'Cats fall to Hoyas on dubious call

Georgetown 55
Villanova 53
(box score)
ESPN video recap

Villanova: 14-9 (4-7 BE, 3-1 B5)
Georgetown: 20-3 (10-2 BE)

Next game: at St. John's, 02/15 at Madison Square Garden.

The Wildcats struggled through one of their ugliest games of the year to find themselves in a position to knock off the #8 Georgetown Hoyas at the game's end, only to have their hopes dashed by perhaps the most questionable call by a referee I have ever seen in any sporting event.

With the game tied with 30 seconds to play, Villanova had the ball. Scottie Reynolds killed 20 seconds of clock and began his drive to the basket. On his way, he drew significant contact with the Hoya defenders, but no foul was called. As he attempted to pass the ball back out to the perimeter, the Hoyas got some hands on the pass and the ball rolled toward the sideline.

Georgetown's Jon Wallace finally gained possession with just a few seconds left and started dribbling along the sideline, 80 feet from the Villanova basket. After Wallace appeared to step out of bounds, the official Bob Donato threw up his hand and blew the whistle, calling a blocking foul on Corey Stokes with one-tenth of one second remaining on the clock.

With Villanova in the double-penalty, Wallace sank both free throws to ice the game for the Hoyas. (After me made the first free throw, he should have intentionally missed the second, which would have given the Wildcats even less of an impossible chance to win the game.)

The foul called on Stokes was definitely of the phantom variety. There was little to no contact, and any contact was initiated by Wallace's forearm as he pushed Stokes from his path. With under a second on the clock and Wallace's head down, 75 feet from the basket, there was no chance Georgetown could have scored without a foul called.

Another issue was why more time was not puck back on the clock, as Wallace either stepped out of bounds or the referee's whistle had blown with more time than 0.1 second remaining.

The call was instantly and persistently derided by all three of ESPN's announcers. As color man Jay Bilas pointed out, there was far, far more contact on Reynolds's drive to the basket than on Sapp's dribble along the sideline.

You can watch a video of the game's closing seconds below in the embedded YouTube player:



I would hope that Villanova would lodge an official protest with the Big East Conference regarding this foul call.

On the one hand, Villanova played a top-10 team to a draw on its home court, and was robbed of overtime and a possible victory by a foul call not one in a 100 referees would make. On the other hand, Villanova did not play especially well, and it was a miracle the 'Cats were even in the game at the end.

Villanova struggled immensely to score, especially in the second half. The Wildcats connected on just 14 field goals in the entire game, and missed 19 straight shots in the second period.

If you'd like to read more about the intricacies of the actual game, check out the Let's Go Nova live blog we ran during the contest.

Congratulations to reader "BPeach01" for most closely predicting the game's final score.

Next up for Villanova is a trip Saturday night to Madison Square Garden in New York to take on the struggling St. John's Red Storm.

On to the player grades. "READ MORE" below for player performance grades and analysis.

• Malcolm Grant (DNP)

  The dramatic Malcolm Grant saga continues. The talented guard was dressed on the bench with the team, but once again saw no action whatsoever, for no known reason. If there is a good reason for his benching (and one would hope there is), Jay Wright needs to come out and say what the reason is. The silence, at this point, is not good for anyone. Despite rumors this weekend that Grant already decided to transfer, Grant was suited up and traveled with the team. That was the good news. The bad news for Wildcat fans is that the sharpshooting Grant was withheld from a game where Villanova missed 19 straight shots. Stay tuned this week as we hopefully learn more.
  Grade: DNP




• Scottie Reynolds (S, 39 min)

  Reynolds totally carried the Wildcats on his back Monday night, and if not for that horrendous call at the end, he may have even willed them to victory. Scottie scored 24 points on 6-13 shooting, including a decent 2-5 performance from behind the three-point arc. Reynolds was an excellent 10-13 from the foul line. It's really a shame that Reynolds had to account for 43 percent of the Wildcat field goals while playing less than 20 percent of the team's court minutes; someone else on the team needs to step up offensively when second-option Fisher is struggling. It was nice to see Reynolds get up for a dunk on a fast break tonight. If I am not mistaken, that was his first-ever dunk in a Villanova game.
  Grade: A




