Malcolm grants 'Nova's comeback wish

Villanova 68
Louisiana State 67
(box score)

LSU: 5-3 (0-0 SEC)
#21 Villanova: 6-1 (0-0 BE, 1-0 B5)

Next game: at Temple, 12/9 at the Liacouras Center.

Did that just happen?

That was the prevailing sentiment tonight at the Wachovia Center as the clock neared midnight, and Villanova fans stood awestruck after the Wildcats completed one of the greatest comebacks in the history of college basketball.

Trailing by 21 with 8:50 to play, Villanova looked dead in the water against the athletic LSU Tigers in the inaugural Big East/SEC invitational. When LSU's Terry Martin hit a three to give the Tigers their largest lead of the night at that 8:50 mark, many 'Nova fans headed for the exits.

You can hardly blame them. It looked bad for the Wildcats. Scottie Reynolds struggled. Corey Fisher couldn't do much. Reggie Redding was having his shots blocked left and right.

Enter Malcolm Grant.

Grant, the freshman point guard, was perhaps the least heralded member of the recruiting class of 2007. Checking in at the absolute low-point for the 'Cats during a timeout at 8:48, however, Grant went to work.

Grant sparked the 'Cats to life, dishing an assist and then a hitting a three at the 6:05 mark, the first Villanova trifecta of the game. Grant's triple brought the 'Cats to within 15 at the 6-minute mark, and gave some hope to the few remaining fans.

The Tigers fought back, however, and when Marcus Thornton tipped in an offensive board to make it 64-49 with three minutes to play, it looked like the Wildcats' effort would be too little, too late.

Trailing by 15 with 2:59 on the clock, Grant launched a three that found the bottom of the net, and was fouled. He hit the free throw to bring Villanova to within 11. A turnover by LSU gave Grant the opportunity to sink yet another three, and suddenly the 'Cats trailed by 8, and the Villanova faithful started to believe.

Just after hitting his third three of the game, Grant stole the inbounds pass and dished to a wide-open Reggie Redding, who laid it in, cutting the lead to 6 with 2:19 to play in the erupting Wachovia Center.

Grant would go on to hit seven consecutive free throws, bringing the 'Cats to within a single point. Down one with the ball and 10 seconds remaining, Grant drove to the lane and got off a layup that missed, long. Dante Cunningham tipped the miss in with 5.9 seconds remaining in the game to give Villanova its first lead.

LSU missed its desperation three-point heave, and the Wildcats escaped with the most improbable of victories.

Make no mistake, this was a gutsy win for Villanova. Sparked by Grant's offensive firepower and hustle, and by the fouling out of shot-blocker Anthony Randoph with four minutes the play, the 'Cats willed out a victory.

LSU, for its part, collapsed -- epically. No matter how much guts a team has, it cannot come back from a 15-point deficit in three minutes without the leading team making some major errors. LSU left the door open, and Malcolm Grant and his teammates came charging through.

If you haven't already, check out the box score. It's incredible. After scoring just 33 points in the first 32 minutes of the game, Villanova exploded for 35 points in the final 8 minutes.

In the game, Villanova was tied for 36 seconds, trailed for an astonishing 39 minutes and 18.1 seconds, and led for just 5.9 seconds. The largest lead for LSU was 21; for Villanova, it was just 1, and for less than 6 seconds, at that.

Take a look at ESPN's "game flow" chart below. It's almost as unbelievable as the game itself.



If you want to see the amazing comeback again (and again), you can watch it on ESPN360 for at least the next few days.

Even though Villanova did get the win, there were some troubling aspects of the game. LSU dominated for much of the game, and the Wildcat offense sputtered and nearly died. Villanova was only able to attempt 2 three-pointers in the first half, and finished the game a pitiful 3-9 from behind the arc. No Wildcat not named Malcolm Grant was able to put one in from long range.

LSU's defense was brilliant, and the 'Cats could not counter. LSU used its long, athletic wingmen to over-defend the perimeter, denying the Wildcats open looks for jumpshots. Villanova responded by driving into the lane, but more often than not, its shots there were blocked or hugely influenced by LSU's pair of 6-11 forwards.

Villanova's advantage in the backcourt was completely nullified. Leading scorer Scottie Reynolds was held to 1-8 from the field, and the freshman sensation Corey Fisher managed the same numbers. Reggie Redding was an even-worse 3-13. Amazingly, many of the Wildcat points came from big men in the post, an area where they were supposedly out-matched. Only Grant, Dante Cunningham, and Casiem Drummond scored in double figures, and those three accounted for 65 percent of Villanova's total points.

Another troubling area from the game was free-throw shooting. After leading the entire NCAA in foul-shooting last season, Villanova hit absolute rock bottom tonight, missing 9 of its first 12 free throws. Though the Wildcats did heat up from the line later in the game, foul-shooting is something the team needs to improve upon as soon as possible if its NCAA Tournament hopes are to remain viable.

Congratulations to readers Bits and Steve for most closely predicting tonight's final score.

Next up for Villanova is Big Five rival Temple at the Liacouras Center on Sunday.

There's not much I can do for player grades tonight. The box score speaks for itself. For the first 32 minutes, Villanova played some of the ugliest basketball I've seen in the Jay-Wright era. But the team managed to gut out the win and complete one of the greatest comebacks anyone has ever seen.

Malcolm Grant gets a solid A, and everyone else gets an A for effort.

Trust me, though, those first 32 minutes were not pretty; let's hope we do not see a stretch like that again this year.