Rutgers trips Villanova with clutch free throw

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - All looked well in Nova Nation with less than 3 minutes to play Wednesday night, with Villanova holding a 10-point lead and Rutgers appearing to have finally run out of gas after spending the previous 37 minutes nipping at the Wildcats' heels.

But the Scarlet Knights still had some surprises left, including the biggest one with eight-tenths of a second left to play.

That's when Jonathan Mitchell converted an improbable four-point play and completed Rutgers' comeback, giving the Scarlet Knights a 77-76 victory over the ninth-ranked Wildcats at the delirious Louis Brown AThletic Center.

Villanova (19-5, 7-4 Big East) lost out on a chance to extend their school record of 20-win seasons to seven.

The Scarlet Knights (13-11, 4-8) hit four three-point baskets in the final 1 minute, 46 seconds. But none was bigger than the one by Mitchell, who went downcourt after Corey Fisher hit one of two free throws to give Villanova a 76-73 lead with 6.3 seconds left.

Mitchell got the ball on the right wing and fired over Fisher, who knocked him down as the ball headed to the basket. The ball swished through and, after a Villanova timeout, Mitchell also converted the free throw.

"We wanted to switch and deny the shooters," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "We switched, and Fish was going to deny. It was a split-second. He was going to deny, and they threw the pass. He was there to deny, and he hit his hand as he was going up with the shot. It was perfect timing on their part and just the worst timing for us. It happens. [Fisher] is making the right play."

Villanova's final inbounds pass from freshman James Bell, which traveled the length of the court, was caught by Maurice Sutton as he was falling out of bounds on the baseline. The buzzer sounded, and Rutgers students flooded onto the court.

Fisher led the Wildcats with 23 points and 10 assists. Mitchell led Rutgers with 25.

The Wildcats had taken a 64-51 lead with five minutes to play and still led 70-60 with 2 minutes, 52 seconds remaining.

"I thought we had played well up to that point," Wright said. "The last four or five possessions of the game, we didn't do anything right, and they did everything right. Even missing a free throw, giving up a three here and there, they made every correct play."

Rutgers connected on four three-point baskets - half of its game total of eight - in the final 1:46 as it whittled the deficit to two. The Scarlet Knights scored eight straight points down the stretch, including three-pointers by Mitchell and James Beatty, without the Wildcats advancing the ball out of their backcourt.

Beatty's three-ball got Rutgers to within 70-68 with 1:35 to play. Villanova freshman James Bell made a spectacular move to grab Fisher's miss on'Nova's next possession and made two free throws to get the advantage to four. But Mitchell answered at the other end with 46.3 seconds to play.

Villanova got a clutch three-point basket from Bell with 11.9 seconds left. But Beatty answered with a three-point attempt that banked into the hoop to keep it at a two-point game.

Fisher was fouled on Villanova's next possession but could only make one of two foul shots. Then came the fateful final play.

"We switched, and as I was going to deny Mitchell, the ball was in his hands, and when I was denying, his hand was already going up," Fisher said. "He made a tough shot and went to the free throw line and made the shot.

"I was hurt. I'm a captain of this team, and I think we should have won the game. I made a mistake, but we're going to learn from it and continue to get better. My teammates have my back, and my coaches have my back, and that's all that really matters."