Villanova 77, Duke 54 - The Game Action and CBS Broadcast...

To the Villanova Wildcats faithful-

Here's the detailed analysis of the Villanova/Duke game action and CBS broadcast:

Duke scored the first five points, before Villanova counterattacked with the next 11... the best plays in this sequence were-

A steal from Cunningham at the top of the key, far away from the basket. He stole an errant pass from Kyle Singler, and went the other way for an emphatic breakaway dunk, to make it 5-4, Duke...

Cunningham took his 16-foot shot, and Shane Clark - knowing where the miss was headed, leapt and tipped it in, to make it 9-5...

At the under-16 minute timeout - 15:37 mark, Villanova was up 9-5... CBS showed the top-of-the-backboard angle going into the timeout, giving the viewer a good view of the tip-in...

Raftery: "Mike [Coach K] doesn't have as many buttons on his suit as Jay does... that's a distinct difference... Verne: "but he's got the wins, though..." Clark pulled the ball from Singler on the offensive boards, forcing a jump ball and keeping it with Villanova; after Nolan Smith picked up his second foul and went to the bench...

Anderson dunked on an uncontested lane - Redding had passed to Clark, and while it bounced off his hands, it went right to Anderson...

15:02 - Fisher in for Clark... Lundquist tells the story about Duke point guard Greg Paulus - the team floor leader for a very long time - being benched in favor of Scheyer at the point and Elliott Williams, a freshman, being put in the lineup after a loss at Boston College...

13:33 - Redding blocks a shot by Scheyer as he drove to the hoop...

11:49 - TV timeout under 12 - Reynolds ricochets a Singler miss on a layup off the shooter, keeping the ball for Villanova... Cunningham posts up on Zoubek, but can't get it to fall...

10:39 - CBS graphics- Villanova one turnover, Duke three at this point... Villanova 6/16 from the floor, Duke 3/12... Raft notes "a perfect triangle inside on the misses," after a Villanova rebound by Clark...

9:57 - Fisher is fouled by Henderson while shooting...hits two... Villanova, 15-11...

7:57 - Reynolds drives one-on-two, has layup roll out, but Cunningham on the follow, has the ball circle the rim before it drops - Villanova 17-13...

After miss, Duke is now 4/18 from the floor, 1/8 from three-point range...

7:30 - under-8 timeout, Villanova leads 17-13... Coming back, CBS camera goes to former coach Rollie Massimino in the seats... (Duke 4/18 from the floor) Verne notes that former Georgetown coach John Thompson II (on the wrong end of the 1985 miracle) was also there doing radio...

7:02 - In the best play for Duke of the game, especially in retrospect, Williams drove and dunked while being fouled by Anderson, falling on his left hand... now 19-16...

Villanova, after Williams completed the three-point play... it was Anderson's second foul, he left and was replaced by Redding...

Redding drove on Singler, laid it in, Raft said on the matchups, "it's a tough task for him to stop," having to guard Redding... Villanova 16 points in paint, Duke 6... 21-16 Villanova...

6:27 - Henderson committed his second foul as Fisher took a charge under the basket, and Henderson had to go to the bench..

5:58 - Cunningham picks up his first foul underneath on Singler.... who missed the front end of a one-and-one... on the next possession, he hits a three to cut it to 21-19...

5:06 - Enormous call here - Cunningham probably charged Lance Thomas, but Villanova got the call - had Cunningham been nailed for his second foul, he'd have been forced to the bench also... instead Thomas went to the bench in favor of Zoubek... the two free throws made it 23-19...

Villanova, in the category of second-chance points - leads Duke 11-2...

Fantastic defensive set on Villanova's part, as Duke failed to take a shot within the time allotted; Raftery accurately notes that it was the third possession where Duke had almost run out of time, and that it was great, sustained defense...

4:29 - Villanova two turnovers, Duke five turnovers...

3:48 - Reynolds made an outstanding block on Scheyer, on a drive...

3:07 - Duke 6/23 from the floor, after the Blue Devils nearly ran out of time again, and Scheyer had to hoist another shot which failed to go down....

2:58 - under-four TV timeout, Villanova 24-19, Redding fouled by Zoubek underneath... after the free throws, 26-19...

