By ADAM ZAGORIA
PITTSBURGH — When Villanova stars Jalen Brunson and Omari Spellman both went to the bench with two fouls in the first half, the Wildcats needed someone to step up offensively in their absence.
Donte DiVincenzo, the Delaware native nicknamed the “The Big Ragu” and “The Michael Jordan of Delaware,” took over from there and began raining threes on the Crimson Tide.
In the second half, Mikal Bridges picked up where DiVincenzo left off and continued the long-range onslaught.
DiVincenzo and Bridges combined for 41 points to lead No. 1 Villanova past No. 9 Alabama, 81-58, in a second-round East Regional game at PPG Paints Arena. Bridges scored 22 of his 23 in the second half, while DiVincenzo tallied all 18 of his in the first half.
After making a program-record 14 three-pointers in their first-round win over Radford, Villanova connected on 17-of-41 to establish a new program mark. In two games here, they made 31 treys.
“Thank God for Donte DiVincenzo,” Villanova coach Jay Wright told CBS at the half when Brunson and Bridges had combined for just 5 points on 1-of-8 shooting.
Villanova advanced to the East Regional in Boston, where they will face the West Virginia/Marshall winner in the Sweet 16 on Friday.
After seeing No. 1 seed Virginia get stunned by No. 16 UMBC on Friday night, Villanova wanted to avoid anything similar.
“Any team can beat any team,” DiVincenzo said. “I mean, Virginia brought it last night, but UMBC brought it for a longer time. We just had to make sure that we played Villanova basketball.”
Alabama freshman star Collin Sexton scored 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting in what was likely his final college game. He’s a projected top-10 pick in the NBA Draft.
Under Wright, the Wildcats won the 2016 NCAA championship but have also lost in the second round in three of the last five years, including to N.C. State in 2015 here in the Steel City.
“I know the bitter and sweet of this tournament,” Wright said here this week. “I know winning a National Championship and I know getting knocked out in the second round. I know anything can happen. That’s what this team’s mindset is. I stick with the mindset of the group that we have.”
DiVincenzo, the 6-foot-5 redshirt sophomore from Wilmington, Del., scored 18 points in the first half, including his fifth trey of the half at the buzzer, as Villanova took a 32-27 halftime lead.
“We were just running things and I found myself hot,” DiVincenzo said. “I was just trying to make the right play, whether it was a pass or a shot.”
DiVincenzo is doing it all for @NovaMBB! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/ne5gX4P8dm
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 17, 2018
In the second half, Bridges came out on fire. He personally outscored Alabama, 19-4, to start the half as the Wildcats built a 53-31 lead. Bridges drained four straight three-pointers during his personal spurt, and also had a breakaway dunk.
“My teammates and coaches, they picked me up,” Bridges said of rebounding in the second half after a poor first-half start. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have played how I played.”
Said Wright: “Obviously, he got hot, but the defense got us going and he did a lot of good things defensively.”
Back-to-back fastbreak SLAMS for Nova! ??#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/A8NDRDPg9d
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 17, 2018
Brunson then added another trey to push the lead to 56-31.
Villanova outscoring Alabama 36-11 this half like pic.twitter.com/TeZBj6gjcW
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 17, 2018
