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| Villanova's Corey Fisher epitomizes the Wildcats' emotions following last night's loss to North Carolina (Eric Gay/AP) |
Nova's Wild Ride Comes To An End In Final Four Loss To UNC
By BRENDAN F. QUINN
The Bulletin
Detroit – The magic of 1985 wasn’t found in Detroit.
Having slayed back-to-back giants in Boston last week, Villanova’s momentous run to the Final Four ended last night in the Motor City. Opposed by the feverish offensive attack of North Carolina, the Wildcats’ season concluded with an 83-69 loss in the national semifinals.
Third-seeded Villanova faced a better team and lost. It was simple as that.
“We didn’t play our best game,” Nova coach Jay Wright admitted. “The No. 1 reason is Carolina played better tonight. You got to give them credit. But there are things we could have done and should have done that we have to learn from.”
Headlining the list of things the Wildcats could have done better is the most basic principle of the game – they needed to score in order to hang with the Tar Heels’ thoroughbreds. Villanova actually converted more field goals than top-seeded Carolina (26 to 25), but attempted 17 more shots.
For much of the evening at Ford Field, Roy Williams’ team was downright potent. They jumped all over the Wildcats and never looked back.
“They did a great job of coming up with big-time loose balls, offensive rebounds and second-chance points,” said junior Scottie Reynolds, who led Villanova with 17 points on 6-of-18 shooting. “That kind of put us down. We tried to keep a good attitude.”
But North Carolina made that very difficult. The Tar Heels overwhelmed the Wildcats out of the gates.
Junior Wayne Ellington, a product of Episcopal Academy, drained his first three 3-pointers to spark the Tar Heels early. Before Villanova knew it, North Carolina had made 10 of its first 15 field-goal attempts and built a 26-12 lead.
It got worse before it got better.
Seemingly racing up and down the floor unimpeded, the Tar Heels stretched their lead to 47-31 with 4:06 remaining before the half. At times, it seemed like they had six players on the floor. Tyler Hansbrough was living on the line, as usual, and Ty Lawson was going wherever he wanted. A 20-point halftime deficit for the Cats looked imminent, but Carolina cooled a bit to end the half.
Villanova closed with a 9-2 spurt to cut the Heels’ lead to under 10 going into the locker room, 49-40.
“We felt pretty good, in the hole we had been in, to be down nine,” Reynolds said. “We hadn’t played our best basketball.”
For an instant, it appeared Villanova was going to make a run at the Tar Heels, despite clearly being overmatched. To open the second half, a 3-pointer by Reggie Redding was followed by a baseline jumper from Shane Clark. Somehow, North Carolina’s lead had been cut to five points.
But as quickly as Carolina can let you back into a game, it can bury you all over again. Two 3-pointers by the Tar Heels’ Danny Green powered a 9-0 run over the next three minutes. The Wildcats would go on to trail by double figures the rest of the way.
“That’s what’s scary about them, is their runs,” Wright said. “You have to score, because when you’re missing shots, they’re out (running).”
Over the game’s final 10 minutes, both teams were spent. Drained from head to toe. Nearly every dead ball saw hands go to knees, especially on the Villanova side.
With 3:42 remaining and the end of the road standing before him, Villanova’s Corey Fisher sulked after being called for a foul. The scoreboard read 77-63.
“Let’s go Fish, head up,” Wright hollered. “We ain’t going home this way.”
Having gone round-for-round with three of the nation’s top six teams in their final three games, the Wildcats (30-8) had no reason not to stand tall.
Needing a miracle to keep their season alive, reality sunk in on the bench over those final two minutes.
Assistant coach Pat Chambers winced and shook his head. The game could have been his last under Wright. Chambers’ name has been included in rumors for head coaching openings, most notably Boston University.
Senior Dante Cunningham watched helplessly. He fouled out and watched time expire on his college career. He was joined on the bench by fellow seniors Dwayne Anderson, Clark and Frank Tchuisi.
“It’s hard to believe this thing is over,” said Cunningham, who finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds. “It obviously hurts.”
The senior class of Cunningham, Anderson, Clark and Tchuisi leaves Villanova as the winningest class in program history with a 102-37 overall record. All season long, Wright showered praise over his four seniors. They were the linchpin for a team that climbed higher than anyone could have fathomed.
“I’m going to make sure they’re celebrated,” Wright promised.
Watching the Wildcats play on college basketball’s biggest stage last night, it was incredible to think of how improbable this run was. In early January, Villanova’s biggest concern was landing a bye in the Big East tournament. And there the Cats were last night, clawing for a chance to compete for the national championship.
They came up short, but this team will long be remembered.
“We are a family,” Cunningham said. “The hardest part is knowing that I’ll never play with these 13 guys again.”
Lawson led Carolina’s balanced attack with 22 points and eight assists. Ellington poured in 20 and Hansbrough added 18 to go with 11 rebounds.
The Tar Heels (33-4) will face Michigan State (31-6) tomorrow night for the national title. Fueled by its hometown Motown crowd, the second-seeded Spartans stepped on the gas in the second half and blew past top-seeded Connecticut, 82-73, in the night’s opening soiree.
For Villanova, though, the run is over.
The Cats will be watching on TV tomorrow from the Main Line.
Wright will make sure their heads are up.
“There’s nothing wrong with hurting and nothing wrong with failure,” he said. “We gave it everything we got.”
Brendan F. Quinn can be reached at bquinn@thebulletin.us
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