Villanova fights hard but can't overcome Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh had the Big East championship banner ready to be raised to the rafters of the Petersen Events Center. Conference commissioner John Marinatto was prepared to present the trophy symbolic of 2010-11 regular-season supremacy to Panthers players and coaches.

But even without the injured Corey Stokes and with Corey Fisher playing injured, Villanova made the fourth-ranked Panthers earn the outright Big East championship, 60-50.

The loss dropped the Wildcats (21-10) to a 9-9 conference record and the 10th seed in the Big East tournament. Villanova will take on 15th-seed South Florida in the first round at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

The No. 19 Wildcats, who lost their fourth straight and sixth in their last eight games, challenged for about 28 minutes, but they didn't have enough firepower without Stokes. The Panthers used a 14-2 run midway through the second half to put Villanova away in the final game of the regular season for both teams.

Stokes, the Cats' second-leading scorer, aggravated a left hamstring injury, initially suffered on Jan. 9, during Thursday's practice and watched from the bench. Fisher, playing with tendinitis in his right knee that coach Jay Wright said has dogged him for at least the last month, managed just seven points on 3-of-14 shooting.

Sophomore Maalik Wayns picked up much of the slack in the scoring column with a career-high 27 that included six three-pointers. But the rest of the Wildcats were 10 of 32 from the floor and 1 of 10 from beyond the arc in an offense that used a good portion of the shot clock on every possession.

Wright pointed to poor free-throw shooting (5 of 10), defense, and rebounding as the main culprits for his team's defeat. He was particularly disappointed in two offensive rebounds the Panthers (27-4, 15-3) put back for baskets during their decisive second-half run.

"They made all the big plays at the end, and we didn't," Wright said. "We missed free throws in the first half that could have separated us a little bit. I thought two offensive rebounds in the second half - one by [Dante] Taylor, one by [Gary] McGhee - were backbreakers. We had stops, and they got huge offensive rebounds.

"When you try to play it close like that, and you give up offensive rebounds at that point in the game . . . I felt we did a decent job. But we had to get those rebounds. Their guys aren't making shots, but they make those kinds of plays. That's what great teams do."

The Wildcats, who missed five of their first six free throws, trailed by 22-18 at the half but got eight points from Wayns in the opening 7 minutes, 18 seconds of the second to take a 30-29 lead. With Notre Dame having won, Pitt needed a win to gain the title solo but looked a little shaky at this point.

Taylor then hit his basket to spark the run. Gilbert Brown and Ashton Gibbs, who had a team-high 18 points, each knocked down three-pointers, and the Pitt lead was 43-32 with seven minutes remaining.

Wayns accounted for the next 15 points - all on threes - but the Panthers never allowed the visitors to get closer than five. They won going away even though Roman Catholic grad Brad Wanamaker, one of three seniors honored before the game, went without a field goal and had three points, five rebounds, and six assists.

"We were right there," said Fisher, who noted he is fighting through his knee problem. "We've still got games ahead of us. If we come out and make a run in the Big East tournament this week, everything is going to change. Everybody is going to say, 'You're back.' We know how hard we work. It's hard losing four games, but that's in the past now."

Well, there still could be a problem with the short gap before Tuesday. Wright said he was "pretty concerned" that Stokes would not be well enough in time.

Asked if he had any positives to carry over to the conference tournament, he replied, "I don't know, but we will find them.

"I thought we did a decent job," he said. "We played a very good team; we played tough. But right now, we've got to address the missed free throws. We made some very bad decisions and bad turnovers down the stretch. But we'll keep getting better."