Wildcats rally late, beat Robert Morris
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Villanova coach Jay Wright cited only “a minor teaching moment” as the reason he benched Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher for the start of the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament opener. Whatever lesson Wright had in mind, his starting guards were willing to take their lumps.
“I’m glad it happened, and we can move on,” Reynolds said. “I learned from it. Thanks, coach.”
Perhaps Reynolds should have showed that same kind of gratitude to upset-minded Robert Morris. The Colonials taught the Wildcats a little humility, trailing for just five of 40 minutes in regulation before succumbing to the South Region’s No. 2 seed in overtime 73-70 on Thursday.
Even after Villanova scored the first six points of the extra period, Robert Morris (23-12) had a chance to send the game into a second overtime. But Mezie Nwigwe (High Point) wasn’t able to get the ball to spark plug Karon Abraham on the final possession.
“I felt if I got my hands on the ball, I had a good chance of making that last shot,” said Abraham, who played far larger than his generously listed 5-foot-9 frame would suggest, finishing with a game-high 23 points, including five 3-pointers. “… We were going to do whatever we had to do, fight, scratch and claw to win this game this afternoon. But we got the short end of the stick.”
The Colonials still got the applause — from both their own dedicated section of fans and most of the neutrals at Dunkin’ Donuts Center — after holding the Wildcats (25-7) to seven field goals and outrebounding them 21-10 in the first half.
“If you look back at last year, we were down 14 in the second half to American basically at home,” Wright said. “… So as bad as this seemed, we were in the game more than we normally are.”
But the punishment affected Fisher (six points) and especially Reynolds (Herndon), who missed 13 of the 15 shots he attempted, including seven of eight from 3-point range, after entering the game nearly four minutes in. But Reynolds also made 15 of 16 free throw attempts, including seven in a row late in the second half to cap Villanova’s comeback from eight points down to tie the game at 56-56.
Freshman forward Mouphtaou Yarou (Montrose Christian) forced overtime with a finish inside to tie the score at 58-58 and made all seven of his free throw attempts, including four in the extra period, finishing with 17 points and eight rebounds.
