Here is the second of five key Villanova moments that helped propel the Wildcats to the Final Four:
Jan. 28: Villanova 67, No. 3 Pittsburgh 57
Up to this point in the season, Villanova still was seeking a signature victory to prove to the rest of the Big East and the nation that it was NCAA material.
Playing the last college basketball game at the Wachovia Spectrum, where Jay Wright said it felt like "100 degrees in there," the Wildcats got it.
Going into that game, the Wildcats were 0-4 against ranked teams, having lost to Texas, Marquette, Louisville and Connecticut. Wright said that although he understood outsiders' perception, he wanted to make sure that his team did not place too much emphasis on those losses, looking ahead instead.
This marked one of the first times that Villanova did not need Dante Cunningham or Scottie Reynolds to score in order to win. Reggie Redding made all 10 of his free throws and posted a career-high 18 points. Shane Clark pulled down seven rebounds, four off the offensive glass.
"Shane comes in and steps up," Wright said last weekend before his team's rematch with Pitt. "Reggie gets it going, he steps up. We learned from that game that we're not going to survive with just Scottie and Dante. We need everybody to make big plays.
"Corey Fisher had a great game that night, and so did Corey Stokes. I think they gained confidence and our coaching staff gained confidence."
It helped that the Panthers' DeJuan Blair, the conference co-player of the year, was limited to 23 minutes because of foul trouble. Pitt also missed all 10 of its three-point tries in the second half and turned the ball over 17 times.
- Joe Juliano
