As Saint Joseph's guard Chet Stachitas' three-point shot made its way downcourt at the halftime buzzer, Villanova head coach Jay Wright was already halfway to the locker room, not bothering to watch the shot bounce harmlessly off the rim.
Sure, it was a Big 5 game against his team's biggest rival in the City Series. But for the Wildcats to be trailing 34-22, and to have shot only 7-of-23 from the field -- that just wasn't supposed to happen.
Yet as strange as No. 4 Villanova's first half seemed, it was only natural that a Philadelphia native seized control of the second half on the Big 5's biggest stage.
With a dazzling display on both offense and defense, sophomore guard Kyle Lowry -- a city native and graduate of Cardinal Dougherty High School -- led a ferocious Villanova rally that resulted in a 71-58 win.
The sellout crowd included former Big 5 Secretary Dan Baker at the public address microphone, dressed in a tuxedo to honor the occasion, and longtime former announcer John McAdams.
With the win over the Hawks (10-10, 3-1 Big 5), Villanova (18-2, 4-0 Big 5) claimed its second consecutive City Series title and its first outright championship since 2001. It came in only the fourth ever meeting between two 3-0 teams in the Big 5 and the first since 1988, giving even more of a charge to the nationally televised Palestra atmosphere.
"These Big 5 games, you've just got to expect the unexpected," Wright said. "I try to think of things that can happen -- I didn't think that we could struggle that much to score in the first half."
But once the second half began, Lowry seized the game by the scruff of the neck. In the first eight minutes after halftime, he scored 11 points and recorded two steals and two assists, willing his team into the lead and bringing the Wildcats fans in the evenly split crowd to their feet.
"I'm impressed, but I'm mostly proud and happy for him because he works very hard," Wright said. "I've always said, 'Thank God he's on our side.'"
This was not the first time the Hawks played far differently in the first half than in the second. In those other games, though -- especially Big 5 games against Temple and La Salle -- the second half went far better than the first.
Against Villanova, on the other hand, St. Joe's went from 50 percent field goal shooting in the first half to 25 percent in the second, and from 4-of-12 beyond the arc before halftime to 2-of-10 after it.
More importantly, the Hawks held an 18-12 edge in rebounds in the first half while the Wildcats dominated the boards in the second half, 21-16.
"The warning that we gave [our players] at halftime was that that would be the way they would come after us," St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli said of Villanova's comeback. "You would think at this point in the year you'd be stronger, more manly, and we weren't manly enough at really any one position tonight in the second half."
But Lowry made the biggest difference, recording a game-high 25 points and six assists. His contributions were even more significant because regular starting guard Mike Nardi sat out the game due to tonsillitis.
"They're going to have to test for all that stuff," Wright said of the illness. "That could be scary."
St. Joe's senior forward Dave Mallon also missed the game due to an ankle injury, but Martelli let him warm up and sit on the bench with the team because it was his last trip to the Palestra.
As the final minutes ticked away, the Villanova student section started chanting "We own Philly!"
Even though the school's history with the Big 5 is more than a little controversial, in this 50th anniversary season of the Big 5 there's no question that the Wildcats are worthy City Series champions.
