After OT win, maybe it really is ’Nova’s year
‘Gutsy’ Wildcats probably didn’t deserve to beat BC, but they refused to lose
 Ann Heisenfelt / AP Boston College's Sean Marshall, right, tries to knock the ball away from Villanova's Randy Foye. With a dramatic win in the Sweet 16 on Friday, the Wildcats showed that maybe this could be a magical year for them, writes columnist Nancy Armour. |
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MINNEAPOLIS - By almost every measure, the Villanova Wildcats should be trudging back to Philadelphia, wondering how it all went wrong.
They scrapped their vaunted four-guard attack in the opening minutes of the game after seeing it was no match for the taller, heftier Boston College. Allan Ray had one of his more miserable nights, and the rest of Villanova’s offense wasn’t much better. It took almost 38 minutes for the Wildcats to get their first lead, and even then it was fleeting.
Yet there they were at the end of the night Friday, yelling and screaming and hugging each other like it was 1985. Even Rollie Massimino was dancing — or something close to it — when the Villanova band played the fight song during a late timeout.
It almost makes you think this really might be the Wildcats’ year. How else to explain the final score of Villanova 60, Boston College 59 that sends the Wildcats into the regional finals for the first time since 1988? And in overtime, no less, with a gutsy call by the referees on the decisive basket.
Boston College’s Sean Williams was called for goaltending on a Will Sheridan layup with three seconds left in overtime, putting Villanova ahead by one. Replays showed it was the right call.
“We find a way to win,” Massimino said. “We really have gutsy kids.”
Led by Ray and fellow senior Randy Foye, Villanova has put together one of its best seasons ever, winning a school-record 28 games and earning its first No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. But it also spent much of the year in the shadows of fellow Big East beast Connecticut, a popular pick to win the national title even before Duke’s stunning loss to LSU.
A Big East team may very well end up in the title game, but after Friday night, don’t be surprised if it’s Villanova.
The Wildcats don’t seem like one of those grind-it-out teams that’s having a blockbuster night if it hits 60. They average almost 74 points a game, and all four of their guards score in double figures.
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But they can get gritty when they have to.
“I know no one believes us, but these are the types of games that we like,” Foye said. “Just grind it out, play defense and rebound.”
They had little choice. The Wildcats missed 13 of their first 16 shots, and didn’t hit anything outside 5 feet until four minutes left in the first half. They trailed by as much as 16 points in the first half and nine in the second.
After scoring 44 points in Villanova’s first- and second-round wins, Ray managed a grand total of nine. Credit the defense of former Big East rival BC for much of his struggles, but he couldn’t get it going outside, either.
“I was a little nervous,” Massimino said. “But that’s all right. We’ve been down before.”
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Playing all 45 minutes, Foye was brilliant. He didn’t make his first field goal until there was 3:56 left in the first half, but he finished with 29 points, his second-most of the year and only three off his career high. It was his free throws that gave Villanova its first lead with 2:18 to play, and his short jumper that forced Boston College to make a 3 to send the game into overtime.
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