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NEW YORK — It was a two-point game way past when it was supposed to be a two-point game.
Villanova, the 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament South Region, led 15 seed UNC Asheville by just two points with four minutes left in the first half.
Asheville was making shots, forcing turnovers and keeping Villanova off balance in the NCAA first-round game at the Barclays Center.
Villanova’s plan?
“Just keep doing exactly what we were doing,” said junior Kris Jenkins.
Good plan.
Villanova closed the first half on a 12-4 run to open up a double-digit lead, then used a 19-2 run in the second half to race away from Asheville and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with an 86-56 win (see Instant Replay).
From the 2:30 mark of the first half to the 8:00 mark of the second half, Villanova outscored Asheville 47-19.
“They’re a very good team, very athletic, well-coached, very good defensive team as the numbers show,” sophomore Phil Booth said. “It was just a matter of us just being solid with what we do, being smart, just keep being solid.
“They had a real tough defense and they made it tough for us early. But we talked about just play our way, play our game, and then good things will happen. Just stay with it, and that’s what happened.”
Villanova advanced to the Round of 32, which has been a nightmare for the Wildcats, with losses in 2010, 2014 and 2015 as a 1 or 2 seed to opponents seeded 7 or worse.
The Wildcats will face Iowa on Sunday at 12:10 p.m. on CBS.
“We understood what was going on,” senior Ryan Arcidiacono said. “We just tried to keep grinding and keep playing Villanova basketball.
“There wasn't anything in particular, no crazy speech, but we just tried to go out there and just work on the little things. By doing that, we were able to be aggressive against their zone and make some shots and get some stops.”
It was still a four-point game when Villanova drilled four threes in the final 2½ minutes of the first half — one each by freshmen Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson and two by Arcidiacono, including one at the buzzer.
“We knew coming into this game that they were a great team playing their best basketball,” Jenkins said. “At the end of the first half we were able to create some separation and then keep it in the second half.”
Asheville is No. 1 in the country in three-point defense, but Villanova made 13 of 28 from the arc (46 percent), including 6 of 11 in the second half (55 percent). And 4 of 5 in the closing moments of the first half.
“Villanova cranked it up the last three minutes,” Asheville guard Dwayne Sutton said. “They started pressuring us and got some turnovers, which led to easy threes ... in the final minutes. That led to momentum going into halftime. They came out quick to hustle in the second half and just kind of threw us off.”
'Nova center Daniel Ochefu, finally healthy after battling a sprained ankle for two weeks, made seven of nine shots for 17 points and added 10 rebounds.
Arcidiacono added 14 points and four assists and was 4 for 6 from three; Jenkins and Bridges added 12 points each; and Brunson had 10 points, three assists and three boards.
Josh Hart (nine points, seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks, two steals) and Booth (seven points, two assists, two steals) were also big for the balanced Wildcats.
“That’s what makes our team really good,” Jenkins said. “You can’t just key on one guy or two guys. We have eight guys that can go off for however many points to help us win.
“This time of year, everybody can score. We just have to focus on defense and rebounding because that’s what’s going to separate us."
On Sunday, Villanova will try to avoid becoming the first team in NCAA Tournament history to lose three straight years as a 1 or 2 seed to opponents seeded seventh or lower.
“We're just excited to be able to get a win in the first round, and we're just excited to be able to play again,” Arcidiacono said. “I think any opportunity you get to play, especially with the guys that we have, we're looking forward to it and eager to get on the court and just play with each other on the floor.
“But I know the people have been asking the questions, and they're allowed to. They have every right to ask them, but it's definitely going to be a game we look forward to just because it's our next game.”
Villanova has lost six straight NCAA Tournament games to opponents seeded higher than 15.
They'll try again Sunday.
"We know what happened in the past," Jenkins said. "But we also know what we have to do, and if we don’t do those things, the same thing is going to happen again."
Wright instructed his players to deflect questions about the second-round losses of previous years.
But now it’s here. And so are the questions.
“All season, if we would have answered those questions and we lost this game today, we're idiots,” Wright said. “To talk about that and to know how hard it is to get there would really be unintelligent. And that's really what we told our guys during the year.
“We said, ‘Guys, it's the job of the media to ask that question. It's their job. We can't answer — and if we answer, we're idiots because we might not even get to the tournament. We might not get past the first round.’ So we can't do anything about that until we get there.
“I'm happy for them, how they've handled everything to get to this point. And now everyone's going to ask the question.
“We've got to go do it. That's the bottom line.”