2015–16 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 1 6 2015–16 Villanova Wildcats Basketball Villanova Wildcats logo.svg Big East Conference Big East 35–5 16–2 Jay Wright 15th Baker Dunleavy Ashley Howard Kyle Neptune The Pavilion<br/ >Wells Fargo Center NCAA tournament National Champions<br/ >Big East regular season champions<br/ >Philadelphia Big 5 champions<br/ >NIT Season Tip-Off champions National Championship Game <br/ >W Won 77–74 vs. North Carolina 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 77–74 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.Gasaway John Best Offensive Performances https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/15460067/10-best-offensive-performances-10-years ESPN May 5, 2016 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.Winn Luke The Five Most Dominant Tournament Runs of the Analyics Era https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2016/04/14/villanova-wildcats-national-championship-title-game SI.com April 14, 2016 10 years after Villanova's championship run, three key members of the team in Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart led the New York Knicks to their first NBA Finals win in 53 years, with the trio starting every playoff game and Brunson being named Finals MVP. 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 thumb|upright|Jalen Brunson at the 2015 McDonald's All-American Boys Game no no 2015 Jalen Brunson PG Lincolnshire, IL Adlai E. Stevenson High School 6 1 180 2014-09-10 5 5 90 Tim Delaney PF Mullica Hill, NJ Pitman High School 6 8 220 2014-06-09 3 4 80 Donte DiVincenzo SG Wilmington, DE Salesianum School 6 4 170 2014-01-03 4 4 80 2015 2015 Villanova Signees 2015 Villanova Signees 2015 Villanova Signees 2015-06-01 yes 2017 recruiting class no yes 2016 Omari Spellman PF Malvern, PA The MacDuffie School 6 9 272 2015-02-20 5 5 83 Dylan Painter C Hershey, PA The MacDuffie School 6 9 215 2015-09-16 3 3 78 2016 2016 Villanova Signees 2016 Villanova Signees 2016 Villanova Signees 2015-06-01 yes Roster 2015 Villanova Wildcats y Henry Lowe 0 G 5 11 185 SR New York, New York USA W Jalen Brunson y 1 G 6 2 199 FR Lincolnshire, Illinois USA Kris Jenkins y basketball 2 F 6 6 240 JR Upper Marlboro, Maryland USA Josh Hart y 3 G 6 5 205 JR Washington, D.C. USA Eric Paschall 4 F 6 7 260 SO Dobbs Ferry, New York USA y Phil Booth y basketball 5 G 6 3 185 SO Baltimore, Maryland USA Donte DiVincenzo 10 G 6 5 200 FR Wilmington, Delaware USA y Ryan Arcidiacono y 15 G 6 3 195 SR Langhorne, Pennsylvania USA Patrick Farrell 20 F 6 5 200 SR Rockville Centre, New York USA W Daniel Ochefu y 23 F 6 11 245 SR Lagos, Nigeria Nigeria Mikal Bridges 25 G/F 6 7 191 FR y Malvern, Pennsylvania USA y Tim Delaney 34 F 6 9 230 FR Mullica Hill, New Jersey USA Darryl Reynolds 45 F 6 8 225 JR Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA y Kevin Rafferty 52 F 6 8 215 SR Malvern, Pennsylvania USA Jay Wright (Bucknell) Baker Dunleavy (Villanova) Ashley Howard (Drexel) Kyle Neptune (Lehigh) http://www.villanova.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/nova-m-baskbl-mtt.html Schedule and results 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings 2014 yes yes |- !colspan=9 style="background:#013974; color:white;"| Exhibition Nov 8, 2015 12:00pm yes 11 2015 Pace Setters Pace Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, PA   80–45 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#013974; color:white;"| Regular season Nov 13, 2015 7:00pm yes 11 Fairleigh Dickinson The Pavilion Villanova, PA 6,500 FS2 91–54No. 11 Villanova beats Fairleigh Dickinson 91-54 https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400840331 ESPN.com 14 November 2015 1–0 Nov 17, 2015 8:30pm yes 11 Nebraska The Pavilion Villanova, PA Gavitt Tipoff Games 6,500 FS1 87–63 2–0 Nov 20, 2015 7:00pm yes 11 East Tennessee State The Pavilion Villanova, PA NIT Season Tip-Off 6,500 FS2 86–51 3–0 Nov 22, 2015 4:30pm yes 11 Akron The Pavilion Villanova, PA NIT Season Tip-Off 6,500 FS1 75–56 4–0 Nov 26, 2015 4:30pm yes yes 8 Stanford Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals   ESPN2 59–45 5–0 Nov 27, 2015 3:00pm yes yes 8 Georgia Tech Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY NIT Season Tip-Off championship   ESPN2 69–52 6–0 Dec 1, 2015 7:00pm yes yes 8 Saint Joseph's Hagan Arena Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia Big 5/Holy War CBSSN 86–72 4,200 7–0 Dec 7, 2015 7:00pm yes yes 9 Oklahoma 7 Bloch Arena Honolulu, HI Pearl Harbor Classic FS1 55–78 4,024 7–1 Dec 13, 2015 5:00pm yes 9 La Salle The Pavilion Villanova, PA Philadelphia Big 5 FS1 76–47 6,500 8–1 Dec 19, 2015 12:00pm yes yes 12 Virginia 8 John Paul Jones Arena Charlottesville, VA 14,593 ESPN2 75–86 