SAN ANTONIO — High above the court here at AT&T Arena, the video board flashed with a succession of highlights of Jermaine Samuels, three tough layups and a steal, all from the first half Thursday night, all of them and more necessary for Villanova to get what it has now: another game Saturday, another shot at the Final Four.
At the end of the clips, the screen froze on Samuel’s head shot with the words GRADUATE FORWARD underneath. The graphic was intended to denote Samuels’ academic year and his position, but it might as well have meant that he had spent all his studying on how to play smart and gritty basketball. Collin Gillespie did what Collin Gillespie does, drilling the 3-pointer that finally gave Villanova some distance from Michigan in a 63-55 Wildcats win.
It was Samuels, though, who went 4 for 4 from the foul line in the closing seconds, who ran himself ragged and turned himself into a quasi-center to take on talented 7-footer Hunter Dickinson. Samuels finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, two steals, and two blocked shots and reaffirmed the everlasting admiration of his teammates and head coach.
