Villanova Earns A Shot At Redemption

Villanova’s 82-63 win over Syracuse in the Opening Round of the Big East Tournament got the Wildcats closer to the NCAA Tournament and earned the young ‘Cats a shot at revenge in the next round. The Orange started fast, but faded away faster and is now assuredly headed for the NIT. The Wildcats, meanwhile, got an important win to push themselves ahead of Syracuse in the pecking order. Scotty Reynolds led the way with 22, but was helped out by some ridiculous three-point shooting from several others in the second half.

With the win, the Wildcats get another shot at top-seeded Georgetown, who beat them in one of the year’s most controversial games last month. Villanova would be in a much better position about their bubble chances if they had been able to score the upset against Hoyas, but now get another shot at them. Their 55-53 loss at the Verizon Center on February 11th should give the Wildcats some confidence as they enter tomorrow afternoon’s contest.

In the teams’ first tilt, Villanova overcame a 12-point second deficit to tie the game in the last minute. Sitting at 4-6 in conference and lacking a quality win, Villanova had their season resting in the balance. The Wildcats earned themselves a chance to hold for the game’s last possession, but were unable to get a shot as the time ticked away. The worst-case scenario appeared to be an overtime period where Jay Wright’s team still had a great shot at winning. But, inexplicably, the refs cost Villanova a shot at overtime when they called a touch foul on Corey Stokes 75 feet away from the basket with 0.1 seconds remaining. The disturbing loss put Villanova at 14-9 and with little margin for error for the rest of the season.

Since then, the Wildcats have worked their way back onto the radar with a 6-2 finish, including a win over Connecticut, one of only two teams to beat the Huskies in the last two months. They showed even more of that resolve today when they battled back from an early 18-7 deficit to outscore the Orange by 30 the rest of the way. That will pop your bottle pretty fast.

Now, with a second shot at Georgetown, Villanova can play relaxed and at ease, knowing they can hang with the Hoyas. The Wildcats’ confidence is sky high after today’s impressive win. There’s nothing a young team needs more than a game like that, and the senior-less Wildcats will need no added motivation when they take the court against the Hoyas. It’s pretty obvious that an NCAA berth would be nailed down with a win over the conference’s regular season champions, and there’s nothing more that Villanova wants than do avenge that bitter defeat on February 11th.