Canes Fall Short In OT
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) – Ricky Wright scored Villanova’s final six pointsin overtime as the Wildcats beat Miami 72-67 on Saturday.
Villanova (13-8, 6-2 Big East) snapped a season-high three-game losingstreak, and, with the win, held onto the top spot in the Big East’s EastDivision.
The Hurricanes (9-10, 2-6) fell below .500 for the first time since the1993-94 season and remained in last place in the East. The last place team ineach division does not qualify for the conference tournament.
Miami also fell to 1-4 in overtime games this season, despite getting 26points and eight rebounds from Darius Rice.
Wright made his last four points from the free throw line and scored 10 ofhis 14 points after halftime, a majority of which he spent with four fouls.
Gary Buchanan led Villanova with 23 points, hitting 6-of-7 from 3-pointrange, but scoring just six points in the second half as the Hurricanes startedtheir comeback.
Derrick Snowden forced the game into overtime for Villanova, hittingone-of-two from the free throw line with 6.6 seconds remaining.
With Miami trailing 38-26 at halftime, Rice got hot early in the secondhalf, hitting eight straight points to cut Villanova’s lead to six. He thentied the game with another eight-point outburst with 6:23 remaining.
Gary Hamilton followed with a 3-point play to give the Hurricanes a 53-52lead, their first since 7-4 early in the game.
