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Mount St. Mary’s came to March Madness to play, and in the first half looked like it could pull the ultimate upset. But in the second half, a dominant Villanova came alive and the Mountaineers had no answer. The Wildcats won the NCAA Tournament last year, earned the #1 overall seed this year and it showed in the second half as Mount St. Mary’s was simply over-matched.
There were some good parts of this game. Let’s talk about them.
Miles Wilson was dominant
He put Mount St. Mary’s on his back, and it showed with his final stat line (22 points, 7 rebounds). He seemed to do it all while his teammates were having a difficult time getting production on the floor. Wilson is a freshman but played like a veteran and doubled his season scoring average (11.5 PPG). This should be a big springboard for his career.
The bench production can improve
Mount St. Mary’s only got five points from its bench. In order to compete with teams like Villanova, the bench needs to be able to score when the starters are getting rest or struggling. Against the Wilddcats, the starters also struggled to score, which made the job even tough
Mount St. Mary’s is a young team that will get better with time
The Mount will finish the season with a 20-16 record, which is impressive since this is a relatively young team. It only graduates one senior, Will Miller, who started just two games this season. The starting lineup has two juniors, two sophomores and one freshman. With an offseason coming up, this team can continue to improve and come back to the Dance next year to compete.
Mount St. Mary’s ends its season with a tough loss to the defending champs. But at the same time, the Mountaineers finished their final game of the season by walking off the court to an arena chanting “Mount St. Mary’s”. That’s quite a way to end.