Corey Stokes returned to the Villanova lineup Monday night after missing three games with an injury, determined to pick up what had been a sluggish Wildcats offense in his absence.
But it didn't happen. The 'Nova offense was worse. It wasn't Stokes' fault. He connected on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, including five three-pointers, and scored 24 points while showing no ill effects from the sprained big left toe that had sidelined him.
The rest of the Wildcats, however, were abysmal on offense. The other seven players accounted for less than 27 percent shooting from the field, and the 15th-ranked team in the nation lost, 69-64, to No. 17 Syracuse on senior night before a crowd of 18,899 at the Wells Fargo Center.
For the seventh time in the last eight games, and fifth in a row, the Wildcats (21-7, 9-6 Big East) were involved in a contest decided by five points or fewer. They might have been able to achieve a season sweep of the Orange (23-6, 10-6) had they made a couple more than five shots (in 26 attempts) from three-point range.
It wasn't happening on this night, though. Corey Fisher, who scored a career-high 34 points against DePaul two days before, had only eight. The Orange zone harassed him into a 3-for-16 night, and he missed all eight from beyond the arc.
"He forced some, but he had some good looks," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "It's going to happen. And they did a good job on him. They did extend [their defense] on him. We're going to ride him, so if he's going to have nights like that, we're going to go down."
In addition, Maalik Wayns, who shot 1 of 9, suffered back spasms in the first half - a condition caused or exacerbated on a hard drive to the hoop in which Jardine fouled him in the final minute of the period. He left the game for good with 8 minutes, 11 seconds to play.
The Wildcats shot 50 percent and hit 11 threes in their 83-72 win over Syracuse last month. This time, Orange coach Jim Boeheim stretched his defense to cover Stokes and Fisher and rely on his interior defense to stop penetration and 'Nova's inside game, which was reduced by one player because sophomore Maurice Sutton was benched for missing Sunday night's curfew.
Meanwhile, the visitors' Philadelphia connection - Neumann-Goretti High graduates Scoop Jardine and Rick Jackson - were outstanding. Jardine led the Orange with 20 points and six assists, and Jackson shot 8 of 9 from the field and contributed 18 points, including the two clinching free throws.
Jardine said he wanted to make amends for his 1-for-8, two-point performance earlier against Villanova.
"I got too amped up at Syracuse, so tonight in a similar situation, I just wanted to contain myself, keep my composure and finish the game out," Jardine said. "We contained their guards and we matched their toughness throughout the game. Whenever they made runs, we made runs, and that's the most important thing against Villanova."
Even freshman Dion Waiters, a third local on the roster, got into the act, sinking two free throws with 14.1 seconds to play after taking a hard foul from 'Nova's James Bell.
The Wildcats, who shot 32.3 percent as a team, missed 16 of their first 17 attempts and went down by as many as nine in the second half. Stokes almost saved them, twice cutting the deficit to one - 57-56 on three free throws with 5:28 to play, and 61-60 on his three-ball at the 2:37 mark.
After baskets by Jackson and Brandon Triche put the Orange up five with 54.6 seconds left, Stokes canned a jumper and Isaiah Armwood, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds, added a pair of free throws to make it 65-64 before Waiters and Jacksons salted it away from the line.
"I felt great out there," Stokes said. "Playing with my teammates, it's always great to be on the floor with them. We work so hard. We just have to get better. We're going to come to practice tomorrow and get better, work on our defense and go from there."
The Wildcats, 5-6 in their last 11 games, finish their Big East season with three games against ranked teams, but Wright is confident they'll come around.
"You're always concerned," he said. "But I believe in this team, I really do. I think this team will keep getting better. . . . We've got to find ways during this time - when we're not making shots - to win. We did it the last couple of games, we didn't do it tonight."