The Sweet 16 was not meant to be for the Villanova Wildcats as they fell tonight 77-65 to the UConn Huskies in Buffalo, New York. The Wildcats will miss the Sweet 16 for a second year in a row.
The Wildcats had a 10 point lead in the first half but that was diminished by halftime as UConn led 25-24. After the half, Villanova’s Ryan Arcidiacono hit a three to give the Wildcats a 27-24 lead but that woke up UConn and Shabazz Napier. Napier led the charge for the Huskies as he channeled his inner Kemba Walker scoring 25 points on 9 of 13 shooting.
He was also deadly late in the second half despite injuring his lower leg, he hit three three pointers from distance to keep the Wildcats at bay. Also helping out the Huskies tonight was their bench. Their bench was more productive than the Wildcats’ bench and it showed. Villanova couldn’t get their offense going while UConn could.
UConn’s bench scored 26 points while Villanova’s bench scored five points. Another factor in Villanova losing tonight was their offense and defense. The Wildcats only shot 35.3 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from the three point line. At many times in the game, you had to believe Villanova lived and died by the three this season and it was going to comeback and haunt them.
On the defensive side, Villanova couldn’t get a stop when they needed to because Shabazz Napier made some amazing plays. UConn’s offense shot 44.2 percent from the floor and 45 percent from the three point line. Needless to say, the stats do not lie. The better team won tonight.
Villanova, who was the two seed in the NCAA Tournament, now wonders what could have been as they travel home tonight. If they had won, they would be playing in the Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden but that honor now goes to the seven seed UConn Huskies.
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