2015–16 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

2015–16 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball

NCAA Tournament National champions Big East regular season champions NIT Season Tip-Off champions
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 6
2015–16 record	35–5 (16–2 Big East)
Head coach	Jay Wright (15th year)
Assistant coach	Baker Dunleavy
Assistant coach	Ashley Howard
Assistant coach	Kyle Neptune
Home arena	The Pavilion Wells Fargo Center

2015–16 Big East men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
#6 Villanova	16	–	2	.889	35	–	5	.875
#9 Xavier	14	–	4	.778	28	–	5	.848
#20 Seton Hall †	12	–	6	.667	25	–	9	.735
Providence	10	–	8	.556	24	–	11	.686
Butler	10	–	8	.556	22	–	11	.667
Creighton	9	–	9	.500	20	–	15	.571
Marquette	8	–	10	.444	20	–	13	.606
Georgetown	7	–	11	.389	15	–	18	.455
DePaul	3	–	15	.167	9	–	22	.290
St. John's	1	–	17	.056	8	–	24	.250

† 2016 Big East Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 2015–16 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by the school's 8th head coach Jay Wright in his 15th year, the Wildcats were members of the Big East Conference and played most of their home games at The Pavilion, with some select home games at the Wells Fargo Center. The Wildcats finished the season with a record of 35–5, 16–2 to win the Big East regular season. They lost in the championship of the Big East Tournament to Seton Hall. The Wildcats earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed. In the Tournament, they defeated UNC Asheville, Iowa, Miami, and overall #1 seed Kansas to earn a trip to the Final Four, the fifth in school history (although the 1971 Final Four season was vacated by the NCAA). In the Final Four, the Wildcats routed No. 2 seed Oklahoma by the largest margin in Final Four history to face No. 1 seeded North Carolina for the National Championship. Led by Final Four MOP, Ryan Arcidiacono, the Wildcats won the National Championship on a three-point shot by Kris Jenkins, assisted by Arcidiacano, as time expired. The Wildcats won the school's second national title, having previously won the 1985 NCAA Tournament.

Their 35 wins were the most in school history, breaking a record of 33 wins set the previous season. In beating No. 3 seed Miami (AP No. 10), No. 1 seed Kansas (AP No. 1), No. 2 seed Oklahoma (AP No. 7) and No. 1 seed UNC (AP No. 3), Villanova became the first school in 31 years — since the 1985 Villanova Wildcats — to not only beat four top-three seeds on the way to a national title but to also beat four straight opponents ranked in the AP top 10, in addition to beating AP ranked Iowa in the Round of 32, by an average victory margin of 19 points per game. Villanova's run included two of the ten most offensively efficient games in the analytics era (2002–present), beating Miami and Oklahoma by scoring 1.56 and 1.51 points per possession in the Sweet Sixteen and Final Four, respectively.^[1] It has been called perhaps the most dominant tournament championship run of all time, and the most dominant of the analytics era by a wide margin. ^[2]

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2014–15 season 33–3, 16–2 in Big East play to win the Big East regular season championship. They defeated Marquette, Providence, and Xavier to become champions of the Big East Tournament. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as a No.1 seed where they defeated Lafayette in the Second Round before losing in the Third Round to NC State.

With their 31st win of the season, a 63–61 win over Providence in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament, the Wildcats set a single season record for wins, which would eventually finish at 33.

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Hilliard, DarrunDarrun Hilliard	4	G	6'6"	215	Senior	Bethlehem, PA	Graduated/2015 NBA Draft
Ennis, DylanDylan Ennis	52	G	6'2"	192	Junior	Brampton, Ontario	Graduated/Transferred to Oregon
Pinkston, JayVaughnJayVaughn Pinkston	22	F	6'7"	235	RS Senior	Brooklyn, NY	Graduated

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Eric Paschall	4	F	6'6"	205	Sophomore	Dobbs Ferry, NY	Transferred from Fordham. Under NCAA transfer rules, Paschall had to sit out the 2015–16 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.

Incoming recruits

Jalen Brunson at the 2015 McDonald's All-American Boys Game

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jalen Brunson PG	Lincolnshire, IL	Adlai E. Stevenson High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sep 10, 2014
Jalen Brunson PG	Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 90
Tim Delaney PF	Mullica Hill, NJ	Pitman High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jun 9, 2014
Tim Delaney PF	Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 80
Donte DiVincenzo SG	Wilmington, DE	Salesianum School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jan 3, 2014
Donte DiVincenzo SG	Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 80
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2015-06-01.

