Dec. 22, 2008
The final margin was 78-68 but anyone who was inside the Pavilion on the final Monday night before Christmas would hardly have described Villanova's win over Navy as routine. That included the Wildcats' head coach, Jay Wright, who felt equal parts pride and relief in watching his team get tested in earnest by a squad led by his former aide Billy Lange.
"If you're a Navy fan or part of their program you have to feel good about coming in here and playing like that," stated Wright. "I'm sure Billy would rather win but I think they have got to walk out of here proud. They played better than our team did tonight. We just had Dante (Cunningham) who was maybe just a little more talented but they played better as a team."
Cunningham and Scottie Reynolds combined for 47 points and helped the `Cats, fresh from an eight day break for exams, stave off a serious challenge from the Mids. Although the Midshipmen never led, they kept chipping away at Villanova's lead and were within 67-64 with 2:38 left on the clock.
The long layoff - VU last played on Dec. 14, when it downed La Salle 70-59 at Tom Gola Arena - may well have been a factor. But Wright wasn't of a mind to point to that as a reason the Mids were able to make the Wildcats squirm over the game's final 10 minutes.
"It was definitely the case (that we were ragged)," said Wright. "We really take pride in not allowing that to happen. As a staff, we try to work at that and obviously didn't do a good enough job. We depend on our leadership to take care of that and they didn't do a good enough job.
"We hear that all of the time. We see it happen to teams. We do everything we can to prepare for that not to happen. But we didn't do a good job. I think you've got to give them credit too. They were up six on Virginia Tech at halftime. They're a good team.
"It was our attention to detail. It was losing (Chris Harris) early. (It was) offensive rebounds in the first half, missing free throws, all of that."
Indeed, Navy's Harris got into a groove rarely seen by an opposing player at the Pavilion. He finished with 30 points, including 8-of-10 from beyond the 3-point arc. That latter number ties an opponent record against Villanova for 3-point field goals made, set previously by Delray Brooks of Providence and Jason Maile of Pittsburgh.
"I thought we didn't do a good job of finding him early and once you let a shooter like that get it going he becomes really difficult to stop," Wright noted. "I actually didn't think we did a bad job as the game wore on against him but he had it going and we had a tough time slowing him down."
As a unit, Navy sank 14-of-28 from 3-point territory.
Despite his misgivings about the overall performance, Wright was glad to have had his team in a late-game situation where making plays down the stretch was vital.
"You feel the tension," stated Wright. "With the way they were shooting threes when they get it to three, you know this is how you get beat in games like this. They're feeling good, making shots and you're not. You're getting open shots and missing them. And the pressure is on you.
"So it is good to experience that. I'd rather have waited for a Big East game but it will be good for us."
Cunningham says it can be a challenge to put aside the previous seven days of academic work and regain the kind of mental focus needed to excel at this level.
"It's about 50-50," stated Cunningham, who led the `Cats with 24 points. "You definitely are a student-athlete first and you are in the books for the past week. As much as you want to be out there on the court you have to be studying a certain amount of time so you can pass the finals and stay eligible."
Reynolds, who complemented Cunningham's output with 23 points, agreed that once the Midshipmen found their offensive groove, it wasn't easy to slow them.
"Once (Harris) got it going it was hard to stop him," noted Reynolds. "Once he started hitting threes then he would make plays for his teammates. That's something we have to work on. We just have to do a better job. There are no excuses about finals. We prepared to play a game today. Give the credit to Navy but we have to look ourselves in the eye and know we have to get better."
The view from the other sidelined looked, as you might expect, a bit different.
"We came in here hoping to win, thinking we could win and expecting to win," said Lange, who served from 2001-04 under Wright. "But we played against a good team that doesn't beat itself. We come out of here with a loss. There are no moral victories but I'm encouraged by the progress we are making.
"This was a great time of my life being here (at Villanova). I got engaged and married here, had our first child here. Coach Wright is a mentor to me and this community has done so much for our lives. Once you're part of Villanova, you feel like it sticks with you the rest of your life. We'll keep coming back if Coach will have us. We'd like to get one win on occasion.
"They've got a great team. They don't beat themselves. They don't turn it over, make their free throws, share the basketball, pass it well and I think they'll have a great season."
- MIKE SHERIDAN
