Wright regrets 'little things' that doomed 'Nova

Depending on whether you cheer for Villanova or for Rutgers, you could call the Scarlet Knights' improbable last-second win over the Wildcats a comeback for the ages, or a collapse for the ages.

But defining his team's 77-76 loss Wednesday in Piscataway, N.J., did not interest Jay Wright. The Villanova coach tried to get his players past the mind-numbing defeat and focused on No. 4 Pittsburgh, which will visit the Pavilion on Saturday night.

To help the Wildcats prepare for Pitt, however, Wright had to endure watching the Rutgers tape again.

He concentrated on the final 2 minutes, 52 seconds after 'Nova had taken a 70-60 lead. The Wildcats faded amid a hail of three-point makes by Rutgers, including Jonathan Mitchell's four-point play with less than a second remaining.

"It was the little things, looking at the things you can control," Wright said Thursday. "Some of the threes they hit late, we had lazy contests on. [Dane] Miller had a huge offensive rebound. There are things we can control.

"The shot at the end, I really believe we executed the way we wanted to. The timing was just so perfect for them. But before that . . . the three that Mitchell hit previously, we didn't contest it. We kind of stood there; we were on him but we didn't contest it. These are things that we want to try to work on."

Mitchell, a transfer from Florida whom Wright recruited out of Mount Vernon (N.Y.) High School, said he wanted the basketball at the end.

"After I hit the shot, I couldn't believe it went in," he said. "They called time-out and I decided to calm down, relax, breathe. Coach asked me if I wanted to sit down.

"I'm in the gym shooting at 12, 1 a.m., and I said to myself it's just another night in the gym with the lights out. I stepped up like a senior and made it."

The game also raised the question of how seriously Corey Stokes is hurt. The Villanova senior has been bothered by turf toe - a sprain at the base of his big toe - but Wednesday night was his worst as far as pain goes, and he was being evaluated Thursday.

"We're trying to see, can you shut him down?" Wright said. "Do you have enough time for him to get better? Or do you just have him play through it? We're trying to look at it right now."

After scoring 10 points in 18 first-half minutes, Stokes logged just eight minutes in the second and did not attempt a shot. He went scoreless.

"He tried to play hurt during the game," Wright said. "He came out a couple of times. One time, we tried to put him back in, and he had to take his shoe off at the scorer's table and try to do something to relieve the pain. But he asked to come out of the game at one point and said, 'I just can't go.'

"He's been so tough mentally trying to play through it and never complaining. We hold him out of practice at times. He tries to battle through it in games. So it's tough on him."

Doug Collins, the 76ers' coach, can commiserate with Villanova coach Jay Wright after the Wildcats lost to Rutgers, 77-76, Wednesday on a four-point play by Jonathan Mitchell with 0.8 seconds remaining.

On Jan. 19, the Sixers lost to Orlando, 99-98, allowing two four-point plays down the stretch. The Magic were trailing, 90-86, when Jason Richardson tied the game on a four-point play with 17 seconds to play in the fourth quarter. With 1 minute, 43 seconds remaining in overtime, J.J. Redick converted a four-point play to give the Magic a 99-96 lead.

Lou Williams had the Sixers' first four-point play of the season in a Nov. 27 game against visiting New Jersey.

Atlanta's Jamal Crawford is the king of the four-pointers with an NBA-record 31.

Chicago's Sam Smith completed the first four-point play in NBA history on Oct. 21, 1979, against Milwaukee.

On April 27, 2009, James Jones of the Miami Heat completed two four-point plays 11 seconds apart in a playoff game against Atlanta. - Marc Narducci
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