8–2 Dec 22, 2015 7:00pm yes 17 Delaware The Pavilion Villanova, PA FS1 78–48 6,500 9–2 Dec 28, 2015 7:00pm yes 16 Penn Philadelphia Big 5 The Pavilion Villanova, PA 6,500 FS1 77–57 10–2 Dec 31, 2015 12:00pm 16 Xavier 6 The Pavilion Villanova, PA 6,500 FS1 95–64 11–2 1–0 Jan 2, 2016 10pm yes 16 Creighton CenturyLink Center Omaha, NE Big East New Year's Marathon 17,375 FS1 85–71 12–2 2–0 Jan 6, 2016 7:00pm 11 Seton Hall The Pavilion Villanova, PA 6,500 FS1 72–63 13–2 3–0 Jan 10, 2016 7:30pm yes 11 Butler 18 Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN 9,144 FS1 60–55 14–2 4–0 Jan 13, 2016 8:30pm 6 Marquette The Pavilion Villanova, PA 6,500 FS1 83–68 15–2 5–0 Jan 16, 2016 1:00pm yes 6 Georgetown Verizon Center Washington, D.C. 15,535 CBS 55–50 16–2 6–0 Jan 20, 2016 9:00pm yes 4 Seton Hall Prudential Center Newark, NJ 8,788 CBSSN 72–71 17–2 7–0 Jan 23, 2016 12:00pm 4 Providence 16 Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, PA 7,191 FOX 76–82 OT 17–3 7–1 Jan 31, 2016 12:00pm y 6 St. John's Madison Square Garden New York, NY 12,713 FOX 68–53 18–3 8–1 Feb 3, 2016 8:00pm 3 Creighton The Pavilion Villanova, PA 6,500 CBSSN 83–58 19–3 9–1 Feb 6, 2016 2:30pm yes 3 Providence 11 Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI 12,883 FS1 72–60 20–3 10–1 Feb 9, 2016 8:30pm yes 1 DePaul Allstate Arena Rosemont, IL 6,393 FS1 86–59 21–3 11–1 Feb 13, 2016 8:00pm 1 St. John's Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, PA 18,052 CBSSN 73–63 22–3 12–1 Feb 17, 2016 7:00pm yes yes 1 Temple Liacouras Center Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia Big 5 10,472 ESPN2 83–67 23–3 Feb 20, 2016 2:30pm 1 Butler The Pavilion Villanova, PA 6,500 FOX 77–67 24–3 13–1 Feb 24, 2016 7:00pm yes 1 Xavier 5 Cintas Center Cincinnati, OH 10,727 FS1 83–90 24–4 13–2 Feb 27, 2016 2:00pm yes 1 Marquette BMO Harris Bradley Center Milwaukee, WI 19,043 FOX 89–79 25–4 14–2 Mar 1, 2016 7:00pm 3 DePaul The Pavilion Villanova, PA 6,500 FS1 83–62 26–4 15–2 Mar 5, 2016 12:07pm 3 Georgetown Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, PA Homecoming 20,173 FOX 84–71 27–4 16–2 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#013974; color:white;"| Big East tournament Mar 10, 2016 12:00 noon yes 3 1 Georgetown 8 Madison Square Garden New York, NY Quarterfinals FS1 81–67 14,863 28–4 Mar 11, 2016 6:30 pm yes 3 1 Providence 4 Madison Square Garden New York, NY Semifinals FS1 76–68 17,130 29–4 Mar 12, 2016 5:30 pm yes 3 1 Seton Hall 3 Madison Square Garden New York, NY Championship FOX 67–69 19,812 29–5 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#013974; color:#white;"| NCAA tournament Mar 18, 2016 12:40 pm yes yes 6 2 S UNC Asheville 15 S Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY First Round truTV 86–56 17,333 30–5 Mar 20, 2016 12:10 pm yes yes 6 2 S Iowa 7 S 25 Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY Second Round CBS 87–68 17,401 31–5 Mar 24, 2016 7:10 pm yes yes 6 2 S Miami (FL) 3 S 10 KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY Sweet Sixteen CBS 92–69 19,399 32–5 Mar 26, 2016 8:49 pm yes yes 6 2 S Kansas 1 S 1 KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY Elite Eight CBS 64–59 19,422 33–5 Apr 2, 2016 6:09 pm yes yes 6 2 S Oklahoma 2 W 7 NRG Stadium Houston, TX Final Four TBS 95–51 75,505 34–5 Apr 4, 2016 9:19 pm yes yes 6 2 S North Carolina 1 E 3 NRG Stadium Houston, TX National Championship TBS 77–74 74,340 35–5 AP Poll Eastern Time. W=West Region E=East Region S South Region Local Radio StationPlay–by–playColor analystStudio host WTEL–AM 610 and Villanova IMG Sports Network Ryan Fannon Whitey Rigsby Joe Weil Rankings 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings On February 8, the Wildcats became the first Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team to reach number one in the AP Poll.https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2016-02-08/college-basketball-rankings-villanova-earns-programs-first-ap College basketball rankings: Villanova earns program's first AP No. 1 ranking 2016-02-09 2016-02-08 NCAA.com National Collegiate Athletic Association Associated Press O'Connell, Jim June 2017 InternetArchiveBot yes https://www.wsj.com/articles/villanova-ranked-no-1-for-first-time-in-ap-poll-1454976187 Villanova Ranked No. 1 for First Time in AP Poll 2016-02-09 2016-02-08 The Wall Street Journal Beaton, Andrew AP 0 18 11 11 8 8 9 12 17 16 11 6 4 6 3 1 (32) 1 (44) 1 (45) 3 3 6 Coaches 0 19 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 References External links 2015–16 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team at ESPN Villanova Wildcats Category:Villanova Wildcats men's basketball seasons Villanova Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons