Villanova beats Marquette at buzzer
posted by Pete @ LetsGoNova.com3/13/2009 02:40:00 AM
Villanova escaped Madison Square Garden on Wednesday with an unlikely one-point victory over Marquette, 76-75.
The Wildcats won the game on a dramatic Dwayne Anderson layup that beat the buzzer, but not before rolling around the rim for a few revolutions after time expired.
Villanova had led by 16 at the half before blowing that entire margin in the second period.
With the win, Villanova goes a long way in securing a top-3 seed in the NCAA tournament, and the increased likelihood of playing the first round in Philadelphia that goes with it. By stealing this game by one point, the Wildcats avoided being a part of the day's rampant carnage in the top-15 -- Clemson, Kansas, Oklahoma, Pitt, and UConn all lost. (Losing in six overtimes is still a loss, although it feels closer to a tie.)
Villanova now looks to have secured a 3-seed in the big dance, with a 2-seed within reach if the Wildcats keep winning.
No grades for this game, since I just got back from New York, and the Louisville game starts in 15 hours.
If you want to see what I thought of the game, check out the intermittent Tweeting sent in from my mobile phone during the game.
Congratulations to reader Mills for most closely predicting the final score.
Next up for the Wildcats is #1 conference seed Louisville in the first semifinal on Friday evening.
The Wildcats won the game on a dramatic Dwayne Anderson layup that beat the buzzer, but not before rolling around the rim for a few revolutions after time expired.
Villanova had led by 16 at the half before blowing that entire margin in the second period.
With the win, Villanova goes a long way in securing a top-3 seed in the NCAA tournament, and the increased likelihood of playing the first round in Philadelphia that goes with it. By stealing this game by one point, the Wildcats avoided being a part of the day's rampant carnage in the top-15 -- Clemson, Kansas, Oklahoma, Pitt, and UConn all lost. (Losing in six overtimes is still a loss, although it feels closer to a tie.)
Villanova now looks to have secured a 3-seed in the big dance, with a 2-seed within reach if the Wildcats keep winning.
No grades for this game, since I just got back from New York, and the Louisville game starts in 15 hours.
If you want to see what I thought of the game, check out the intermittent Tweeting sent in from my mobile phone during the game.
Congratulations to reader Mills for most closely predicting the final score.
Next up for the Wildcats is #1 conference seed Louisville in the first semifinal on Friday evening.
Labels: BET, big east tournament, bracketology, Marquette, seeding
2 Comments:
Buzz is getting killed on the Marquette boards for instructing McNeal to shoot early. I'm glad Jay told the guys to NOT foul.
A coach makes the decisions, and the players validate them. He let's the chips fall where they may. If McNeal would have scored then Buzz is a genius.
Buzz Williams really coached a great game. I love the way he instructed his player to shoot with 15 seconds left when he could have let it run down to 5.
If there was ever a brilliant coaching performance in a loss, this was it. Jay was so lucky that he didn't blow the game.
By the way, www.wfan.com has an interview with Jay archived from yesterday. Mentions why he used his last time out with 40 seconds to go, and how it was a brilliant move. He wanted to put in his defensive team and make sure they were all on the same page defensively. BRILLIANT coaching by Jay, man is a genius.
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