PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- On a wild first afternoon of the NCAA tournament, one of the top teams in the whole bracket barely avoided one of the biggest upsets of all time. Villanova, a year-long Big East contender that spent much of the season ranked in the top 10, needed overtime to knock off No. 15 seed Robert Morris 73-70.The Northeast Conference-champion Colonials led the second-seeded Wildcats for nearly the entire game until Villanova took the lead in the final minute of regulation. Robert Morris guard Karon Abraham hit a circus layup and forward Dallas Green blocked a last-second alley-oop attempt to force overtime, but Villanova had just enough in the extra period.
When Villanova senior guard Scottie Reynolds, who was 1-for-14 from the field and 0-for-7 on 3-pointers in regulation, finally hit his first three of the game with a little more than a minute left, it gave the Wildcats a 67-61 lead and, it appeared, some comfort.
The Colonials cut the lead down to one point with 10.2 seconds left on a three-pointer by Abraham, but Reynolds made two free throws at the other end and Mezie Nwigwe's three-point attempt at the buzzer rattled out.
Share The day got off to an odd start in the Providence subregional when Villanova coach Jay Wright submitted a starting lineup that didn't include his team's top two scorers. Wright benched Reynolds and junior guard Corey Fisher, each of whom had started all 31 of the team's previous games, to start this one. Reynolds entered the game about four minutes in and Fisher shortly thereafter, but neither player hit a field goal in the first half and Fisher didn't score at all until there was a little more than eight minutes left in the game. As a result, Villanova looked out of sync offensively as Robert Morris surprisingly dominated them on the glass.
Robert Morris was trying to become the first No. 15 seed to win a tournament game in nine years and just the fifth all time. As it stands, the only 15-over-2 upsets are Richmond over Syracuse in 1991, Santa Clara over Arizona in 1993, Coppin State over South Carolina in 1997 and and Hampton over Iowa State in 2001.
Key Element: The rebounding. Robert Morris out-rebounded the bigger, stronger WIldcats 21-10 in the first half. But Villanova recovered and out-rebounded the Colonials 16-12 in the second half to help force overtime. Villanova never found its shooting touch, but at least it started to recover some of its misses. After collecting just three offensive rebounds in the first half, they got eight in the second.
Game Ball Goes To: Reynolds, whose senior leadership was a big reason Villanova was able to come back in the second half and force overtime. It's hard to imagine Reynolds has ever had such a miserable shooting day, but he retained his patience as he ran the offense in the final minutes of regulation; and he made his free throws down the stretch.Heart Goes Out To: Karon Abraham, the Robert Morris guard who led his team in scoring. His signature moment will be the banked-in and-one three-pointer he hit with just over 11 minutes left in the game. He made the free throw to complete a four-point play and grow the Robert Morris lead back to eight as it seemed Villanova was ready to make a run. He also hit a tough layup in traffic to put Robert Morris ahead 58-56 with 1:03 left in the game.
What's Next: Villanova gets the winner of this afternoon's Richmond-St. Mary's game Saturday here in Providence. If they survive that, it's on to Houston for a Sweet 16 matchup with Baylor, Old Dominion or Sam Houston State.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Yeah, like Larry Bird!!!
I wish people would find some more productive to do, than rah rah rah at some basketball team.
I think getting excited over basketball or any other sport is good for us. Rather watch them than listen to the news about all the people are shooting others or fat cats are ripping off USA. So, sit down and enjoy the excitment of something fun.
Sandy,
Your suggestions are respectfully noted.
Why did you read the article if you don't care about NCAA basketball. Oh, I see, just to have something to complain about.
I will not apologize for me enjoyment of watching KU basketball. ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS! Anything is productive if it produces a smile and connects you with others in a positive way!
So instead of "rah rah" for a basketball team, your idea of being more productive is to get on a web site and talk about people that "rah rah" for a basketball team? You are a real genius.
You haven't a clue what my idea of productive is. It ain't being a "fan", that's for sure. That's always been short for "fanatic", ya know.
Academedian - and i wish you would find something more productive to do than rant about the NCAA tournament. Even a guy that doesn't enjoy sports such as myself can still find this fun.
I'm glad Nova survived, but I can't help but to feel I shouldn't have taken them to the final four now. It looked like it'd be a cake walk, but you know what they say; "any given day".
You're right!
I will NEVER be the first blogger to comment on Fanhouse again! I don't even give a patoot!
Academedian, Good since we don't give a "patoot" about your opinions regarding something you neither care about and know nothing about. Tune into the debatehouse or lecturehouse websites where your opinions MAY be valued. Given your screen name I thought you might have expected the reaction you got, although that might fall under the category of commonsensian.
Did anybody watch this game? It was the most blatant case of referees deciding a game that I've ever seen. RMU was clearly the better team TODAY, and that officiating team decided that Villanova wasn't going to be upset. WOW, just wow.
Jane,
We're all colored. I'm kinda beige.
Nova and Big east sucks. 2 seed BS Temple got screwed. They're a 3 seed. It's all about the the $$$$. Even the refs chipped in with ticky tack fouls vs r Morris. Total disgrace the Committee is!
Why do basketball players when something good happens during their game, they open their mouth as wide as a basketball and roar like a lion? They just crack me up.
B ball is the same as slavery, a bunch of uneducated, illiterate, darkies with bad attitudes toward whity, being taken advantage of for the white man's gain. Need I say more?
TERRY IS DUM
Basketball is a game for coloreds.
I don't have a dog in this fight and admit that I didn't see the game, but people who know basketball that I respect tell me that the referees were in the tank for Villanova. Probably not bad officiating, but crooked officiating. It happens more often than we know and it's just terrible that this underdog scrappy team got screwed by a crooked ref who had a bet on Villanova.