PORTLAND, Ore. – For the third time in as many games away from home, Villanova dug itself out of a large hole only to fall short in a one-possession contest, dropping an 81-79 overtime decision to Iowa State Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the PK Invitational at the Moda Center here.
 
Villanova scored the final seven points of regulation to force overtime after trailing by as many as 16 points in the second half. The game followed a similar script to other nip and tuck losses at Temple and Michigan State earlier this month. The Wildcats' three losses have come by a total of eight points.
 
"We lost to a really good team," said Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. "They played really hard, set the tone early. We threw some punches at them but, to their credit. they had a lot of resolve. That's an extremely well-coached, disciplined team that plays really hard. Hats off to them. We've got another game tomorrow."
 
Indeed, the Wildcats face Portland at 3 p.m. eastern at Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Friday. The Pilots pushed No. 1 North Carolina to the wire before losing 89-81 in the opening game of the session at the Moda Center. ESPN 2 will have the television broadcast (Kevin Brown and Robbie Hummel) while Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby handle the Nova Nation radio assignment on the Villanova Sports Network. 
 
Caleb Daniels (25 points) and Eric Dixon (21 points) led the way for Villanova. Ga Kalscheur topped the Cyclones with 23 points.
 
Iowa State jumped out to a 7-3 lead before Dixon connected on three consecutive 3-pointers to help the Wildcats grab a 12-7 lead over the Cyclones. Daniels was subsequently fouled on a 3-point attempt with 15:12 left in the first half and hit two to make it an 11-0 run.
 
The Cyclones used a 7-0 run to cut their deficit to 17-16 with 11:39 left in the period. A Kalscheur 3-pointer gave Iowa State back the lead at 19-17. A second 7-0 surge helped Iowa State build a 26-19 advantage before a Chris Arcidiacono 3-pointer halted the burst. With 7:05 to play until halftime, Villanova trailed 26-22.
 
One important edge was found in the points off turnovers column. The Cyclones held a 10-0 edge in that department at this juncture of the contest.
 
"They way they play is pretty unique with how they pressure you. It's really hard to simulate in practice," noted Neptune. "I thought it took us a while to get settled in. We were discombobulated and on our heels for a stretch there."
 
The Wildcats, though, battled their way back to a tie at 30 after a Brandon Slater 3-ball from the right corner. Iowa State scored the next four points, but the final four points of the period were scored at the free throw line by Villanova (Slater with two and Jordan Longino with a pair).
 
At halftime, the game was tied at 34.
 
Two turnovers on the first three Villanova possessions of the second half helped Iowa State score the first seven points of the period in just 1:47 of action. The Cyclones added seven of the next 11 points to craft their largest lead of the afternoon to that point, 51-35 with 14: 53 to play in the second half.
 
By that point, the Cyclones had extended their advantage in points off turnovers to 16-2.
 
"I thought they made some tough shots to start the second half," said Neptune. "They moved the ball extremely well and mixed up going inside and then making some tough, timely shots on the perimeter."
 
But Villanova hung tough, using a 9-0 run that was capped by a Chris Arcidiacono 3-pointer to close to within 51-44 with 12:37 on the second half clock. The Wildcats' defense – Iowa State was 2-of-11 from the field with six turnovers in one stretch of 4:53 – helped close the margin to 55-49 with 7:48 to play in the second half.
 
The 'Cats kept scrapping, but the Cyclones had answers. A Dixon free throw closed the gap to 62-57 but a traditional 3-point play by Iowa State pushed the lead to 65-57 with just more than two minutes to play. It moved to 67-60 but Villanova scored the final seven points of the period, including two clutch free throws with 10.8 seconds on the clock from Slater, to tie the game and force overtime.
 
The Cyclones got a corner 3-pointer from Caleb Grill on their opening possession of the extra session to take a 70-67 lead. Two Daniels free throws cut the advantage to 70-69. But Iowa State got a 3-pointer from Kalscheur to move the lead to 75-71 with 2:34 on the clock. A Daniels free throw and Dixon putback basket closed the gap to 75-74 when Iowa State called for time with 43.2 seconds on the overtime clock.
 
A low post basket by Osunniyi with 34 seconds left put the Cyclones up 77-74. Two free throws by Tamin Lipsey after a 'Cats turnover made it 79-74 before a Daniels driving basket brought Nova to within 79-76. But two more Lipsey free throws got the margin back to five points with 9.5 seconds on the clock.
 
Daniels sank a 3-pointer with 2.0 seconds remaining, making it 81-79. But Iowa State was able to inbound the basketball and run out the remaining clock to improve its record to 4-0. The Wildcats fell to 2-3 overall.
 
"For us, it's always the next game mentality," Daniels stated. "We know we've got to stick together. Regardless of wins or losses, we do the same thing: work to get better. What takes that pressure off is knowing we have each other and that next game, next rep, mentality."