’Cats a Round 2 knockout

As the end of the regular season approached, it became relatively obvious that the Wildcats were running on empty.  Saturday afternoon against No. 10-seeded St. Mary's, they finally ran out of gas.

The Gaels, one of this year's Cinderellas, brought down the deflated 'Cats 75-68 on the shoulders of senior big man Omar Samhan and a decisive banked 3-pointer from junior guard Mickey McConnell, sending Villanova home and senior guard Scottie Reynolds back to the locker room for the last time as a Wildcat. 

The loss capped off an ugly slide late in the season for a team that was once ranked No. 2 in the nation. Villanova went 5-7 down the stretch.

"It was a challenge all year," Head Coach Jay Wright said after the game. "Our journey was not an easy one. It was a tough one.  But [our team] really stuck together until the bitter end. [The Gaels] played really well." 

One look at Reynolds slumped in the corner of his locker, staring at the floor, and it was clear the team left everything on the court. The problem was that the performance they left on the floor was one of the worst of the season, especially from Reynolds who shot a putrid two of 11. 

In his three postseason games, including the Big East tournament, Reynolds made only eight shots in 36 attempts and fell 22 points short of becoming Villanova's all-time leading scorer.