Louisville Leaves Villanova, Kittles In Bits

Kerry Kittles couldn’t keep up with DeJuan Wheat, and Villanova’s season ended in disappointment for the second straight year.

Wheat, held without a field goal in the first half, scored 17 of his 19 points after halftime and helped slow Kittles, Villanova’s All-America, as Louisville stunned the Wildcats 68-64 at the Midwest Regional on Sunday.

The Wildcats, first-round losers to Old Dominion last year when they were also a third seed, again failed to reach the Sweet 16 despite facing a tired sixth-seeded Louisville team that needed overtime to beat Tulsa in the first round.

“Of course I’m disappointed. It was my last game,” said Kittles, a likely NBA lottery pick. “I expected to get back into the tournament and make things happen. I’m just disappointed, that’s all.”

“Our intentions were to go further,” Villanova coach Steve Lappas said.

With Louisville (22-11) clinging to a 61-59 lead, Tick Rogers made a turnaround jumper from the right baseline with 2:04 left and the Wildcats never got any closer.

“Tick Rogers’ turnaround was the shot of the game,” Lappas said. “Eric Eberz was all over him. He made a tough shot.”

So did Wheat.

His fadeaway 18-footer over Kittles with 26 seconds left put the Cardinals ahead 65-60, and his two free throws with 15.1 seconds left made it 67-62.

Villanova center Jason Lawson, who tied his season high with 23 points, hit two free throws with 5.9 seconds left to cut it to 67-64, then fouled out on the in-bounds pass to Rogers.

Rogers missed his first free throw, but made the second to send coach Denny Crum and the Cardinals to their third Sweet 16 appearance in the last four years.

Kittles finished with 20 points, seven in the second half, and the Wildcats (26-7) finished their second straight season in frustration.

Louisville 68, Villanova 64

Louisville (22-11) - Sims 6-13 2-3 14, Dantzler 1-7 0-0 3, Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Rogers 5-7 1-2 13, Wheat 5-10 6-6 19, Kiser 1-9 0-0 3, Flynn 0-0 3-4 3, Walker 5-7 1-1 11. Totals 24-54 13-16 68.

Villanova (26-7) - Eberz 1-10 4-4 6, Kornegay 1-5 0-0 2, Lawson 7-7 9-13 23, Williams 4-10 1-2 9, Kittles 9-16 0-0 20, Celestand 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 0-2 0-0 0, Penn 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 24-53 14-19 64.

Halftime-Louisville 32, Villanova 28. 3-Point goals-Louisville 7-28 (Wheat 3-8, Rogers 2-3, Dantzler 1-6, Kiser 1-8, Sims 0-3), Villanova 2-11 (Kittles 2-3, Williams 0-1, Brown 0-2, Eberz 0-5). Fouled out-Lawson. Rebounds-Louisville 25 (Smith, Walker 4), Villanova 37 (Lawson 9). Assists-Louisville 13 (Sims, Wheat 3), Villanova 12 (Lawson, Kittles 3). Total fouls-Louisville 18, Villanova 12. Technicals-Flynn, Lawson.

Wake Forest 65, Texas 62

Tim Duncan wasn’t himself. But with a little help from his friends, the Wake Forest star was able to steer the Demon Deacons to their victory over Texas.

“It was very tough because I didn’t have all the wind that I usually have and all the stamina that I usually have,” said Duncan, who’d lost 10 pounds and had eaten very little for four days because of a stomach virus.

“There were stretches where I just wanted to sit down for a little while and stop. But I got some rest in the timeouts and for the most part I got a pretty good break at times.”

Duncan was held to 13 points by the swarming Texas defense and his own fatigue. But he played a team-high 38 minutes and also had 11 rebounds.

His rim-shaking dunk with 4:31 left tied the game at 59 as the Demon Deacons (25-5), the region’s second seed, rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit.

With Wake leading by one, Duncan missed a free throw with 18.4 seconds left, but teammate Steven Goolsby came up with a key offensive rebound and was fouled. He made two free throws with 16.3 seconds remaining to put the Demon Deacons up by three.

After Goolsby’s free throws, Texas (21-10) had one last chance.

Reggie Freeman couldn’t find an opening and after dribbling away most of the remaining clock, put up a running 3-pointer just before the buzzer. The ball hit the rim, Duncan grabbed the rebound and the Demon Deacons had made the round of 16 for a second straight year.

Texas (21-10) - Clack 5-9 5-6 17, Reg.Freeman 5-19 1-2 13, Alvarado 2-5 0-0 4, Hill 3-11 0-0 6, Vazquez 1-1 0-0 2, Quarles 0-1 0-0 0, Perryman 4-6 0-0 11, Dixon 2-3 2-2 6, Jordan 1-4 1-2 3. Totals 23-59 9-12 62.

Wake Forest (25-5) - Allen 2-5 1-2 5, Peral 6-9 2-2 16, Duncan 6-10 1-5 13, LaRue 4-12 3-4 14, Rutland 1-4 0-0 3, Goolsby 1-2 4-6 7, Braswell 3-6 1-2 7. Totals 23-48 12-21 65.

Halftime-Texas 31, Wake Forest 21. 3-Point goals-Texas 7-20 (Perryman 3-5, Clack 2-3, Freeman 2-8, Hill 0-4), Wake Forest 7-16 (LaRue, 3-7, Peral 2-3, Goolsby 1-2, Rutland 1-3, Braswell 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Texas 30 (Clack, Jordan 6), Wake Forest 37 (Duncan 11). Assists-Texas 11 (Hill, Vazquez, Perryman 3), Wake Forest 14 (LaRue, Braswell 4). Total fouls- Texas 21, Wake Forest 11. A-18,423.