‘Nova Bounced From NCAA Tourney by N.C. State

Report From Villanova University

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A furious rally in the final minute wasn’t enough for the Villanova Wildcats, who were defeated by the No. 8 seed North Carolina State Wolfpack 71-68 in an NCAA Tournament third round contest played on Saturday night at the Consol Energy Center here.

The Wildcats closed the 2014-15 campaign with a 33-3 record, along the way winning the BIG EAST regular season and conference tournament titles and establishing a new program record for wins in a season.

“It’s the unique struggle in sports,” stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. “I’m so proud of this team, proud of all (the) accomplishments. The season is broken down into segments (for us): the preseason, the regular season, and the post-season tournaments.

“Last year, in the postseason tournaments, we didn’t do a good job at all. This year, in the Big East Tournament, (we) did a good job. Here, I always look at tournaments as matchups. I know we have to answer to the fact that we did not get to the second weekend again. We have to own that. But it’s not going to define us within our program. It’s going to define us outside of our program and we accept that.”

The Wildcats never did get their offense untracked on this night as the length of North Carolina State presented issues from the opening tip. Only seniorDarrun Hilliard – who would finish with 27 points – was able to crack the riddle of the N.C. State defense. A Trevor Lacey 3-pointer just before the halftime horn allowed the Wolfpack to grab a 32-28 halftime advantage.

One glance at the stat sheet at intermission told the story. Villanova was just 8-of-28 from the field (.286) in the first 20 minutes. Hilliard and freshman guardPhil Booth combined to connect on 6-of-11 from the field. The rest of the squad was just 2-of-17.

The other dilemma was on the glass where N.C. State owned a 21-15 advantage that would grow to 45-32 before the night was over.

Of the rebounding disparity Wright stated: “I think it was a combination of their guards breaking us down, and forcing our forwards to come to help, and that they’re very disciplined, N.C. State, at that aspect of the game. When their guards drive, their forwards are not looking to catch passes. They’re looking to go offensive rebound. They did it all year. They did it to LSU. And that hurt us.”

A 6-2 N.C. State spurt to open the second half put the Wildcats into a hole they would never completely escape. Each time Villanova would narrow the gap, N.C. State had an answer. Those scores often came inside as N.C. State enjoyed a 34-14 edge on points scored in the paint.

A free throw by Desmond Lee with 3:25 remaining gave N.C. State a 62-54 lead.

The Wildcats never stopped pushing and were nearly rescued by Hilliard’s heroics. The senior dropped in 3-pointers on consecutive possessions in the final minute and suddenly VU had cut the margin to 67-65 with 40 seconds left. Full court pressure forced a Wolfpack turnover and VU had a chance to tie or take the lead on its next offensive possession.

With N.C. State shading Hilliard’s way, junior Dylan Ennis got an open look at a 3-point attempt. But the bid was long and the Wolfpack collected the rebound. Anthony Barber sank two free throws with 15 seconds left and even one more 3-pointer by Hilliard wasn’t enough.

The final count was 71-68.

“I want to give credit to N.C. State,” said Wright. “They played a great game and I think they were able to impose their will and do the things that they did well all season, and take us out of what we do well. And I think they did that with great, great perimeter defense and great protection of the rim.”

“We judge ourselves on Villanova basketball,” added junior guard Ryan Arcidiacono, who finished with four points and four assists. “I think we did that throughout the whole year. Three times, three games this year, we just weren’t able to do it. The other team was better that day. So I think you just have to credit N.C. State for the way that they played.”

“But that doesn’t define our whole season. We’ve won back-to-back Big East championships, and the Big East Tournament championship for the first time in 20 years. So yes, this hurts. It hurts everyone that we’re not making it to the next weekend. But I think we battled down to the very last second, did what we do and we work every single day on end-of-game situations like that. I just think we executed to the best of our ability.”

Lacey led N.C. State with 17 points while senior JayVaughn Pinkston added 13 points and six rebounds in his final appearance in a Wildcats uniform.