Mount St. Mary’s didn’t go down easy.
The Mountaineers scored the first seven points of the game, held Villanova scoreless for the first six minutes and went into the half leading the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, 30-29.
And then the Wildcats turned it on.
A 14-2 run to start the second half was the spark, and the Wildcats eventually pulled away, winning 76-56 and advancing to face the winner of No. 8 Wisconsin and No. 9 Virginia Tech, the nightcap in Buffalo on Thursday.
Donte DiVincenzo led the way with 21 points and 13 boards for the Wildcats, the only member of the team that actually showed up ready to play in the first half. Jalen Brunson added 14 points and Mikal Bridges chipped in with 13, but it was DiVincenzo that did the heavy lifting in keeping Villanova from becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed.
There’s not really much else to take away from this.
The Mount availed themselves well against a team that is clearly their superior, and the Wildcats ran an overmatched opponent off the floor when they finally decided to play.