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UD falls short in tourney game against Villanova

Flyers roar back to within 2, but then fizzle late as Villanova advances in tourney.

Villanova's Corey Fisher goes up for a shot against Dayton's Luke Fabrizius during the Puerto Rico Tip-off tournament in San Juan on Friday, Nov. 20. Associated Press photo by Ricardo Arduengo

Ricardo Arduengo/STR Villanova's Corey Fisher goes up for a shot against Dayton's Luke Fabrizius during the Puerto Rico Tip-off tournament in San Juan on Friday, Nov. 20. Associated Press photo by Ricardo Arduengo

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By Doug Harris, Staff Writer Updated 10:00 PM Saturday, November 21, 2009

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Villanova struggled at the free-throw line in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic, going 23-of-39 in a narrow win over George Mason.

If they had been taking part in one of those halftime shooting contests for prizes, the Wildcats would have been urged to move closer and gotten a boost to the rim.

“We’re going to be a good free-throw shooting team — we have good shooters,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “ ‘Struggling’ is a nice way to put it. We were terrible. But part of free-throw shooting is getting the right people on the line at the end of the game.”

The fifth-ranked Wildcats kept the ball in the hands of their best marksmen when it counted against No. 18 Dayton, making 14-of-15 foul shots in the second half to hold on for a 71-65 semifinal victory Friday, Nov. 20.

The Flyers (2-1) trailed by 18 with 14:05 to go before staging a ferocious rally, cutting it to two with 2:23 left on a pair of London Warren free throws. After Corey Fisher made two freebies for ’Nova, UD answered with a Chris Wright dunk off a Chris Johnson assist with 1:37 to go.

But UD was finally spent and didn’t score again until there were 15 seconds left as the Wildcats (4-0) closed it out at the free-throw line.

Luke Fabrizius had 16 points, Wright 15, Johnson 13 and Mickey Perry 10 for the Flyers, who will play Kansas State (3-1) for third place in the tourney Sunday.

“I think they’re as good as anybody in the country,” Jay Wright said. “That’s a really good win for us. I think they’re going to be a top-20 team all year.”

UD coach Brian Gregory, though, took little solace in the near-upset. “Credit our guys for fighting back and weathering the storm and continuing to fight,” he said. “I’m proud of our guys for that. But we’re at a point right now where we feel we could at least compete with these teams. I wish we would have done it a little more than just the last 10 minutes or so.”

Next game

Who: Dayton vs. Kansas State

What: Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic

When: 5:30 p.m. Sunday

TV: ESPNU

Radio: WHIO-AM (1290) and WHIO-FM (95.7)

»UD notes, box score, B5

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