2016-17 recruiting class

2016 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Omari Spellman PF	Malvern, PA	The MacDuffie School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	272 lb (123 kg)	Feb 20, 2015
Omari Spellman PF	Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 83
Dylan Painter C	Hershey, PA	The MacDuffie School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sep 16, 2015
Dylan Painter C	Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 78
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2015-06-01.

Roster

2015–16 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Home town
1.5 !G	0	Lowe, HenryHenry Lowe (W)	71 !5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	4.0 !Sr	New York, New York
1.5 !G	1	Brunson, JalenJalen Brunson	74 !6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	199 lb (90 kg)	1.0 !Fr	Lincolnshire, Illinois
3.5 !F	2	Paschall, EricEric Paschall	78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	3.0 !Jr	Dobbs Ferry, New York
1.5 !G	3	Hart, JoshJosh Hart	77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	3.0 !Jr	Washington, D.C.
3.5 !F	4	Jenkins, KrisKris Jenkins	79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	2.0 !So	Upper Marlboro, Maryland
1.5 !G	5	Booth, PhilPhil Booth	75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2.0 !So	Baltimore, Maryland
1.5 !G	10	DiVincenzo, DonteDonte DiVincenzo	77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1.0 !Fr	Wilmington, Delaware
1.5 !G	15	Arcidiacono, RyanRyan Arcidiacono	75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	4.0 !Sr	Langhorne, Pennsylvania
3.5 !F	20	Farrell, PatrickPatrick Farrell (W)	77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	4.0 !Sr	Rockville Centre, New York
3.5 !F	23	Ochefu, DanielDaniel Ochefu	83 !6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	4.0 !Sr	Lagos, Nigeria
2.5 !G/F	25	Bridges, MikalMikal Bridges	79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	191 lb (87 kg)	1.5 !RS Fr	Malvern, Pennsylvania
3.5 !F	34	Delaney, TimTim Delaney	81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1.0 !Fr	Mullica Hill, New Jersey
3.5 !F	45	Reynolds, DarrylDarryl Reynolds	80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	3.0 !Jr	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
3.5 !F	52	Rafferty, KevinKevin Rafferty	80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	4.0 !Sr	Malvern, Pennsylvania

Head coach

Jay Wright (Bucknell)

Assistant coach(es)

