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Villanova basketball season review: Part 2 - NCAA Tournament
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In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Villanova Wildcats were matched up with the feisty American University Eagles team, the champions of the Patriot League. Coming into the game, the Cats knew they were playing against some talented players like guards Garrison Carr and Derrick Mercer and forward Brian Gilmore. The Eagles caught Villanova off-guard a bit as they torched the Nova defense for 41 first-half points. Heading into the locker room, American had a ten point lead, 41-31.
With Scottie Reynolds and Reggie Redding having off-nights, Dante Cunningham and Dwayne Anderson each scored 25 points to lead the Wildcat comeback. American had no answer for Cunningham inside and Anderson shot an amazing 9-of-10 from the field. In the second half, Nova scored 49 points and held the Eagles to only 26 points, holdi.jpg)
ng the sharp-shooting Carr in check after a monster first-half.
ng the sharp-shooting Carr in check after a monster first-half.With the 80-67 first round win over American in the books, the Wildcats were preparing for a matchup the number-six seeded UCLA Bruins; a program with a rich tradition of success in the NCAA Tournament. Great veteran players like forward Josh Shipp and point guard Darren Collison along with superstar freshman Jrue Holliday, the Bruins would be a tough team to beat.
But Coach Jay Wright had his team prepared and their defense frustrated the Bruins all game. Nova forced UCLA to commit 20 turnovers, including five by the normally steady Collison. Cunningham once again had his way inside with 18 points and 10 rebounds of 7-of-11 shooting from the field. He led five other Wildcat players in double figures, including Reynolds and Corey Fisher each with 13 points. Villanova led 44-31 at halftime and never looked back, holding the Bruins at bay and getting the 89-69 victory to advance to the Sweet 16.
So what was the prize for getting to the Sweet 16? Villanova was awarded with a matchup against the Duke Blue Devils. Duke matched up very well with the Wildcats with athletic forwards Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler and an array of talented guards including Jon Scheyer. But once again, just like against UCLA, Coach Wright came up with a great defensive game plan and his players executed to perfection.
The Wildcats held Henderson to 1-of-14 shooting while Scheyer shot only 3-of-18 from the field despite putting in 13 points. It took a while for Villanova’s offense to get going as they only led at halftime by a score of 29-26. But in the second half, Reynolds and Cunningham took charge and combined for 30 total points. In the end, Villanova crushed the Dukies by a final score of 77-54.
In the Elite Eight round, the Wildcats were set to battle a familiar foe, the Pittsburgh Panthers. During the regular season, Nova had defeated the Panthers in a Big East Conference matchup at the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia. But with this game being the last before the Final Four, Coach Wright and Villanova knew that it would be a tough one to win. Pittsburgh had the big man inside, DeJuan Blair, who had been having a great NCAA Tournament. Even with Cunningham’s presence, Blair was going to be a tough matchup for the Wildcats.
In the first half, Villanova kept Blair in check for the most part denying the ball inside. But forward Sam Young was unstoppable and finished with 28 points, carrying the loan for most of the first half. Even with Young’s outstanding play, Nova hung in there with the help of Cunnigham and Reynolds and found themselves only down two points, 34-32, at halftime. In the second half, Blair started to get some more looks inside and actually finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for the game, including going a perfect 9-of-9 from the field.
With the game tied at 76-76 with under ten seconds remaining, the Wildcats ran a perfect play allowing Reynolds to drive in and make a game-winning layup with 0.5 second remaining. That layup put Villanova into the Final Four for the first time since 1985, when they won the program’s only National Championship.
Even though the Wildcats would lose to the eventual National Champion, North Carolina, in the National Semi-final game, they had a great season and accomplished more than anyone could have imagined at the start of the season. 2009 marked the fifth year in a row that Villanova has made the NCAA Tournament and four out of those five years they made the Sweet 16. Despite the losses of seniors Dante Cunningham and Dwayne Anderson, Nova still has a lot of returning players including Reynolds, Redding, Fisher and Corey Stokes. Combine that with a top-notch recruiting class, the Wildcats will be back to compete in the 2009-2010 season.
For more info: Think Philly Sports, Sports Journey
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