PHILADELPHIA _ Since losing its only game of the season at Butler, top-ranked Villanova has won five straight games, including Saturday's 78-68 victory over Providence at the Wells Fargo Center, by an average margin of 18 points.
Yet Jay Wright continues to worry about "The Hangover."
The Villanova coach is concerned about the effect of last year's national championship on his team's habits, execution, and performance, both in practice and in games.
Despite 63 percent shooting Saturday in the second half, and fine performances _ Josh Hart's 25 points, Kris Jenkins' 19 _ from two senior stalwarts, there was just enough against Providence (13-8, 3-5 Big East) in a game played before a crowd of 18,731, to bother Wright.
The Wildcats (19-1, 7-1) allowed 50 percent 3-point shooting (13 of 26) and 16 assists on 22 baskets by the Friars even though Kyron Cartwright, the No. 2 assist man in the Big East, was feeling ill and missed much of the second half. They saw two sizeable leads cut down _ a 20-point advantage with 9 minutes to play that was trimmed to nine, and one of 19 points with 2:28 left that was reduced to the final margin.
"You sense home games are like shows, they're not competitions," Wright said. "You feel like everyone's coming to see the show. You can't do that as a player, because the other team is coming in to beat the top team in the country. They're at another level. So your players sense it.
"Everything that goes on around them, the way everybody treats them, and what's going on in their mind is, they've done it. I'm sure there's sometimes where Josh, Darryl (Reynolds) and Kris are like, 'All right, we've done this already, let's get through this, let's get to the NCAA Tournament.'
"They never say it, but they're human beings. You know there's going to be some times when I'm on their butt about little things and they have to be thinking, 'Come on, man, we did this already.' Then they catch themselves. They never say that, but I can just sense that sometimes."
Hart, who drove to the basket for most of his 10 field goals, and Jenkins said the main thing was to continue to accept coaching.
"Coach has been coaching longer than we've been alive," Hart said, generating a bemused reaction from Wright. "He has the experience so we've just got to lean on his experience. He's been through these situations and that's where we've got to be humble and be coachable."
Added Jenkins, "I believe every guy in our locker room wants to continue to grow and become better, and we're not just satisfied with something that we did last year because this is a brand new year."
Leading, 35-31, at the break, the Wildcats hit their first four shots of the second half to boost their margin to 12 a little more than two minutes in. Although the Friars never got closer than seven, they never stopped playing.
Mikal Bridges, who scored 15 points, ended a 12-1 run with a dunk and a layup, giving Villanova its largest lead at 64-44 with 9 minutes, 4 seconds remaining. The Friars closed to within nine, 66-57, on the last of three consecutive 3-pointers by Jalen Lindsey, but the Wildcats scored 10 in a row to lead, 76-57, with 2:28 remaining.
Providence, led by Rodney Bullock with 17, ran off 11 of the last 13 points.
Though he said the Cats were still a work in progress on defense, Wright is glad to have Hart and Jenkins.
"I think both of them are two of the best players in college basketball," he said. "We're lucky to have them on our team because they can do everything. They defend, they rebound, they're leaders, they score, they pass. They're just complete players."
