SAN ANTONIO _ Villanova enters Saturday's Final Four semifinal game against Kansas as a 5-point favorite.
Perhaps just as significant is the fact 18 of 23 ESPN staff members predict Nova (34-4), the surviving No. 1 seed in the East Regional, will defeat the Jayhawks (31-7), the No. 1 seed out of the Midwest, in a showdown between the Big East and Big 12 schools to tip around 7:49 p.m. at the Alamodome.
"We're used to it. Against Duke we were underdogs," KU sophomore center Udoka Azubuike said Friday before the Jayhawks' 50-minute shootaround at the dome. "We're just going to do what we always do, play like we normally do," he added.
The Jayhawks, as 3{-point underdogs, did indeed drop Duke, 85-81, in Sunday's overtime thriller in Omaha, Neb.
"We're used to it," KU junior guard Lagerald Vick said, electing to use the exact same words as Azubuike, when asked of entering a game as the team most expect will lose.
"A lot of people will doubt us. You've got to take the good with the bad. They've got a pretty good team, pretty good shooters."
The Wildcats, who have won nine straight games _ KU has won seven in a row _ enter as the most explosive team in the NCAA Tournament, averaging 86.6 points a game.
Led by Mikal Bridges (99 3-pointers, 17.8 points per game), Jalen Brunson (82 3-pointers, 19.2), Donte DiVincenzio (77 3-pointers, 12.9), Omari Spellman (62 3-pointers, 10.8) and Phil Booth (53 3-pointers, 10.3), Villanova has converted 436 3-pointers in 1091 attempts (.400).
The Wildcats are six 3s shy of tying the 2007 VCU team for most 3-pointers in a season.
Yet KU is right behind Villanova in points and 3s. The Jayhawks have averaged 81.4 points per contest and have cashed 384 threes in 953 tries (.403).
"This year everybody thinks we are underdogs the whole season," said KU senior Svi Mykhailiuk. He recently passed Terry Brown as KU's single-season 3-point record holder with 114 (Devonte Graham is right behind with 106 makes). "We're used to it," Mykhailiuk added, making it three Jayhawks to express themselves the same way.
Of course, the Jayhawks could be exaggerating their status as underdogs just a bit.
KU was picked to win the 2017-18 Big 12 title and completed that task for an NCAA-record 14th straight season, while being favored in a majority of its contests.
"We don't pay attention to that," Mykhailiuk said. "We just play ball."
Svi did concede that stopping Villanova's outside attack might prove crucial. Texas Tech held the Wildcats to 4 of 24 3-point shooting in Sunday's 71-59 Elite Eight loss in Boston.
"I don't know," Mykhailiuk said with a smile, asked how KU might stop Nova from ripping off three after three. "We can't let them shoot threes. Don't go for shot fakes. We have to be tough. Play defense. Guard your man. Play hard. Be ready to compete."
KU coach Bill Self isn't exaggerating the underdog role publicly, but did acknowledge this week, "sometimes it's nice being the hunter instead of the hunted."
He said there are lots of reasons the Wildcats enter as favorites.
"They've probably been the best team from start to finish this year in college basketball," Self said, just getting started in his praise of Jay Wright's team, which won the 2016 NCAA title, defeating KU in the Elite Eight on its road to the Final Four.
"In the last five years, they've lost 21 games. Think about that. Think about the league they play in and think about the nonconference schedule. They have maximized their potential and got as close against their ceiling over time as anybody has."
Those looking for individual matchups as keys to Saturday's national semifinal would point to the point guard battle between All-Americans Graham and Brunson.
"Their intangibles are even better than their abilities," Self said of Graham, a 6-2 senior from Raleigh, N.C., and Brunson, a 6-2 junior from Lincolnshire, Ill. "It will be a chess match with both of them. Jalen obviously can do a lot more than play point. He can be a lead guard, but he's also an unbelievable, efficient offensive player. He may be, probably is, their best post-up player as well. It will be a great matchup.
"Even though we switch a lot, they do too. I hope they're matched against each other quite a bit because I think it will be fun for people to see that and certainly fun to coach to it."
Told of Self's comment, Villanova coach Wright said: "I don't really think I would enjoy any matchup against Devonte Graham. I would enjoy the challenge it would be. Devonte's a difficult matchup. You can put a smaller guy on him like Jalen but I think he's got the ability to shoot over someone close to his size. And you put a bigger guy on him, he's got the quickness to go by him. I wouldn't say I look at it exactly like Bill."
The KU-Villanova winner will meet either Loyola Chicago or Michigan in Monday's national title game, which is set for a 8:20 p.m. tip. Saturday's Loyola-Michigan game will start at 5:09 p.m.
