Close call against American should wake up Villanova

Whatever film Villanova had watched, how could 'Nova players avoid noticing that American had lost early this season to Fairfield, and at home to Mount St. Mary's? American's highest-quality win? Maybe over Jacksonville, or Maryland-Baltimore County. Nobody in this tournament.

If the Wildcats happened to open American's press package, they may have landed on the story that chronicled how the Eagles had been "in a whole heap of trouble against Army in the Patriot League semifinals."

So take the "we didn't take them for granted" claims coming out of Villanova's locker room last night for what they're worth. Villanova's first half spoke louder.

"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.

Obviously, Villanova wasn't going to try to match American pass for pass. The Wildcats actually shot 52.2 percent in the first half - they outshot American before halftime. But they didn't control any of the play. They were the reactors, not the actors. Turnovers told the story better: 11 for Villanova, four for American.

All that changed after halftime, of course. Wright praised his sophomore guard, Corey Fisher, for his ability to draw fouls: "He got them to [commit] four, five, six fouls. That took away their aggressiveness."

Wright correctly analyzed that it wasn't the home-court advantage at the Wachovia Center that determined this one. The crowd hadn't worn American down. Villanova did that.

After Villanova got back in it, it became obvious that American was going to need to keep hitting three-pointers at a heady pace to finish off the upset, since the open looks were getting scarce. The Eagles were too worn down to do it. Garrison Carr, the shooting guard with the quick release who sank six three-pointers, did not make any in the last 13 minutes.

Villanova earned the victory by not panicking, by understanding all along that it had the wider path to the second round. But a repeat of that first half from now on? There won't be any more talk about "Villanova Basketball" for another year. The Wildcats got their mulligan and took advantage of it.