One big thing that hurt the Wildcats (10-11, 3-6 Big East) was junior guard Maalik Wayns' picking up two fouls within a 6-second span in the first 1:41 of the second half. The Big East Player of the Week, who had averaged 30.7 points in his previous three games, sat out nearly 9 minutes before returning. When he went to the bench Villanova led, 44-42. When he came back, the Wildcats trailed, 61-51.
"It doesn't help, it definitely doesn't help," Wright said of Wayns' foul trouble. "You have to be a good enough team, because you know that is going to happen. We practice without him in there. When you play that many games, you know it is going to happen some games. I would have liked to have seen us step up defensively a little better when he went out, but we didn't. I really think that was the key in the second half, they just got what they wanted - it was good execution on their part."
Led by Wayns, the Wildcats rallied, twice cutting the Cardinals' lead to two, but they got no closer.
Wayns' rebound basket off his own miss trimmed Louisville's lead to 73-69, with 2:32 to play. However, on the Cardinals' ensuing possession, reserve forward Jared Swopshire drove baseline and fed center Gorgui Dieng for an easy inside basket. Then, after Dominic Cheek missed a three-pointer, Swopshire struck again, this time hitting a three-pointer from the corner as the shot clock was about to expire.
That gave Louisville (16-5, 4-4) a 78-69 lead with 1:12 remaining. The Cardinals sealed the game by hitting six of eight from the foul line in the final 57 seconds. They shot 20-for-26 from the line in the second half.
