What once looked like a runaway Villanova victory turned into a nail-biter in Providence on Saturday as the ‘Cats managed to hold on for a 65-59 win over the Friars.
‘Nova came out firing, building a double-digit lead before the game was five minutes old. Phil Booth was on fire, hitting his first three attempts from deep, and the ‘Cats were clicking on all cylinders. The lead ballooned to as much as 21 before Villanova took an 18-point advantage into the break.
A 5-0 spurt from Providence to start the second half put a charge in the Dunk crowd, but Villanova responded nicely and extended the lead back to 21 with just under 14 minutes to go. The teams traded baskets for a while before a Cole Swider jumper gave the ‘Cats a 20-point lead with 8:43 left.
That’s when the wheels fell off, and instead of getting a dominant, encouraging, complete win from Villanova we ended up with the ‘Cats holding on for dear life down the stretch. After Swider’s bucket, Villanova wouldn’t score for more than seven minutes, when Phil Booth made a layup with 1:06 to play. In between, Providence went on a 16-0 run, cutting the deficit to four.
Providence upped the defensive pressure and ‘Nova did a poor job handling it. They were plagued by turnovers, over-dribbling, and poor shot selection. When they did manage to get a good look, they failed to knock it down.
Booth was fouled on his drought-ending layup and converted the free throw to get the lead back to seven. A Makai Ashton-Langford 3 cut the lead to four with 57 seconds to go, and Providence got a stop on Villanova’s ensuing possession, giving the Friars life trailing by four with 24 seconds left.
Fortunately, Providence did Villanova a huge favor by holding the ball for 17 seconds before a frustrated Ed Cooley called a timeout. The Friars missed a quick 3 out of the timeout and Booth secured the rebound, ensuring the win for Villanova.
It’s hard not to focus on the final eight minutes of the game, the seven-minute drought and the near collapse. But Villanova played excellent basketball for 32 minutes, managed to hang on for the victory despite the offense completely disappearing, and earned an important road victory in a very tough place to play.
The game will provide the ‘Cats with a great example of how they want to play all the time, as well as some very good lessons going forward. Road wins are tough to come by in conference play, and while it would have been nice to see Villanova finish the final eight minutes the way they had played for most of the game, we’ll take the win.
