A big trade Tuesday brought Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks , reuniting him with three teammates from the 2016-17 Villanova team that went 32-4.
Two of those losses came to Wisconsin and Marquette, including the 65-62 upset to the Badgers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats were ranked No. 1 in the country during both losses.
The four Knicks — Bridges, Josh Hart , Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo — played together in 2015-16 as well, though DiVincenzo broke his foot and played only nine games, receiving a medical redshirt. Villanova went on to win the national title, with Kris Jenkins ' buzzer-beater defeating North Carolina, 77-74.
DiVincenzo, of course , became the Milwaukee Bucks ' first-round draft pick in 2018 and played a role on the team that won the 2021 NBA championship, though a first-round injury sidelined him for the later stages of the postseason run.
The Knicks' Villanova connection last season with Hart, Brunson and DiVincenzo was oft-cited as they won 50 games for the first time in over a decade and reached the Eastern Conference semifinals for a second straight year.
With all four healthy in 2016-17, Villanova had only lost once coming into Milwaukee on Jan. 24, 2017, when Marquette took down the Wildcats in a thriller at the electrified Bradley Center, 74-72 . Katin Reinhardt scored 18 of his 19 points in the second half to push the Golden Eagles over the top.
Reinhardt made two free throws with 11.2 seconds left to account for the winning points, and Brunson missed a runner to tie. Fans stormed the court.
It was the second time MU had beaten an AP No. 1 team in 12 tries, joining the win over Kentucky in the Elite Eight of the 2003 NCAA Tournament. Marquette achieved the feat despite trailing by as many as 17 points.
"Oh my gosh, I don't even know what to say," Reinhardt said after the game. "You dream of these types of moments. Growing up as a little kid, you dream of these moments."
Nova, which lost its second game of the season to Butler on Feb. 22 but went on to win the Big East tournament title, still got a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and faced off with Wisconsin in the second round, where the Badgers prevailed in Buffalo, New York, 65-62.
Nigel Hayes went baseline for a drive with 11.4 seconds left to account for the winning basket.
"I drove baseline, and if you guys are familiar with the Michael Jordan highlight, the fake spin back?" Hayes said in an interview with CBS reporter Allie LaForce. "I did my fake spin back, got to my left hand, and fortunately it went in."
Vitto Brown then stole the ball from Hart on the other end of the floor.
"These were what NCAA Tournament games come down to," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "Down the stretch, they made two great offensive plays, two great defensive stops, and that was the difference in the game."
Three of the four, minus Hart, were still on the 2017-18 team, and that squad also won the national championship, with DiVincenzo named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player before he was drafted by the Bucks later that year. The Villanova squad went 13-1 in a three-year window in NCAA Tournament games, with Wisconsin as the only blemish.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin hoops teams staged huge wins over Villanova quartet