Baker Dunleavy (Villanova)
Ashley Howard (Drexel)
Kyle Neptune (Lehigh)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Exhibition
Nov 8, 2015* 12:00 pm	No. 11	Pace	W 80–45		Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, PA
Regular season
Nov 13, 2015* 7:00 pm, FS2	No. 11	Fairleigh Dickinson	W 91–54^[3]	1–0	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Nov 17, 2015* 8:30 pm, FS1	No. 11	Nebraska Gavitt Tipoff Games	W 87–63	2–0	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Nov 20, 2015* 7:00 pm, FS2	No. 11	East Tennessee State NIT Season Tip-Off	W 86–51	3–0	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Nov 22, 2015* 4:30 pm, FS1	No. 11	Akron NIT Season Tip-Off	W 75–56	4–0	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Nov 26, 2015* 4:30 pm, ESPN2	No. 8	vs. Stanford NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals	W 59–45	5–0	Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY
Nov 27, 2015* 3:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 8	vs. Georgia Tech NIT Season Tip-Off championship	W 69–52	6–0	Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY
Dec 1, 2015* 7:00 pm, CBSSN	No. 8	at Saint Joseph's Philadelphia Big 5/Holy War	W 86–72	7–0	Hagan Arena (4,200) Philadelphia, PA
Dec 7, 2015* 7:00 pm, FS1	No. 9	vs. No. 7 Oklahoma Pearl Harbor Classic	L 55–78	7–1	Bloch Arena (4,024) Honolulu, HI
Dec 13, 2015* 5:00 pm, FS1	No. 9	La Salle Philadelphia Big 5	W 76–47	8–1	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Dec 19, 2015* 12:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 12	at No. 8 Virginia	L 75–86	8–2	John Paul Jones Arena (14,593) Charlottesville, VA
Dec 22, 2015* 7:00 pm, FS1	No. 17	Delaware	W 78–48	9–2	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Dec 28, 2015* 7:00 pm, FS1	No. 16	Penn Philadelphia Big 5	W 77–57	10–2	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Dec 31, 2015 12:00 pm, FS1	No. 16	No. 6 Xavier	W 95–64	11–2 (1–0)	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Jan 2, 2016 10 pm, FS1	No. 16	at Creighton Big East New Year's Marathon	W 85–71	12–2 (2–0)	CenturyLink Center (17,375) Omaha, NE
Jan 6, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1	No. 11	Seton Hall	W 72–63	13–2 (3–0)	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Jan 10, 2016 7:30 pm, FS1	No. 11	at No. 18 Butler	W 60–55	14–2 (4–0)	Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,144) Indianapolis, IN
Jan 13, 2016 8:30 pm, FS1	No. 6	Marquette	W 83–68	15–2 (5–0)	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Jan 16, 2016 1:00 pm, CBS	No. 6	at Georgetown	W 55–50	16–2 (6–0)	Verizon Center (15,535) Washington, D.C.
Jan 20, 2016 9:00 pm, CBSSN	No. 4	at Seton Hall	W 72–71	17–2 (7–0)	Prudential Center (8,788) Newark, NJ
Jan 23, 2016 12:00 pm, FOX	No. 4	No. 16 Providence	L 76–82 ^OT	17–3 (7–1)	Wells Fargo Center (7,191) Philadelphia, PA
Jan 31, 2016 12:00 pm, FOX	No. 6	at St. John's	W 68–53	18–3 (8–1)	Madison Square Garden (12,713) New York, NY
Feb 3, 2016 8:00 pm, CBSSN	No. 3	Creighton	W 83–58	19–3 (9–1)	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Feb 6, 2016 2:30 pm, FS1	No. 3	at No. 11 Providence	W 72–60	20–3 (10–1)	Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,883) Providence, RI
Feb 9, 2016 8:30 pm, FS1	No. 1	at DePaul	W 86–59	21–3 (11–1)	Allstate Arena (6,393) Rosemont, IL
Feb 13, 2016 8:00 pm, CBSSN	No. 1	St. John's	W 73–63	22–3 (12–1)	Wells Fargo Center (18,052) Philadelphia, PA
Feb 17, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 1	at Temple Philadelphia Big 5	W 83–67	23–3	Liacouras Center (10,472) Philadelphia, PA
Feb 20, 2016 2:30 pm, FOX	No. 1	Butler	W 77–67	24–3 (13–1)	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Feb 24, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1	No. 1	at No. 5 Xavier	L 83–90	24–4 (13–2)	Cintas Center (10,727) Cincinnati, OH
Feb 27, 2016 2:00 pm, FOX	No. 1	at Marquette	W 89–79	25–4 (14–2)	BMO Harris Bradley Center (19,043) Milwaukee, WI
Mar 1, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1	No. 3	DePaul	W 83–62	26–4 (15–2)	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Mar 5, 2016 12:07 pm, FOX	No. 3	Georgetown	W 84–71	27–4 (16–2)	Wells Fargo Center (20,173) Philadelphia, PA
Big East Tournament
Mar 10, 2016 12:00 noon, FS1	(1) No. 3	vs. (8) Georgetown Quarterfinals	W 81–67	28–4	Madison Square Garden (14,863) New York, NY
Mar 11, 2016 6:30 pm, FS1	(1) No. 3	vs. (4) Providence Semifinals	W 76–68	29–4	Madison Square Garden (17,130) New York, NY
Mar 12, 2016 5:30 pm, FOX	(1) No. 3	vs. (3) Seton Hall Championship game	L 67–69	29–5	Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY
NCAA Tournament
Mar 18, 2016* 12:40 pm, TruTV	(2 S) No. 6	vs. (15 S) UNC Asheville First round	W 86–56	30–5	Barclays Center (17,333) Brooklyn, NY
Mar 20, 2016* 12:10 pm, CBS	(2 S) No. 6	vs. (7 S) No. 25 Iowa Second round	W 87–68	31–5	Barclays Center (17,401) Brooklyn, NY
Mar 24, 2016* 7:10 pm, CBS	(2 S) No. 6	vs. (3 S) No. 10 Miami (FL) Sweet Sixteen	W 92–69	32–5	KFC Yum! Center (19,399) Louisville, KY
Mar 26, 2016* 8:49 pm, CBS	(2 S) No. 6	vs. (1 S) No. 1 Kansas Elite Eight	W 64–59	33–5	KFC Yum! Center (19,422) Louisville, KY
Apr 2, 2016* 6:09 pm, TBS	(2 S) No. 6	vs. (2 W) No. 7 Oklahoma Final Four	W 95–51	34–5	NRG Stadium (75,505) Houston, TX
Apr 4, 2016* 9:19 pm, TBS	(2 S) No. 6	vs. (1 E) No. 3 North Carolina National Championship	W 77–74	35–5	NRG Stadium (74,340) Houston, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South Region. All times are in Eastern Time. W=West Region E=East Region.

