Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunningham each scored 25 points, and Villanova rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to beat upset-minded American, 80-67, in the first round of the NCAA tournament last night in Philadelphia.
The third-seeded Wildcats (27-7) needed a late 19-2 run to fend off the Patriot League champions. The 14th-seeded Eagles (24-8) sizzled from three-point range early and pushed Villanova to the brink. The loss ended the Eagles' 13-game winning streak.
"It wasn't that we took them lightly at all," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "We expected that. I think we just in the end had bigger, stronger, athletes. But they were probably better prepared and executed a little better."
Garrison Carr scored 22 points, Derrick Mercer had 17 and Brian Gilmore 16 for American.
The Wildcats will play UCLA tomorrow.
For 30 minutes, American was poised to escape with the win in only the program's second NCAA tournament game. But Anderson and Cunningham, part of the winningest senior class in Villanova history, refused to let that happen. Anderson hit a three-pointer for a 58-55 lead with 6:21 left.
American, a 17-point underdog, built its lead on three-pointers, going 8-for-15 in the first half before fizzling the rest of the way.
The Eagles went to the free-throw line only five times, while Villanova made 26 of 29. Scottie Reynolds tied it at 55 for Villanova on a driving layup.
Carr nailed four three-pointers in the first half. Gilmore capped the half with three, sending American into the locker room with a 41-31 lead.
Duke 86, Binghamton 62: : Jon Scheyer scored 15 points to lead six Duke players in double figures, and the Blue Devils made Binghamton's first appearance in the NCAA tournament a quick one by routing the Bearcats in Greensboro, N.C. Lance Thomas added 14 points, and Gerald Henderson and Nolan Smith added 13 apiece for the Blue Devils (29-6), the No. 2 seed. They shot 49 percent, put the game away with a run to open the second half and advanced to a second-round matchup with seventh seed Texas tomorrow. D.J. Rivera scored 20 points for 15th seed Binghamton (23-9).
