Villanova Survives In OT It Classic Title Game
By Sean Brennan
Special to BIGEAST.com
Eric Paschall held the cardboard sign high for all to see, the one that read: “BIG EAST Champions.”
The rest of the newly-minted tournament champions followed him through the throng on the court. Jalen Brunson was right behind, so was Mikal Bridges, Phil Booth, Omari Spellman, Donte Divincenzo and the rest of the title-clinching Wildcats as they waded into Nova Nation to celebrate yet another BIG EAST Tournament title after a wild 76-66 overtime victory over upset-minded Providence.
Former Villanova stars Kyle Lowry and Randy Foye celebrated as well, high-fiving anyone who came near their courtside seats. Even Baker Dunleavy, a former player and assistant coach, now the head man at Quinnipiac, made his way to the floor to hug his former boss, Jay Wright, who was already knee-deep in the hoopla.
For the second straight year, and third time in four years, the Wildcats are top dogs in the BIG EAST. But this one did not come easy. Not by any means. This one they had to fight tooth and nail for and, because it was Providence, there was overtime, of course. Just like the Friars’ first two games of the tourney.
“What an incredible college basketball game - atmosphere at the Garden,” Wright said. “We just feel so lucky to be part of it.”
Sure there was a little luck for the Wildcats. But they were also fortunate to have Brunson and Bridges to go to battle with and in the end that spelled the difference. Bridges, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, delivered a pair of huge three-pointers in the overtime, and Brunson, who finished with a career-high tying 31 points, drained a clutch jumper as the shot clock expired with 1:16 to play as Villanova was finally able to pull away from a Providence team that was looking to pick up its third straight overtime win in the tournament and claim its second BIG EAST Tournament title in five years.
“I haven’t got to think about that yet,” Wright said of winning his third BIG EAST Tournament title in four years. “You know, it’s just one year at a time. Sometime in the summer you look back at that. Right now, I’m so proud of these guys. We didn’t win the regular season and we were picked in the preseason. We knew we had a good enough team to do it (but) Xavier (which won the regular season title) is just a great team. They had a better season than us, flat out. But we kept getting better.”
Villanova, the No. 2 seed in the tournament as well as the second-ranked team in the nation, was holding a 12-point lead at 45-33 with 14:43 remaining and you had to wonder if back-to-back overtime games by the Friars had left little in the tank for the title game. But just like it did in its epic upset of top-seeded Xavier, the Friars did not quit.
It took awhile, and some exquisite defense by the Friars, but by the time the game clock read 9:05 to go, there was Providence, down just 51-49 after Kyron Cartwright eight straight points in a 2:32 span and everyone in the sold-out crowd of 19,812 fans - yes, even the Villanova ones - were saying, “Here we go again.”
At the 7:49 mark Drew Edwards’ three-point play that gave the Friars a 52-51 lead. But in a game where Providence held the lead for all of 1:03, it didn’t last long. Less than a minute later, Bridges grabbed a loose rebound and tossed in a putback to give Nova a 53-52 lead. And when Bridges delivered a three-pointer with 5:34 to play, the Wildcats’ lead was 56-52 and it looked like the Friars were about to go down.
Not quite yet.
Alpha Diallo sank four straight free throws sandwiched around a layup for Villanova by Paschall and the Cats were up, 58-56, with 3:01 to play. The Friars’ faithful began to believe in Divine Providence once again when Cartwright nailed a jumper just as the shot clock was expiring to knot the game again at 58-all with 1:37 to play and at that point, seats at the Garden were not a necessity any longer as the entire arena stood and roared for the rest of the half.
A layup by Diallo gave Providence the lead again with 40.7 to play but Villanova counter-punched with a pair of free throws by Brunson with 30.1 to go to knot the game again at 60-60.
Then with the ball in his hands, and the clock winding down, Cartwright was ready to have his magical March moment. Deliver a highlight reel dagger, take down the defending champs and get ready for some championship net cutting.
But when his jumper missed with three seconds left, it was off to overtime. Just the way Providence likes it.
But this time the Friars’ dream of a third straight overtime tournament win quickly vanished as Villanova took the lead for good on Spellman’s layup with 3:02 to go and the Wildcats went on to outscore the Friars, 16-6, in the extra session and Villanova was tournament kings again.
And it felt like old times at the Garden once again, just as it did for Thursday night’s quarterfinal doubleheader and Friday’s semifinals which were all sellouts.
“Man, the atmosphere, you know, sold out. You can hear it from the beginning,” Wright said. “It was old-school BIG EAST. Old School BIG EAST in 2018.”
The atmosphere was decidedly more somber in the Friars’ locker room. While the Wildcats were outside on the court, getting their championship rings, parading around with the championship hardware and cutting down the nets, Providence was left to wonder about what could have been.
“There’s a lot in my head right now,” said Providence coach Ed Cooley. “I feel for our young men. I thought we played great. I thought we played tough. I thought we played together....I thought we got a little rattled in overtime. But more importantly Villanova is a great team. Brunson, Bridges, two high, high-level players. They carried their team today and made some tough, tough shots.“