Blue Devil comes into view... Lundquist notes that Duke had started 5-0, then yielded a 11-0 run to Villanova... Stats at this point - VU 10/27 from floor, Duke 6/23 - Villanova 1/7 from 3 point range; Duke 2/11, Villanova 21 rebounds, Duke 15.... Anderson 8 points/5 rebounds; Scheyer 7 points/1/8 FG...

Raft notes that Smith and his two fouls had come back in, suggests that Scheyer might "play off the ball for a while... mix it up..." ...Points in paint - Villanova 18, Duke 6...

Singler hits jumper to cut it to 26-21; Verne notes Henderson 0-5 from the floor... and credits Redding for the clampdown defense, "for the most part..."

Singler in corner, well-guarded by Cunningham, rebound goes out of bounds to Villanova...

1:16 - scrum for ball at Duke's end, as Clark and Henderson both dove for the ball - Coach K was given a timeout that he probably shouldn't have gotten, as Henderson didn't clearly have possession...

CBS graphic shows Coach K moving into sole possession of first place in NCAA tournament games coached, with 93, as he passes his old, longtime nemesis, North Carolina's Dean Smith...

1:10 - Reynolds commits his second foul on Henderson; when Henderson made both, it was his first points, Duke now within 26-23; Stokes comes in for Reynolds... Verne discusses Jay and K's ties and personal connections, via international U.S. basketball... Lance Thomas charges Clark underneath, his second foul.... Raf speculates that "Duke is sort of working this till halftime, make some changes," which is ironic given that Duke lost the first half by three and the second half by 20...

Jay calls timeout with 22.8 seconds left, 13 on the shot clock, after Duke knocks the ball out of bounds (the use-it-or-lose-it timeout...) Cunningham misses a shot coming out of the timeout, but Duke fails to score on the final possession, so 26-23 at halftime...

CBS shows some of Missouri crushing Memphis, has a shot of Singler driving on Anderson as they go to commercial...

Looking at the halftime box score...

Villanova side: The Wildcats had shot 10/29 from the floor (34.9%) and 1/7 from beyond the arc, 5-5 from the line. Cunningham had seven points on 3/10 shooting, half a dozen rebounds... Anderson had half a dozen points, four rebounds in just nine minutes... Reynolds, Anderson, Stokes all had two fouls...

Duke side: The Blue Devils had shot 7/25 (28%) from the floor, 2/11 (18.2%) from beyond the arc, 7/10 from the line. Scheyer had 7 points on 1/8 shooting; Henderson had no field goals (0/5) and two points from the line, also had six rebounds... Duke had sunk into foul trouble; Thomas, Henderson, Smith and Zoubek all had two fouls...

When CBS did the montage heading into the second half, they did a quick shot of the Blue Devil. Traditionally, he wears a white headband with a different message, always tailored to the occasion and in giant black capital letters.

Last night, he had written

- 'NOVA MEANS (upside down exclamation point) - NO GO! -

a reference to the fact that in Spanish, no va means "no go/it doesn't go" (I never studied Spanish, so I credit one of my classmates at a Pavilion game one time, who was fluent in Spanish, for telling me that the chant of 'Nova, 'Nova means "it doesn't go...")

Raft suggests that "Coach K might want to get it inside more," which is something that they weren't able to do ... CBS graphic shows Duke Big Three - Henderson, Singler, Scheyer - combining to shoot 3/20 FGs and 14 points...

The half got off to an inauspicious start, when Anderson was whistled for his third foul on Villanova's first offensive possession...

Singler split Cunningham and Anderson to knock it in to cut the lead to 26-25 - CBS graphic - Villanova 20-1 when leading at halftime, but that we had no field goals in the last 5:07 of the first half...

In retrospect, this opening minute of the second half was the only one that even remotely went well for Duke in the second half. They were never able to take the lead, as Redding hit a driving layup to boost the lead back to 28-25...

18:24 - Seven Blue Devils had scored.... (graphic) no single Blue Devil had more than two field goals...

18:00 - Redding to Clark in transition for a layup - great play... that causes Coach K to take the first called timeout (hence full timeout) of the second half at 17:54 - as Raft pointed out, all the Duke players were focused on the opposite end - the Villanova partisans started to vociferously cheer... It was 32-25, Villanova - Verne points out that it matched the Wildcats' largest lead...

Raft breaks down the failure to cover in transition after coming back... CBS - Graphic - Villanova has 13 (now 14) wins as the lower seeded team in the NCAA tournament, the most of any program... five came in 1985...

