Villanova put forth a valiant effort on Saturday afternoon but didn’t have enough down the stretch as they fell to top-ranked Kansas 74-71.

After falling behind early, a 12-0 ‘Nova run put the ‘Cats in the lead. Kansas responded, setting the table for a tightly contested game.

Villanova fell behind by nine with just under three minutes to go in the first half before eight quick points from Collin Gillespie helped the ‘Cats trim the lead to two at the break.

The second half was nip-tuck, with the ‘Cats leading by as many as four. A Saddiq Bey put-back dunk put ‘Nova up three with 9:13 to go, but that would prove to be Villanova’s last lead of the game. Kansas pushed the lead to seven with 50 seconds left, but Villanova did an excellent job extending the game and was able to get within a single possession when Phil Booth knocked down a 3 with 19 seconds on the clock. Kansas was able to handle its business at the free throw line and ultimately the ‘Cats ran out of time.

First half turnovers hampered Villanova, and foul trouble for Eric Paschall during a key stretch in the second half led to some offensive struggles that ultimately doomed the ‘Cats.

Phil Booth was fantastic, pouring in 29 points and carrying the ‘Cats offensively, especially when Paschall had to sit.

Ultimately Villanova didn’t have quite enough firepower to overcome the Jayhawks. Despite the disappointing result, Villanova acquitted itself well in an incredibly tough environment and against a very, very good basketball team.

While the outcome will sting, it was encouraging for the ‘Cats to play with Kansas for 40 minutes. As will be the case in most games this season, there were some positives and some concerns. But ‘Nova fans have to feel a lot better about things than they did after Tuesday night.

We’ll be digging into things over the next couple of days.

Our friends at Jayhawkslant.com were kind enough to send over video of the Villanova press conference after the game.