Villanova rose from the dead — only to return to the grave.
After surviving Kam Jones’ apparent buzzer-beating bank shot — reviewed by officials and determined to be touching his fingertips as time expired in regulation — in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals, No. 6 Villanova still dropped a season-defining overtime matchup to No. 3 Marquette, 71-65, that will likely kill the Wildcats’ hopes of returning to the NCAA Tournament.
Marquette (24-8), which played without injured star guard Tyler Kolek, advances to Friday’s semifinal at Madison Square Garden against No. 7 Providence, moving two wins from defending its Big East Tournament title.
“Any time you have a shot like that, that goes in, and you have a high of feeling like you won, and then it gets taken away from you, that can be dangerous,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “The longer it took to review it, obviously, you’re preparing for the possibility that you have five more minutes to play. There was really good eye contact between one another about what we needed to do next.”
Should Villanova (18-15) again be relegated to the NIT under second-year coach Kyle Neptune, it will mark the first time in 20 years that the Wildcats have missed consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
“We’re still digesting all this,” Neptune said. “We fully expected to play through, to get through.”
The Golden Eagles led by as much as nine in the second half, but the Wildcats clawed back, taking a 51-50 lead with seven minutes remaining.
After T.J. Bamba converted three free throws to tie the score with 1:50 remaining, Justin Moore missed a chance to pull Villanova ahead in the final seconds, giving Smart enough time (2.3 seconds) to draw one final play.
during the first half of Marquette’s win. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Oso Ighodaro received an inbounds pass near the foul line.
Jones ran a backdoor, wheel route behind two Villanova defenders, catching the ball and quickly firing a shot as the buzzer sounded.
The crowd roared. The benches erupted. The highlight seemed set for Big East lore.
Instead, Villanova got five more minutes.
It likely is all they will get.