Clark picks up two more quick fouls... now has three... Antonio Pena makes an appearance, his first of the night...

17:38 - Cunningham 2nd PF on Thomas 1 of 2 FTs-... 32-26, Villanova Duke sets up a full court press... I think that this play symbolized the night... the Wildcats broke the press easily, Redding quickly found Pena on a backdoor cut, and Pena put it on the floor and then dunked, uncontested, to make it 34-26...

On Duke's next possession, at 17:07 - Thomas missed a layup, committed his third foul trying to rebound it, on Cunningham....

16:58 - Henderson picks up his third foul reaching in, Verne described it as a frustration foul after another empty trip...

16:50 - Reynolds floats it in while falling away on a layup... 36-26... ('Nova has now made all five second half shots...)

After Smith is forced to take another bad shot, as Duke nearly commits another shot-clock violation. When the ball bricks off the front rim, the Wildcats get back in transition, with great ball movement from Redding (the rebound) to Pena (dish underneath) to Anderson (who misses a shot) to Cunningham - who rebounds it, misses, and in the ensuing chaos, the Wildcats dive with more effectiveness and keep the ball in Duke's end out of bounds, triggering the under 16 timeout with 15:57 to play and a 36-26 lead...

15:41 - Paulus had been on the bench, was finally put back in and hits a three... 38-29 Villanova - ended a 12-1 run.... Paulus throws the ball away across the court... Smith picks up his third foul - Reynolds walks off the court grimacing... Redding backdoor cuts from Anderson - 40-29... FGs - Villanova 7/9 - Duke - 2/7

14:15 - Cunningham miss and in - Villanova crowd cheering... 8-11 FGs in the second half for Villanova...

13:53 - Henderson - fourth foul... to the bench - Zoubek in - 42-29 - Ellliott Williams foul

13:26 - Clark hits free throw... 45-31 Villanova (19-6 run in last 6:00)

13:08 - 45-33 - Duke used timeout on defense to set up the press...

Montage of Wildcats driving to the hoop - Villanova has 36-16 advantage in points in the paint...

12:51 - Reynolds back in - 45-33 - 9/12 Villanova, 4/12 Duke

Paulus's pocket picked by Fisher, who is immmediatey fouled by Paulus...

Raftery compares Wright to George Clooney... Verne: "I'll tell you who he doesn't look like - Rollie Massimino...."

12:22 - Wildcats break press - Fisher drives lane - 49-33... Verne suggests a" certain sense of inevitability"... Raf: "They can't afford trips w/o shots"... after turnover (Duke's 4th of half...)

Scheyer, after steal, doesn't get the layup to fall in transition...

11:20 - Zoubek puts it back - Duke cuts it to 49-35...

10:44 - Villanova 1/10 3 PtFG%...

10:41 - under 12 timeout - Williams fouled .... 49-35 - chest-bumping clip on the way to timeout...

Williams to the line.... makes both... 49-37 (Henderson still on bench, 0/7 from field)

10:20 - Thomas called for fourth foul, trying to prevent Cunningham from rebounding on the offensive end... Henderson comes back in for Zoubek... DC makes both - 51-37 (10/10 from the line for Villanova - 10/14 for Duke...)

10:07 - Singler drives and is fouled by Redding (3rd PF)... 51-40... Reynolds takes a quick, terrible shot... Scheyer open in the corner, misses... Redding drives early and takes a terrible shot as well... Henderson shoots and misses, Pena rebounds... Singler fouls Reynolds on the offensive end - SR hits both - 52-40, 9:20 to play...

Raft suggests that the "rushing shots, are giving Duke hope" - 'Nova still perfect from the line...

8:47 - Redding, at the end of a great possession, takes the wide-open shot that Duke gives him and hits a three that really helped to stymie a comeback - 56-40...

8:05 - Duke finally makes a three - 56-43, Villanova

7:58 - Smith picks up what Verne describes as a "third cheap foul", his fourth overall, in the Villanova backcourt.. under 8 timeout - Villanova, 56-43...

Graphic - Points in paint - Villanova 38 - Duke 20... 3FGs... Villanova 2/13 - Duke 4/19

Raf thinks that Wright "looks like a mannequin half the time." Verne - "Picture perfect?" Raf: "It's envy, I'll admit..."

