Villanova loses to South Florida in 2nd round
Villanova's Markus Kennedy, left, defends against South Florida's Augustus Gilchrist in the first half. (March 7, 2012) Credit: AP
There have been a lot of great games and memorable moments in 30 years of Big East Tournament basketball at Madison Square Garden. Suffice to say South Florida's 56-47 second-round victory over Villanova Wednesday night was not one of them.
The Wildcats (12-19) had an awful shooting night, hitting only 17 of 50, including just 3 of 16 from three-point range. And no one was more off than leading scorer Maalik Wayns, who had nine points (3-for-14 shooting) while missing all seven three-point attempts.
And yet Nova had a chance in the final minute because the Bulls (20-12) were nearly as inept, committing 18 turnovers and going 2-for- 10 from three-point range. Point guard Anthony Collins led USF with 17 points, and Victor Rudd added 13 as the Bulls advanced to meet Notre Dame (21-10) in a quarterfinal Thursday night at 9:30. Villanova was topped by Mouphtaou Yarou with 20 points.
Rudd scored 10 of South Florida's first 12 points, and the Bulls took a 19-6 lead with 11:58 left in the half. But South Florida shot 1-for-11 the rest of the half as Villanova cut its deficit to 27-17.
The Bulls' struggles continued in the second half as those numbers reached 1-for-15 shooting before a Hugh Robertson layup made it a 31-21 lead. Villanova made baskets on four straight possessions to cut USF's lead to 37-32 with 9:28 left.
But the Wildcats went into a drought of 7:44 before making their next basket. An 8-2 surge, ending with a three from the top of the arc by the 6-10 Yarou, cut the Bulls' lead to 48-43 with 57 seconds left, but the Wildcats discovered their shooting touch too late to make a difference.
