Villanova rallies past Providence

It was a game that matched the 14th- and 15th-place teams in the 16-strong Big East. So, how many would have predicted that when the schedule came out?

Providence, which had lost five of its last six and nine of 11, maybe.

Villanova, which had dropped three straight and eight of 11, probably not so much. But for whatever reasons, it's turned into that kind of season for a program that's made seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments.

The Wildcats (11-13, 4-8 Big East) were able to win for the first time since Jan. 21, 74-72. Which might not sound like too huge of a deal, especially considering that the Friars (13-12, 2-10) and first-year coach Ed Cooley hadn't won on the road since just before Christmas.

But this one turned out to be as much about how it happened, after Villanova lost leading scorer Maalik Wayns (three points) with a left knee injury midway through the second half.

In Sunday's nine-point loss at Pittsburgh, the Wildcats gave up a 22-2 run late in the first half and trailed by as many as 18 early in the second. But they got to within three late, and had a shot to pull even. This time, they were the victims of an 18-2 spurt to close out the opening half, and fell behind by 19 with 14 minutes to go.

Once again, they rallied, going on a 22-3 roll of their own to tie things a little less than 9 minutes later. The Friars missed 12 straight field goals during that stretch.

The Friars would go back up by five. But the Wildcats kept coming. They finally caught up again on a breakaway dunk by JayVaughn Pinkston off a midcourt turnover with just over a minute showing. Almost a minute later, Pinkston's layup put them ahead for the first time since 28-26.

Maurice Sutton then blocked a driving leaner by Gerard Coleman, and Bryce Cotton's three-point at the end hit off the front of the rim.

Pinkston led Villanova with 28 points, 17 after intermission, and pulled down 14 rebounds.