Villanova a trendy pick to be upset by 12th-seeded Winthrop, but Jay Wright and his players ignore the noise

The Wildcats usually face lofty expectations from their fans, but this year is different and they will have their hands full with the Eagles, who are 23-1.

Jermaine Samuels (23) and the Wildcats find themselves in a position they aren't used to heading into this year's NCAA tournament, but they are trying to keep their mindset the same.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer

by Joe Juliano

Published March 15, 2021, 5:30 p.m. ET

Villanova’s devoted basketball fans usually begin the season with lofty expectations for the Wildcats, and Jay Wright insists that he and his players tune them out even if those hopes have been fulfilled twice in recent years with the 2016 and 2018 national championships.

But life has gone in reverse for the Wildcats the last six weeks or so. They dropped from a projected No. 1 or No. 2 seed in January to a fifth seed going into the NCAA Tournament. On Selection Sunday, they drew 12th seed Winthrop, with a 23-1 record, and CBS commentator Seth Davis exclaimed, “Classic 12-5 upset! Winthrop is gonna win that game!”

Still, Wright maintains the same philosophy of paying no attention to the expectations of others while in the rare position of being considered the underdog by some against a mid-major team from South Carolina, and wants his players to follow.

“A lot of times the noise is overhype for us,” he said Sunday after the pairing was announced. “So we try to explain to them, ‘If we’re not listening to people when they say we’re really good, then we don’t have to listen to them when they say we’re not good, either.’

“I’m sure we’re going to be a trendy pick to get upset in this game, but I think our team understands and I think that being at Villanova, they understand. This is something that you deal with all the time and then we evaluate ourselves by our own standards. But we respect that fans and media have to have their opinion.”

Villanova and Winthrop will meet in the first round Friday night at Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, with tip time scheduled for 9:57 p.m.

The Wildcats are without point guard Collin Gillespie for the rest of the season and coming off back-to-back losses by a total of three points to Providence and Georgetown, the latter in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals. The Eagles won their three Big South Tournament games by a total of 77 points.

Villanova hasn’t been able to come up with big plays at either end of the court when needed at crunch time, and its free-throw shooting has been spotty. The Cats were hitting 78.4% from the line entering the Providence game, but were 14 of 23 (60.9%) against the Friars and 14 of 22 (63.6%) versus the Hoyas.

The Wildcats remained in New York after losing to Georgetown and Wright said he’s had a good feeling with “how positive they’ve been with their attitude.”

“We talk to the guys about gratefulness and attitude and taking on the next day and whatever the next challenge is, a great life lesson that way,” he said. “We’ve practiced every day since we lost and have had great practices, great energy, great attitude. We’re explaining to the guys, that’s important in life. A tough loss against Georgetown, that’s not the end of the world, it’s how you come back the next day, and I’ve been pleased with our guys’ attitude.”

Senior forward Jermaine Samuels said he feels he and his teammates have had a great stay but are ready to get started in Indianapolis.

“We’ve gotten a lot of time to sit down and digest practice, getting better on everything within our program, our core values,” he said. “So we’re really excited and we’re confident and we can’t wait to get out there and play again.”

History of the NCAA 12-5 game

In 140 previous NCAA Tournament games, the No. 12 seed has defeated the No. 5 seed 50 times (.357), according to the NCAA. In the most recent tournament, 2019, three No. 12 seeds — Murray State, Oregon and Liberty — won, with Murray State crushing No. 5 Marquette, 83-64, in Hartford, Conn.