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.

And it was Foye who came onto the floor for overtime with a confident smile on his face, holding his index finger up for all of the ’Nova fans to see.

Of course, it’s easy to smile when you’re on your game, quite another when shots aren’t falling. But you’d never have known the rest of the Wildcats were struggling. They simply turned up the pressure at the other end, harassing the Eagles and forcing them into 21 turnovers — miscues that might very well have been the difference in the game.

They never let Craig Smith or Jared Dudley find their rhythms, either. Each had 14 points, but neither was allowed to take over the game. Smith may as well have tied one arm behind his back for the last 10 minutes, playing with four fouls.

“The real good teams and the real great teams find a way to win when you’re not making shots,” Ray said. “As a team, that’s something that we take pride in.”

As the night wore on, the Wildcats only grew bolder. Coming back from what seemed like certain defeat will do that for a team.

“It was all about will and you just don’t want to go home,” said Ed Pinckney, the star of the ’85 team that won Villanova’s only national title. “They didn’t want to go home, and we didn’t want to go home.”

Not without a trophy, they don’t.

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