See Ya, Sooners! In Front of Dick Vitale, ESPN, and the Nation, #4 Villanova Knocks Out #5 Oklahoma in Old-Fashioned Showdown

by Craig Dimitri
cdimitri1@yahoo.com

Too much celebrating in Philadelphia, post-game, tonight, to finish the game story. I have the game on tape, of course, and a more detailed and fitting chronicle, for such a historic victory, to come later...

But for now, here's a brief summary:

In this rare matchup of undefeated Top Five teams, the three healthy seniors - Randy Foye, Jason Fraser, and Allan Ray - were the big stars for the Wildcats this afternoon. Foye rocked the Pavilion rims for a career-high 32 points on 14-21 shooting. Fraser played 26 minutes, scoring 10 points, collecting four rebounds. But most importantly, he blocked three Oklahoma shots, providing some key size and defense against the bigger Sooners in the paint. Fraser's looming presence underneath helped in permitting Villanova's four-guard attack to be successful, as Oklahoma couldn't keep up on defense, allowing 85 points. And Ray also helped pour it in, scoring 21 points and converting a perfect 10-10 from the line.

Villanova's quickness on defense forced 17 OU turnovers, leading to 27 Wildcat points, and the Wildcats eventually broke open a game that was deadlocked at 35 at intermission. The speedy VU guards became increasingly disruptive for OU's offense in the second half, as frontcourt players Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout scored 27 of OU's 39 second-half points. For OU, Gray led the Sooners in both scoring and rebounding, finishing with 22 points and seven boards, with Bookout contributing 15 points In the first half, OU led on the glass 21-10, but Fraser's increased presence in the second half helped 'Nova win the remainder on the glass, 10-8...

More to come!

Go Wildcats!