Villanova's Scottie Reynolds, center, flies by the Siena defense for a layup. Reynolds led the Wildcats with 25 points in their 84-72 second-round victory Sunday in Tampa, Fla.

Like hordes of hoop fanatics across the country, Bill Self spent part of his Easter Sunday watching riveting NCAA Tournament action.

Must-see TV for Kansas University’s fifth-year basketball coach was an 11:10 a.m., second-round game between 12th-seeded Villanova and No. 13 Siena.

‘Nova rolled to an 84-72 victory and improved to 22-12 heading into Friday’s 8:40 p.m. Sweet 16 matchup against Self’s Jayhawks (33-3) at Detroit’s Ford Field.

“I watched almost all of it, except when they (network) cut away,” said Self, who came away impressed with the Scottie Reynolds/Corey Stokes-led Wildcats, who defeated No. 5-seed Clemson on Friday in the first round, 75-69.

“I don’t think they (seedings) matter. We’re not playing a 12th seed. We’re playing a team that’s obviously good enough to be in the Sweet 16.

“Even though they had more losses than what you would think a Sweet 16 team would during the course of the season … that’s primarily because of the league they play in (Big East). They’ve had some close, heartbreaking-type losses,” Self added.

Villanova erased an 18-point first-half deficit in tripping ACC foe Clemson in the first round.

“They played great. All you have to do is watch the Clemson game. When you’re down 18, come back and keep your poise and win going away the way they did … that’s a great, great game,” Self said.

The KU-Villanova winner will meet the winner of Friday’s 6:10 p.m. game between third seed Wisconsin and No. 10 Davidson on Sunday.

Davidson shocked No. 2 seed Georgetown, 74-70, on Sunday after beating No. 7 seed Gonzaga on Friday in Round One.

“That was a great win for Davidson. But our focus is strictly on Villanova. There have been some unbelievable games today,” Self said of Sunday’s action.

¢ Practice schedule revealed: KU will hold a 50-minute shootaround from 3:10 to 4 p.m., Eastern time, Thursday at Ford Field. The shootaround is open to the public. Villanova will practice from 1 to 1:50 p.m.

¢ Ailments, bruises: The fact KU plays Friday should help at least a pair of Jayhawks.

Rodrick Stewart, who has tonsillitis, missed Saturday’s victory over UNLV.

“I assume he’ll be fine,” said Self, who gave the team Sunday off.

Sherron Collins, meanwhile, has been less than 100 percent since bruising his left knee at practice last Tuesday.

“It’ll give him an extra day (this week) to get ready,” Self said. “I do think it’s one of those situations where he will get to feeling better. But he did bump knees last Tuesday, and he hasn’t been himself since then.

“I didn’t think he was himself at all against Portland State, but I really thought he played pretty well against UNLV (in scoring 10 points second half). I thought he moved well. And, of course, it helps when you make some of the moves that he did. But I don’t think he’s quite 100 percent, but I am banking on him being 100 percent by Friday.”

Collins bruised his right knee in KU’s Feb. 16 game against Colorado and was hindered by that a couple weeks. The left knee is the one that bothered him at the end of last season when he had a severe case of patellar tendinitis. Collins also had surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot last November.

“He didn’t practice on Friday,” Self said. “We talked to him on Friday and told him, ‘It’s going to be sore. All this stuff is going to hurt. You’re just going to have to decide how bad you want to be out there. Structurally, you’re fine. You’ve re-bruised your knee, and it’s the one that’s been giving you problems over time. We obviously knew how the season ended last year with a similar-type injury. You’re going to have to play through if you’re going to be effective, because it’s not going to heal up in one day.'”

Collins said after Saturday’s game his knee was “a little sore, but I’ll be OK.”

¢ Self on this week’s schedule: “We won’t gear it down from an effort standpoint, but we certainly will from a time standpoint. We’ll still go as hard as we’ve ever gone, but we just won’t go as long. I’d like to keep all our practices on Monday and Tuesday under an hour and a half and Wednesday and Thursday like to keep them around that hour-and-15 mark.

“We’ll work on our stuff and sped the majority of the week working on Villanova’s stuff. We won’t look ahead with our players. We’ll spend this week just getting ready for the Wildcats.”

Self doesn’t want to wear out his team.

“I think fresh minds and fresh legs are as important as anything we can do right now,” he said. “When you get late in the season … there is stress on the guys. You don’t want to add to the guys’ stress by running their legs down or anything.”