1. Villanova Loses In OT Against UConn
By:George Remaily
On Monday night it just looked like a replay from Villanova’s game on
Saturday against Notre Dame. The Wildcats blew a 20-point lead against
the Irish and lost in overtime. Well on Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center
in Philadelphia it looked just like the game on Saturday. Villanova blew an
18-point lead to Connecticut and lost in overtime, 73-70.
The shooting of Connecticut’s Jeremy Lamb in the overtime period and a
three point basket by Shabazz Napier with .6 seconds left in the game helped
Connecticut with the complete comeback.
Villanova (11-16 overall, 4-11 Big East) led, 26-8 with 8 minutes, 26 seconds,
left in the first half. Connecticut (17-10 overall, 7-8 Big East) tied the game at
halftime.
Villanova had a two-point lead and had the ball with 32.6 seconds left to play
in the second half. Villanova’s Dominic Cheek’s made a very poor decision on
an inbounds pass which led to a turnover and Connecticut getting the tying
basket.
In overtime Villanova tied the game on a basket by Ty Johnson with 5.4
seconds to play in overtime.
Villanova is a young team and has played like that a lot this season. They
have shown their inexperience. The team is led by juniors and they are all
earning their stripes this season. Villanova has had games this season where
they have had big leads and well seen them evaporate and the team losing
games. The young players on this team need to step it up and learn from this.
In Monday night’s game Connecticut led most of the second half of the game.
They got a career game from Lamb who scored 32 points and ten of those points
came in the overtime period.
This just looks like one of those season in which Villanova basketball is not
accustomed to. For head coach Jay Wright and company they just have to learn
and build from this season. The team consists of a lot of young players with
talent. Losing seasons at Villanova are not common or are they acceptable.