Ryan Arcidiacono was 0-for-5 from the field against Kansas when he let one fly from the left wing with 10.1 seconds left and his team trailing by 1 point.
The 3-point shot fell, put Villanova up by two points and the Wildcats held on for a 63-59 victory over No. 2 Kansas in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The basket was Arcidiacono’s only one of the game.
“I hadn’t made a shot all game, but I was looking for it. [Coach Jay Wright] called it for me,” Arcidiacono, who scored 4 points in the game, told NBC Sports Network following the game. “I just held my follow-through there at the end and I was lucky enough to get two great screens there at the end. As soon as it left my hand I thought it was good.”
Arcidiacono was 5-for-23 from deep this season before that shot.
“He’s done that his whole career,” Wright said of the game-winner. The kid’s incredible, man. He’s just got big-time heart.
“He’s done it a lot of times. That’s not the first time he did that.”
Darrun Hilliard and Dylan Ennis scored 14 apiece for Villanova (6-0), and JayVaughn Pinkston added 13.
Kansas’s two best freshmen were Frank Mason (12 points) and Joel Embiid (10 points), while Andrew Wiggins had 10 points on 3-for-8 shooting.
“Kansas is so young,” Wright said. “It’s amazing that Bill [Self] has get them playing so well so early. I don’t want to play them in March.”
