It was the Wildcats' third straight loss. They've been in the four-letter tourney every March since 2005. That streak appears to be in, well, jeopardy. And you have to finish with a winning record to even qualify for the NIT.
Did somebody mention the ever-popular CBI, which doesn't have such stringent prerequisites?
At least the Wildcats nearly came all the way back, after seemingly being out of it before those pre-Super Bowl parties even got started. But in the end, it was too much of a hole to climb out of, and they just didn't have quite enough.
Anyway, next up is Providence (13-11, 2-9), which will be coming off an overtime home loss to West Virginia, Tuesday night at the Pavilion. They'll then have 8 days off before traveling to South Florida, which beat them by 17 in early January at the Pavilion and is 11-1 at home. After that it'll be Notre Dame and Connecticut in South Philly.
This was their ninth straight loss at Pitt, dating back to 1996, and fifth in this building. They lost both meetings last season.
Of course Villanova did win the one that counted most, in the 2009 East Regional final, which seems like a long time ago.
This was the Wildcats' first game in 8 days, since they squandered an 18-point first-half lead to nationally-ranked Marquette at the Wells Fargo Center.
This time, they trailed by a dozen at the half, 40-28. They led 21-16 with 7:18 left until intermission, but the Panthers then went on a 22-2 run over the next 5 1/2 minutes in which Villanova got just two free throws. The Panthers made 1 of their first 8 from the field. They converted 12 of their next 15. Woodall, who finished with 29, ignited the rally with back-to-back 3-pointers. Ashton Gibbs would add two more later in the spurt, plus an old-fashioned three when he made a wing jumper, drew contact and added the foul shot.
