Villanova was right there — but Wildcats’ flaws flared up in a close loss to No. 1 UConn

Mark Armstrong’s buzzer-beating three-pointer didn’t matter in the end result, unless you’re a sports bettor who had No. 1 Connecticut covering a three-point spread.

It did, however, fittingly leave Villanova one-point behind on the scoreboard.

UConn 66. Villanova 65.

The Wildcats were right there against the defending national champion. Right there in their attempt to earn another signature win to pad their NCAA Tournament resumé. Right there. But in an unforgiving sport, in a program that isn’t yet in the business of counting moral victories, right there wasn’t good enough.

Never mind Justin Moore being called for two offensive foul calls late in the game, the officials whistling him for two hooks, the second silencing for good a near-sellout Wells Fargo Center crowd.

The difference in the game was a few things flaring up that continue to hurt the Wildcats, who fell to 11-7 overall and 4-3 in Big East play.

» READ MORE: Mark Armstrong’s offense is improving, but Villanova still lacks in the assist department. Here’s why.

Villanova fans traditionally stand until the team makes its first basket.

There were probably some tired legs inside the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night. It took the Wildcats nearly six minutes of game play before Hakim Hart made Villanova’s first basket. The Wildcats missed their first five shots and turned it over three times as UConn raced out to an 11-0 lead.

Two games earlier, Villanova allowed St. John’s to score the first 10 points in what was eventually an 81-71 loss. Even a Jan. 3 victory over Xavier featured a slow start on offense.

Basketball is a game of runs, but Villanova has been on the wrong end of double-digit runs more often than any other top-75 team, according to college basketball analytics tracker Evan Miyakawa.

The opening 11-0 run was the first of two 11-0 first-half runs by UConn. The Huskies also used a critical 13-0 spurt to turn what was a four-point Villanova lead into a nine-point Villanova deficit midway through the second half.

Last Monday in Milwaukee, the Wildcats surrendered two 12-0 runs in a 13-point loss to Marquette.

What’s going wrong, and what can Villanova do differently?

“If I knew, I would do it during the game,” said Villanova coach Kyle Neptune. “This is the Big East. You’re going against really good teams, really good coaches, really talented players. Teams are going to throw blows at you.

“You either respond or you don’t. I thought our guys were resilient, they responded to their runs. That’s the game.”

It’s true, Villanova responded to each of the runs, and had a chance to win at the end. But the runs were too much against too good of a team.

“I think we got to come out and throw the first punch,” said Moore, who scored 15 points. “That hurt us a lot this game. We have to come out and set the tone on both ends of the court. We all look each other in the eye at the end of the game knowing that we gave our all. We fought to the end, so I’m proud of that.”

» READ MORE: With a dominant win over rival Delaware, all of a sudden, Drexel has become the Big 5 team to beat

Villanova center Eric Dixon was plus-16 on the night. He made only one shot from the field and scored seven of his nine points from the free-throw line, but his presence was crucial.

The problem? He can’t play all 40 minutes, and the minutes Dixon was on the bench were detrimental to Villanova’s cause.

Backup big man Lance Ware struggled again. He was minus-15 in nine minutes of action. He was indecisive with the ball and wasn’t able to help Villanova get enough stops when Dixon, who played 31 minutes, was on the bench.

Saturday’s performance came after Ware, a transfer from Kentucky, was minus-12 in 13 minutes vs. Marquette.

Neptune pushed back on Ware’s recent struggles.

“We look at all our lineups,” Neptune said. “I think Lance is in with the third-most successful lineup that we’ve had this year. I just looked at it the other day.

“We always evaluate that stuff. I think he’s been good. I have to go back and watch the film, etcetera, to see exactly what happened in this game. He’s a big piece of what we do. He’s going to continue to play.”

How much remains to be seen. The Wildcats missed reserve center Nnanna Njoku (knee soreness) for the second consecutive game. He has proved to be a decent rim protector in limited minutes this season, and Villanova could use his presence on that end when Dixon gets rest.

» READ MORE: What have Villanova’s Jordan Longino and Nnanna Njoku learned from their minutes? Patience.

No, this wasn’t a moral victory, but the one-point loss should show the gloomy types among Villanova fans that these Wildcats can play well enough to beat the Big East’s best. (They just need to, you know, do it.)

Moore looks like he’s getting closer to 100%. TJ Bamba, who like Moore scored 15 points, continues to contribute more offensively. After the early 11-0 run, Villanova played really well defensively. UConn’s Tristen Newtown happened to have a few answers down the stretch.

Jordan Longino returned from a two-game absence and contributed to the strong defensive effort.

The Wildcats gave up an astounding 60 paint points Monday at Marquette and allowed just 22 Saturday.

They were right there, against the nation’s best.

Now, Wednesday’s game vs. St John’s at Madison Square Garden (8:30 p.m.) just got a little more important.