"We kind of settled for jumpers and put it into Dante [Cunningham] and stood around," said 'Nova guard Scottie Reynolds, sitting in front of his locker with a bag of ice on his leg.
Jay Wright had talked up American's little guards, and here they were, taking it to 'Nova. Before halftime, American's offense had the whole package. Those little guards could push it on the break, or pull back and run through most of the shot clock with their offense, looking for threes, hitting 6 of 11 in taking a 27-24 lead with 7 1/2 minutes left in the half.
American point guard Derrick Mercer talked about how open the middle of Villanova's defense had been before halftime, when the Eagles held a 10-point lead. Villanova's big halftime adjustment in its 80-67 NCAA first-round victory had been the full-court pressure. Wright believed it shortened the time his guys had to chase American's shooters, in addition to wearing them down.
But Mercer pointed out the other key: "They clogged the lane up."
Wright had tried to point out that American's guards were not the whole show. That may have taken a half to settle in, too.
"I think our guys were surprised how strong they were on ball screens, how strong they were in the post," Wright said after his team trailed for more than 22 straight minutes, until just over six minutes were left.
Before Villanova moves on to tomorrow's second round, it should stop and look at that first half and make sure it does not repeat that performance against a team it cannot wear down in the second half.
As the Eagles built that lead, their offense, possession by possession, went eight passes . . . six passes . . . four passes. All for good shots. During the same stretch, Villanova's offense consisted of one pass and a shot, one pass and a shot, one pass and a shot. The deficit grew.
