BOSTON — It was physical. It was defensive. It was just the way they like to play it in the Big East.
With bodies clogging the lane and 3-pointers clanging off the rim, Scottie Reynolds made a half-court dash for a last-second basket to give Villanova 78-76 victory over Pittsburgh and send the Wildcats to their first Final Four since the 1985 team made its stunning run to the NCAA championship.
“That was kind of the greatest year in the Big East history, and we’ve had discussions whether that year was better than this year,” said Villanova coach Jay Wright, whose third-seeded Wildcats are the lowest remaining seed — just like they were in ’85. “It’s all kind of happening the same. … If history repeats itself, I’ll take it.”
Reynolds scored with 0.5 seconds left to help the Wildcats (30-7) beat one conference rival and join another on its way to Detroit. Connecticut advanced to the national semifinals earlier; Louisville could make it three from the Big East with a victory over Michigan State today.
The only other time a single league sent three teams to the Final Four: 1985, when Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown beat St. John’s in the semis before losing to Villanova in an epic championship game. Rollie Massimino’s Wildcats were a No. 8 seed — the lowest to win it all.
Pittsburgh (31-5) is the first No. 1 seed to leave the brackets this year despite 28 points from Sam Young and 20 points and 10 rebounds from DeJuan Blair. The Panthers led 67-63 with 3:24 left, and 69-68 with just more than two minutes to play, but Villanova responded to the physical play by sinking 22-of-23 free throws, including 5-of-6 in the last 46 seconds.
“A moment where it felt like we had it done,” Blair said. “And then it was anybody’s ballgame.”
Dwayne Anderson had 17 points and four steals, and Reynolds had 15 for the Wildcats.
The teams pushed and shoved their way through the first 35 minutes before they started making baskets and making plays. The lead changed 15 times — six of them in the last six minutes, before Pittsburgh’s Levance Fields hit two free throws with 5.5 seconds left to make it 76-all.
Reggie Redding, who threw the ball away trying a full-court pass on the previous inbounds play, got it to Dante Cunningham this time, and he dished it to Reynolds. The Villanova guard worked his way into the lane for a falling-down floater in traffic.
“That’s why we practice that every day in practice, so we can make an instinct play. We did that,” Reynolds said. “It worked tonight. Only has to work once.”
The clock expired, and the Wildcats celebrated. But the officials immediately moved to put a half-second back on the clock. Fields took the inbounds pass and launched a 65-footer that hit the backboard but bounced harmlessly to the floor.
VILLANOVA (30-7)
Clark 4-7 0-0 11, Anderson 5-10 5-5 17, Cunningham 6-11 2-2 14, Reynolds 4-11 7-7 15, Redding 2-6 1-2 5, Peña 0-0 0-0 0, Fisher 1-7 7-7 9, Stokes 3-4 0-0 7. Totals 25-56 22-23 78.
PITTSBURGH (31-5)
Biggs 0-2 0-0 0, Young 10-17 5-5 28, Blair 9-9 2-6 20, Fields 2-8 4-4 10, Dixon 1-6 3-4 5, G.Brown 2-4 4-6 8, Gibbs 0-3 0-0 0, Wanamaker 1-3 3-4 5. Totals 25-52 21-29 76.
Halftime — Pittsburgh 34-32. 3-point goals — Villanova 6-20 (Clark 3-4, Anderson 2-6, Stokes 1-2, Redding 0-2, Fisher 0-3, Reynolds 0-3), Pittsburgh 5-18 (Young 3-7, Fields 2-5, Wanamaker 0-1, Dixon 0-2, Gibbs 0-3). Fouled out — Wanamaker. Rebounds — Villanova 33 (Anderson, Redding 6), Pittsburgh 28 (Blair 10). Assists — Villanova 9 (Redding 4), Pittsburgh 14 (Fields 6). Total fouls — Villanova 24, Pittsburgh 18. A — 18,871.
