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'Nova bursts into Final Four on dramatic finish

Reynolds' mad dash, score with .5 seconds left caps 78-76 win vs. No. 1 Pitt

Villanova, which beat Pitt back in January, got there in a way that would make the big, bruising Big East proud.

Pittsburgh guard Jermaine Dixon left for most of the second half after landing awkwardly — in the splits — before Villanova’s Shane Clark landed on his left leg.

Blair played the second half with blood stains from an unknown victim streaking his shorts. Two Pitt players came over the first-row press table during the game, sending monitors and telephones and a pair of New York sports writers a-skitter.

The Panthers played Steelers-style basketball, but every time they sent Villanova to the line the Wildcats calmly sank them — until Redding missed with a chance to make it a five-point game with 20 seconds left. Blair scored on a layup with 13 seconds to go, and then Redding tried a full-court inbounds pass that Dixon gathered in.

Fields sank two free throws to tie it — the 10th tie of the game.

Villanova held Pitt to one basket in the first 4:59 and opened a 10-3 lead, making it 22-12 midway through the first half before the Panthers scored eight straight. Fields got it started with a 3-pointer, and Blair cut it to two points on a three-point play with just under eight minutes remaining.

Pitt trailed by three with several chances to tie it before Fields stepped back and hit a 3-pointer — the mirror-image of his game-winning shot from the regional semifinal over Xavier — to make it 30-all with 1:50 left in the half. After trading free throws, Young hit a pair with 4 seconds left to give Pittsburgh a 34-32 halftime lead.

The Panthers are 27-3 when leading at the half; two of the losses were to Villanova, which won the regular-season meeting between the cross-state rivals 67-57.

© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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