Jan. 10, 2009

PHILADELPHIA - As he tried to place Villanova's disappointing 61-60 loss to Louisville at the Wachovia Center into perspective, Wildcats head coach Jay Wright looked to the final two possessions of regulation time.

"We tell our team all the time that Big East games come down to execution in the final possessions," stated Wright. "You need to be able to get a stop on defense and execute your offense. We didn't get a stop and (Terrence) Williams scored. We didn't execute on the offensive end and couldn't get the stop we had to have.

"I liked the way we battled back. But if we had pulled this one out, we would have stolen one."

The final minutes were both pulsating and excruciating for the Wildcats. A Dante Cunningham jumper with 3:11 capped a rally from a nine point deficit earlier in the half and gave the `Cats a 58-57 lead. Williams then gave the Cards the lead on a put-back layup with 2:10. Antonio Pena's free throw with 47.2 seconds left tied the contest at 59 and then Cunningham sank one of two from the line with 27.1 seconds remaining, which set up the sequence to which Wright referred.

Williams scored on a driving finger roll layup with 7.4 seconds to give the Cards a 61-60 advantage. Villanova broke the full court trap and sophomore Corey Fisher found Pena on a drive to the goal. Pena was unable to sink his free throws but the rebound battle saw Villanova retain possession with 4.0 seconds left. Reggie Redding found Cunningham on the inbounds play but a Louisville defender got a piece of Cunningham's attempt, which rolled off the rim, and Redding's put back attempt missed as well.

"Right now, this loss kills you," said Wright. "We had some chances and didn't take advantage of them. We usually are a good free throw shooting team. It was just one of those days. As a coach, you know they are going to happen. I was hoping it was out of our system earlier in this game.

"Tomorrow we will wake up and we'll look at this and learn from our mistakes. In this league you have to put these games behind you."

The Wildcats (13-3 overall, 1-2 BIG EAST) won't see action again until next Sunday, Jan. 18, when they will host the St. John's Red Storm at the Pavilion (Noon/My 17 TV). That's not ideal in Wright's view - "after one like this you wish you could get back out there on Monday night" - but he says part of his staff's charge in the next week is helping their squad retain a positive approach given the intense nature of the league most acknowledge to be the most challenging in the nation.

"I really have to make sure we don't dwell on this," stated Wright.

One way the 8th year Villanova coach intends to do that is to remind his athletes of the historic nature of what they are facing in the BIG EAST this season.

"We talk to our guys about this all the time," he stated. " At the end of December we told them to really enjoy what we were embarking on. We told them that they are going to be a part of history. This is one of the greatest years in the history of the BIG EAST and they are going to be telling their children about this. There are going to be days like this.

"It really is a special year."

Of course, it probably felt more special in the Louisville (11-3 overall, 2-0 BIG EAST) locker room than it did in Villanova's as the `Cats came to grips with the reality of their day.

"These hurt the most, there no's doubt," stated Wright. "But Louisville made the plays it had to and we'll take this and learn from it."

- MIKE SHERIDAN