Duke turns it over, very egregiously - Williams fires the ball diagonally across the court and there is no receiver...

7:17 - Paulus comes back in for Williams...

7:07 - another 3 rims out...

6:47 - another miss in transition....

6:44 - Stokes 2 FTs - 58-43 Villanova (graphic FG- 3/25 Henderson & Scheyer; 11/23 the rest of the Blue Devils...

6:34 - Anderson picks up fourth foul and heads out .. Raf thinks "this is still gettable. Two 3s and you're back in the hunt..." - Singler hits one free throw - 58-44...

6:25 - Verne talks up the Palestra... "MacArthur Court reminds me of the Palestra - it's one of those great places you should - if you're in our business, you ought to be lucky enough to do a game there..." Reynolds hits two - 60 -44

Verne: "long six minutes for Jay Wright"...

6:12 - Jay looks extremely agitated as a result of the foul... Henderson who still has no field goals, at the line...

5:44 - Duke has four shots on a possession, fails to score, and then fouls Cunningham trying to rebound... that was another moment that typified the night for Duke...

5:32 - Cunningham 1/2 FTs... Raf talks up Rollie, Steve Lappas...

Henderson - at 5:20 - makes his first shot, after a dozen shots...

5:18 - Coach K uses timeout for defense... 64-49 - Duke presses, Villanova moves it down the floor... Wildcats and Reynolds milk shot clock down to 3, by the time Cunningham gets the dish from SR and is fouled by Paulus (his third), shot goes in, misses the FT - 66-49 Villanova...

4:30 - Reynolds pullup jumper in transition, which was an immediate shot - 68-49 (it was a bad shot selection, even though it went in, due to the large lead...)

4:13 - Clark inexplicably fouls out, fouling with a 19-point lead and 4:13 to go, taking one of Villanova's best defenders off the floor... (If the game had been closer, it might have been significant..)

Verne: "It must seem like a long time ago to Duke that they had a 5-0 lead..." Raf notes the low shot clock time and the bad shots Duke had to take to avoid shot clock violations - Scheyer hits one foul shot -68-50... Duke presses, Villanova takes the clock down to 17 before Redding takes a shot, a miss... Redding ricochets the ball off a Blue Devil to keep possession.... under 4 timeout

3:42 - Villanova 68-50... Graphic noting the Big East is first conference ever to have five teams in Sweet 16 (although, in fairness, there are 16 teams in the conference... Duke presses, 'Nova turns it over this time... (VU 43% from floor, Duke 27%)

3:15 - Henderson misses again...(7 pts... 1/13 FGs) Duke now shooting 15/57 FGs....

2:28 - Stokes hits three from corner - 71-50, Villanova...

Cunningham fouls Singler - graphic shows Cunningham w/ 14 pts/11 rebs, Kyle Singler w/13 pts 5/13 FG - Chevrolet players of the game...

Verne notes that the last Villanova win in the series was Dec. 20, 1958, at the Palestra, and that George Raveling was the leading rebounder for Villanova that year - Raf had guessed Jack Devine, when asked who the leading rebounded had been for the 1958-59 team - laughs when he hears the answer: "the Rav"...

Duke shooting a season-low FG pct - 30.8% at this point...

1:54 - Pena fouled - Paulus's 4th PF... Pena makes both FTs.... CBS officially moves Villanova ahead in the bracket, along with Pittsburgh...

73-52... Smith lays it in for Duke's final points... 73-54...

1:25 - Tchuisi and Colenda come in - all starters come out... Colenda inbounds the ball - Pena/Stokes/Fisher/and Tchiusi join him on the floor - Tchuisi puts back a Stokes miss... 75-54...

50.8 seconds - Villanova takes possession after Duke air ball... #13 Olek Czyz comes in for Duke, replacing Paulus....

26.0 seconds - Tchuisi dunks on a feed from Stokes... Villanova 77-54.. At the end of the game, Nolan Smith steals the ball from Fisher, who was understandably not bothering to defend it, l with less than two seconds left - Smith's shot is fired and goes in, but it is properly waved off..

You can also take a look at the other Villanova blogs included in Various Viewpoints on the right sidebar, for their takes...

Go Wildcats!

There are two ways you can contact Villanova Viewpoint. One is by commenting on this blog. Comments are encouraged. Also, you can e-mail villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com (Important note: This is a different e-mail address than before. Please use this new one.)