# 2015–16 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

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. 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.

## 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.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Darrun Hilliard | 4 | G | 6'6" | 215 | Senior | Bethlehem, PA | Graduated/2015 NBA draft |
| Dylan Ennis | 52 | G | 6'2" | 192 | Junior | Brampton, Ontario | Graduated/Transferred to Oregon |
| JayVaughn 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

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| 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 |
| Recruiting star ratings: 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 |
| Recruiting star ratings: 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 |
| Recruiting star ratings: 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 June 1, 2015. ||||||

#### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 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 |
| Recruiting star ratings: 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 |
| Recruiting star ratings: 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 June 1, 2015. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| 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 | 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 Homecoming | 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 | 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 Wildcats became the first Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team to reach number one in the AP Poll.
Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 11 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 1 (32) | 1 (44) | 1 (45) | 3 | 3 | 6 | Not released |
| Coaches | 9 | 8т | 9 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 1 (11) | 1 (25) | 1 (25) | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 (30) |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings