with Arch. It’s pretty good.”