When Kentucky limped to the finish of the regular season, many wondered if Smith might be on his way out. That Barnhart had to give a public vote of support showed just how far out of favor Smith had fallen.

“Playing for Kentucky and coaching Kentucky is one of the hardest jobs to do,” Crawford said. “We just have to not worry about that and focus on playing our best basketball game by game.”

The showing against Villanova was a good start. Kentucky outmuscled Villanova inside, finishing with a 37-30 edge in rebounds and outscoring ’Nova 24-18 in the paint.

Whenever Kentucky needed a big shot, Meeks, Crawford and Bradley always seemed to respond.

“The team really plays off what I can bring to the table,” Morris said. “If I can draw double teams and free teammates and get them going, that’s what I need to do.”

Villanova started strong, making its first four tries from 3-point range. When Nardi, who’d played only 23 minutes in the last three games because of his ankle injury, hit the fourth, it gave ’Nova a 14-9 lead with 13:50 left in the first half.

But this isn’t the Villanova team that earned a No. 1 seed last year. It lost starters Randy Foye, Allan Ray and Kyle Lowry. While Reynolds is a spectacular pickup — he planned to go to Oklahoma until Kelvin Sampson left — its lack of offensive depth hurt against Kentucky.

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“We just haven’t been a great offensive team,” Wright said. “You try to keep yourself in it defensively and with some offensive rebounds, but that’s where Kentucky really impressed me. They killed us on the boards.

“They were the better team,” Wright added. “We didn’t bring it.”