VILLANOVA, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Three basketball teams at two schools within Philly’s Big 5 collective have advanced to the NCAA tournament.
Both of Villanova’s men’s and women’s teams were selected. The Villanova men, led by first-year head coach Kevin Willard, are back in the tourney after missing the last three.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself and the staff this year to get to this point, because I know how important it is to this program and this university,” said Willard.
“[Willard’s] adjustments sometimes during the games, it amazes me,” said junior guard Tyler Perkins. “In timeouts, he’ll say something or we’ll make this adjustment on a ball screen, or whatever it might be, and it works every time.”
The 8-seed men’s team will play the West Region 9-seed Utah State on Friday.
Meanwhile, the women’s team’s 25-7 record virtually guaranteed them an at-large berth. For senior forward and Philly native Denae Carter, it’s the last ride.
“I don’t want to finish with a ‘what if’ or ‘I should’ve done this.’ [I’m] just playing hard for my team,” she said. “They pour so much into me, and I just want to be able to give as much as I can back to them.”
The Villanova women’s basketball team is seeded 10th in the region, playing No. 7 Texas Tech on Friday.
The Wildcats will also be joined by the Penn Quakers men’s team, who won the Ivy League tournament final in a thrilling overtime upset. Willard was thrilled to see head coach Fran McCaffery lead Penn to the title and an auto bid.
“That’s something that Fran and I talked about when we first got here,” he said. “Making sure that we are getting Big 5 schools back in the NCAA tournament, to make sure that when we play Big 5 games, they’re bigger games.”
Penn takes on Illinois on Thursday.