• Dante Cunningham (S, 29 min)

  Cunningham just missed a double-double, scoring 9 points and grabbing 10 rebounds against the Hoyas. He only managed one field goal, however. Cunningham picked up where he left off against Seton Hall at the foul line, shooting 7-8 from the stripe tonight. He seemed to hold his own in the paint on both ends of the floor, and in general it was an encouraging performance from Cunningham.
  Grade: B




• Corey Fisher (S, 27 min)

  Fisher turned in one of the all-time worst shooting performances I have ever seen in a single basketball game. You may want to sit down for this: Fisher shot an astonishing 1-16 from the field and 0-6 from the three. The fans they pull from the stands for halftime contests to win scholarships and car leases are more accurate than that. It was good to see Fisher, ever the gunslinger, try to shoot his way out of a slump, but sometimes enough is enough, especially when many of the shots were badly contested and of questionable discretion. Fisher also led the team in turnovers, with 3. His team-high 4 assists were the lone bright spot of Fisher's night and the only thing saving his grade from the dreaded "F." Fisher is a good player who will certainly improve upon his next outing, so look for a bounce back against the Red Storm in New York.
  Grade: D-




• Dwayne Anderson (S, 27 min)

  Anderson started his second straight game and showed why he has earned the increased minutes. His hustle was apparent in all aspects of the game, and he co-led the team in rebounds, with 10. Anderson also notched 1 assist and 1 steal and committed no turnovers. After scoring 13 points and hitting the game-winning three against Seton Hall on Saturday, Anderson cooled off significantly in Washington. Anderson shot 3-9, including 0-4 from the three, to score 9 points. Anderson is playing well, and his size and athleticism are useful for the Wildcats. If Anderson can turn himself into a bigger offensive weapon, he would bring the total package.
  Grade: B-




• Casiem Drummond (S, 21 min)

  Drummond struggled to put the ball in the hole, shooting 0-4 from the field and 1-2 from the line. He managed to grab 5 rebounds and did not get pushed around all that much by Hibbert.
  Grade: C-




• Antonio Pena (20 min)

  Pena shot 0-2 from the field to score just 2 points Monday night. What happened to the flashes of offensive firepower he showed earlier in the year? Pena grabbed 3 rebounds and committed 2 turnovers. He led the team in steals, with 2.
  Grade: C-





• Corey Stokes (18 min)

  Stokes started off strong with a couple of buckets, but his shooting struggles continue. If not for the dramatic Malcolm Grant plot, Stokes's woes from the three-point line would be the official mystery of the year. As the announcers mentioned on Monday, many scouts regarded Stokes as the best high-school shooter in the nation last year. Tonight, Stokes shot 3-7 from the field and 1-5 from behind the arc to score 7 points. He had 2 rebounds, 2 turnovers, and a steal. It was not a very good game from Stokes, but you can't fault him for the foul at the end, simply because that foul should never have been called.
  Grade: D+




• Shane Clark (14 min)

  Clark played 14 minutes and was totally ineffective. He was bad on offense, air-balling his only shot, a wide-open three point attempt at a crucial juncture in the game. He was even worse, however, on defense, allowing the Hoyas several easy looks. It's a shame to say this, considering Clark is an upperclassman and a captain, but he really should not be seeing the court at all these days.
  Grade: F





• Reggie Redding (5 min)

  Redding missed all 3 of his shots and contributed nothing else to the box score but a turnover. This team is really missing Grant on the floor.
  Grade: D-





• Incomplete grades: Frank Tchuisi (0+ min)



• Did not play: Malcolm Grant (CD), Jason Colenda (CD).