Villanova’s NCAA Tournament ‘rookies’ get to continue playing Sunday night against North Texas

Villanova’s NCAA Tournament rookies did not blink when they stepped out into the bright lights of Indiana Farmers Coliseum and made a major contribution to their team’s first-round win over Winthrop.

Now they get a chance to do it again, Sunday night against No. 13 seed North Texas (18-9) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

» READ MORE: Fifth-seeded Villanova defeats No. 12 seed Winthrop, 73-63, in NCAA Tournament first-round game

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Justin Moore and Caleb Daniels all scored in double figures in their first performance at the Big Dance, with Robinson-Earl accounting for 22 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots in the No. 5 seed Wildcats’ 73-63 win Friday night over No. 12 Winthrop.

“I think it was really good for us to get that first game under our belt and play really well,” Robinson-Earl said Saturday night after practice. “I think it just shows that my teammates do a great job setting each other up, and on any given night it can be anybody. So it was a lot of fun going out there and playing this way.”

Villanova coach Jay Wright said he talked with his guys about forgetting about the big stage and told them to just go play.

“There’s nothing you can do about it,” he said. “You’ve got to go play and you’re either going to get an experience you’re going to learn from and go home, or you get an experience you’re going to learn from and move on. I think our guys learned a lot and I felt good for the future getting those guys those minutes.”

North Texas, the 13th seed, advanced in Indianapolis after its 78-69 overtime upset of No. 4 Purdue, their first win in four NCAA Tournament games. The Mean Green lost their last three games of the regular season but bounced back to win four straight games and the championship of Conference-USA.

They’ve fielded the same starting lineup — four seniors and one junior — in all 27 games. Redshirt senior Javion Hamlet is North Texas’ top scorer at 15.3 points per game but he is averaging 19.6 in five post-season contests. He also leads the team in assists at 4.6 per game.

Wright said Hamlet reminds him a little of Creighton’s Marcus Zegarowski, although he is slightly taller at 6-4. He described him as a player who has multiple ways to score, shooting the three or getting to the rim, but he also has a shot he excels in.

“He leads the country in most floaters,” Wright said. “I never heard of that stat, I don’t know who keeps it, but I believe it because after watching film … a lot of times you try to force guys into those shots and he takes them a lot and he makes them a lot.”

» READ MORE: If you had Villanova vs. North Texas in NCAA second round, you win | Mike Jensen

The Mean Green play at a similarly slow pace as Villanova (17-6). They rank 350th out of 357 Division I teams in adjusted tempo according to KenPom.com, though Wright said they can speed it up at times.

“North Texas can play slow but when Purdue turned the ball over, they got out in transition and scored,” he said. “So when the opportunity presents itself, they will play fast. I think they’re very similar to us. I think we’re very similar teams.”

Wright said North Texas is a versatile team that will be tough to defend. One of the key figures for Villanova will be 6-4 sophomore Justin Moore. In only his second game back after suffering a sprained ankle on March 6 at Providence, Moore contributed 15 points Friday night.

“He took a couple of days off after the Georgetown game and then he got to practice for three or four days before” Friday, he said. “Getting a game under his belt is really important. I think that helped him and I hope he can go to another level against North Texas.”