Local Radio

Station	Play–by–play	Color analyst	Studio host
WTEL–AM 610 and Villanova IMG Sports Network	Ryan Fannon	Whitey Rigsby	Joe Weil

Rankings

On February 8, the 2015–16 Wildcats became the first Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team to reach number one in the AP Poll by climbing to the top of the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings.^[4]^[5]

Ranking movement
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes.
Poll	Pre	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Wk 17	Wk 18	Post	Final
AP	11	11	8	8	9	12	17	16	11	6	4	6	3	1	1	1	3	3	6	N/A
Coaches	9	T8	9	7	6	13	17	16	13	7	4	6	4	1	1	1	2	2	6	1

References

↑ Gasaway, John. "Best Offensive Performances". ESPN.
↑ Winn, Luke. "The Five Most Dominant Tournament Runs of the Analyics Era". SI.com.
↑ "No. 11 Villanova beats Fairleigh Dickinson 91-54". ESPN.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
↑ O'Connell, Jim (2016-02-08). "College basketball rankings: Villanova earns program's first AP No. 1 ranking". NCAA.com. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Associated Press. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
↑ Beaton, Andrew (2016-02-08). "Villanova Ranked No. 1 for First Time in AP Poll". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2016-02-09.

Villanova Wildcats Men's Basketball 2015–16 NCAA Champions

1 Jalen Brunson 2 Kris Jenkins 3 Josh Hart 5 Phil Booth 15 Ryan Arcidiacono (MOP) 23 Daniel Ochefu 25 Mikal Bridges Head coach Jay Wright

Villanova Wildcats men's basketball

Venues	Jake Nevin Field House (1932–1986) The Pavilion (1986–present) Wells Fargo Center (alternate; 1996–present)

Rivalries	Saint Joseph's

Culture & lore	Will D. Cat City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 (Robert V. Geasey Trophy) "V for Villanova"

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

NCAA Division I Men's Basketball champions

1939: Oregon
1940: Indiana
1941: Wisconsin
1942: Stanford
1943: Wyoming
1944: Utah
1945: Oklahoma A&M
1946: Oklahoma A&M
1947: Holy Cross
1948: Kentucky
1949: Kentucky
1950: CCNY
1951: Kentucky
1952: Kansas
1953: Indiana
1954: La Salle
1955: San Francisco
1956: San Francisco
1957: North Carolina
1958: Kentucky
1959: California
1960: Ohio State
1961: Cincinnati
1962: Cincinnati
1963: Loyola (IL)
1964: UCLA
1965: UCLA
1966: Texas Western
1967: UCLA
1968: UCLA
1969: UCLA
1970: UCLA
1971: UCLA
1972: UCLA
1973: UCLA
1974: NC State
1975: UCLA
1976: Indiana
1977: Marquette
1978: Kentucky
1979: Michigan State
1980: Louisville
1981: Indiana
1982: North Carolina
1983: NC State
1984: Georgetown
1985: Villanova
1986: Louisville
1987: Indiana
1988: Kansas
1989: Michigan
1990: UNLV
1991: Duke
1992: Duke
1993: North Carolina
1994: Arkansas
1995: UCLA
1996: Kentucky
1997: Arizona
1998: Kentucky
1999: Connecticut
2000: Michigan State
2001: Duke
2002: Maryland
2003: Syracuse
2004: Connecticut
2005: North Carolina
2006: Florida
2007: Florida
2008: Kansas
2009: North Carolina
2010: Duke
2011: Connecticut
2012: Kentucky
2013: Louisville
2014: Connecticut
2015: Duke
2016: Villanova

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