Recap: Villanova vs. Robert Morris
Sports Network | March 18, 2010
Providence, RI (Sports Network) - Scottie Reynolds was held out of the starting lineup by head coach Jay Wright, but came off the bench to score five of his team-high 20 points in overtime, as Villanova escaped with a 73-70 win over Robert Morris in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Reynolds and Corey Fisher did not start for what Wright termed a "minor teaching point," related to game preparation. Maalik Wayns started for Reynolds and Corey Stokes replaced Fisher for Villanova (25-7), which is the second seed in the South Region.
"Corey and Scottie as starters, we expect excellence out of them in everything we do," Wright said. "There's a little thing about game preparation. They're wonderful kids. Nothing off the court, nothing in practice. Just game preparation, preparing for the game. They weren't at a level that they should be, and I wanted to make the point."
Mouphtaou Yarou turned in a solid game with 17 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for the Wildcats, who will play 10th-seeded Saint Mary's in the second round. Taylor King ended with 10 points.
Villanova, which is trying to get back to the Final Four after getting knocked out by North Carolina last year, had dropped five of its last seven matchups entering the contest.
"I'm going to start by saying how impressed I was with Robert Morris," Wright said. "What a great team. Great effort. I love their guards. Mike Rice does an outstanding job with that team."
Karon Abraham led all scorers with 23 points, while Mezie Nwigwe went for 13 points, but missed a potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer for Robert Morris (23-12), which was making its second straight appearance in the tourney and the seventh overall in school history. The Colonials fell to 1-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
Fisher started overtime with a short jumper to spark a 6-0 run, which put Villanova up 64-58. Then, with 1:15 left, Reynolds buried his only three with the shot clock winding down for a 67-61 advantage.
The teams continued to trade points down the stretch, and Reggie Redding made 1-of-2 from the stripe for a 71-67 Villanova lead with 16 seconds left. Abraham then hit a quick three-pointer to make it a one-point game, and Robert Morris fouled Reynolds on the inbound.
The senior converted both, and after a Villanova timeout with nine ticks on the clock, the Colonials were forced to go the length of the court with no timeouts. Nwigwe's off-balance three was off the mark as time expired.
Robert Morris held a 28-22 lead at the break and continued to play in front in the second half. Abraham's four-point play gave the Colonials a 42-34 edge with 11:05 remaining.
Robert Morris stayed in front and, after the teams traded runs, the Colonials led 55-47 with a little over four minutes left. But the Wildcats drew even with free throws, hitting eight in a row from the stripe. Reynolds made the final six to even the contest.
With just over a minute to play, Abraham banked in a tough running layup to put Robert Morris in front 58-56, but Yarou quickly answered with a layup of his own on the next Wildcats possession.
Abraham's jumper came up short on the Colonials' next trip and Villanova decided to run the clock down and a settle for a final look. However, Reynolds' driving attempt at the basket was swatted away with 0.9 seconds left.
The Wildcats called timeout to draw up a final play, but Maurice Sutton was unable to tap home the inbound pass.
Robert Morris dictated the pace for much of the opening half. Abraham hit back-to-back three-pointers as part of an 8-0 run that give the Colonials a 13-9 lead.
Villanova later went scoreless for a period of about six minutes as Robert Morris built its advantage to 19-11 with 6:13 left in the first half.
A Nwigwe layup put the Colonials up nine with 2:17 to play before King closed the period's scoring with a trey to get the Wildcats within six at halftime.
Robert Morris was attempting to become only the fifth No. 15 seed to upset a No. 2 in NCAA Tournament history with the most recent being Hampton's upset of Iowa State in 2001...Villanova shot only 35.3 percent from the field, but made 31-of-40 from the foul line....The Wildcats improved to 49-30 all-time in the NCAA Tourney...Robert Morris made 40 percent of its shots...This was the first-ever meeting between the schools on the hardwood...Reynolds made only 2- of-15 shots from the field and 1-of-8 from three-point range, but converted 15-of-16 free throws...Redding finished with eight points, while Fisher and Stokes each donated six points.
