See an interactive bracket with statistics and results here, and check out Penn President Amy Gutmann's tournament picks.
Villanova won the game but lost its luster.
The Wildcats looked nothing like a No. 3 seed until the final ten minutes of its 80-67 first-round win over American at the Wachovia Center. They'll move on to face No. 6 UCLA in the NCAA Tournament's second round tomorrow, but uncertainty is now surrounding them like a cloud.
The Wildcats (27-7, 13-5 Big East) came into the Tournament as a weaker team than the average No. 3 seed, according to renowned statistician Ken Pomeroy - actually resembling a No. 6.
They did little to disprove that notion, surrendering three-pointer after three-pointer to No. 14 American in the first half, including three that ended the half with a 9-0 run and gave the Eagles (24-8, 13-1 Patriot) a 41-31 lead going into the locker room. They scored 20 of those points off of sloppy Villanova turnovers, mostly from the point guard position.
Historically, No. 3 seeds lose in the first round only 15 percent of the time, so Villanova was bound to charge back. It did so by hounding American's passes and forcing shot-clock violations in the second half.
"It could have been [they were] tight, it could have been [they were] surprised by [American's] physicalness," Villanova coach Jay Wright told reporters about his team's first half. "I think our guys were surprised at how strong they were on ball screens, how strong they were in the post. ... I don't know why they didn't expect that, but we just got a lot more aggressive in the second half."
Wright relied on the inside game of seniors Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunningham more and more and each scored 25 points. Villanova shot 48 percent overall and held a late Eagles charge at arms' length with a superb free-throw effort, finishing with a 26-for-29 mark.
American's Derrick Mercer, the Patriot League player of the year, scored 17, but in the end the Wildcats just had too much power.
But just as Villanova fell short of its expectations, American exceeded them. It was a rare instance where the losing fans may have been more satisfied with the result than were the winners.
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