The Villanova Wildcats won their second consecutive rally cap, battling to the last few seconds of their hotly contested Phil Knight Invitational opener against Iowa State University, but again came empty-handed.
Fresh off a comeback that fell short of Michigan State, the Cats came alive in the final minutes and pushed the Cyclones into overtime, but were unable to overtake Iowa State, who went on to win 81-79.
“Losing to a really good team, (Iowa State) played very hard and set the tone early on,” said Villanova coach Kyle Neptune. “We threw them some punches. To their credit, they had a lot of determination. Very well coached, very disciplined and they played really hard. Did.”
After a 34-34 stalemate at halftime, the Cyclones peaked with a 16-point lead after attacking the Cats with a 17-1 run to start the second half.
“I thought they just hit a tough shot,” Neptune said of the Iowa State game. “They moved the ball very well. Hats off to them because obviously they mixed up getting the ball inside with a timely tough shot on the perimeter.”
Villanova responded with a 9-0 run, creating momentum and closing in on the Cyclones in the final minute of regulation.
Villanova ended regulation 7-0 in the final 1:35 as Eric Dixon’s layup sparked. Then the timely Brendan Hausen 3.
“I thought I started the game with a decent energy level,” Neptune said. “The way they play is pretty unique, which gives them a lot of credit. I haven’t been against it this year yet. I told my players that we were back and that by the last four or five minutes of the game we were playing hard. too much
The Wildcats went for the win, but Brandon Slater was able to corral Dixon’s airball and draw a foul, quickly making it a 2–2 tie. Jordan Longino provided solid defense in the final seconds, tying things up at 67 and forcing him into overtime.
Overtime ended much the same with the Cats struggling to keep up and Iowa State either answering every basket or just staying one step ahead of the Cats.
The Wildcats struggled with turnovers against the Cyclones, one of several factors they struggled to produce an offense, racking up 18 of them, but a costly giveaway with 20 seconds left in overtime forced them to close the game. The Wildcats’ hopes were practically sealed. Down 77-74, Caleb Daniels’ pass was intercepted and the Cyclones converted with his two free throws to fill the lead.
Villanova couldn’t walk away quietly, but back-to-back goals from Daniels in the final seconds allowed the Cats to run out of time.
On how the team continues to move forward despite another disappointing outcome, Neptune said, “We define ourselves differently than others.” For years, it was really, really good, but we defined ourselves differently than other people at the time, and now we define ourselves differently than other people do. I’m just thinking about playing in the next game and getting better by the end of the season and being the best team.”
Daniels paced the Cats with 25 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal. Dixon had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Slater scored 14 points on 3-of-10 shooting, 7 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Jordan Longino scored his 7 and Chris Arcidiacono shot 2/8 with him scoring 6, 3 boards 5 assists and 2 turnovers.
Iowa State’s Gabe Karsher scored a team-high 23 points before fouling out. Osun Osunnyi shot 8/10 and he had 17 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal. Jaren Holmes tallied his 12 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals. Robert Jones off the bench he scored 10 and he had 5 rebounds.
The Cyclones were a force in the paint throughout the game on both ends of the court, but offensively outpaced the Cats in the paint 40-16. They also scored more bench production, beating Villanova he 37-6.
Villanova falls 2-3 overall. Due to the loss, they will face Portland in the consolation bracket of the PK85 Invitational on Friday at 3pm ET. That game will be available on his ESPN2.
“That’s always the mentality of the next game,” said Daniels. “We know we have to be together every day, win or lose. It’s about having the following mentality.”
