Sunday, March 19, 2006

Monmouth pushes No. 1 Villanova to the limit

A great game. For a moment there, I was envisioning the first-ever upset of a No. 16 seed over a No. 1 seed. Monmouth got within 7 with 6:20 left in the game, and missed two subsequent 3-pointers than would have cut the deficit to just four. But in the end, they fell 58-45 to Villanova in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

A few observations:

The game was played in Philly, Villanova's backyard. Everyone called the game a home contest for the Wildcats. But after Delic's 3 made the game 47-40 with six minutes left, the place erupted. Apparently the locals decided midgame to switch allegiances. In that case, it's a tragedy that Monmouth didn't pull off the upset. We would have seen 7-foot-2, 320 lb. Monmouth center John Bunch standing at midcourt after the game, saying (and channeling Rocky Balboa) "During the game, I've seen a lot of changing, in the way I feel about you, and the way you feel about me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I can change, and you can change, EVERYBODY CAN CHANGE!"

After Monmouth beat Hampton in the opening round game, coach Dave Calloway said in an interview with ESPN, "We've held our last two opponents to under 50. The next time we do that (*implying against Villanova*), the whole country is going to be talking about our defense." They cut back to the studio, and one of the analysts thought that was pretty funny. Well, Monmouth didn't hold Villanova to under 50. The Wildcats scored eight more points. just eight.

It's amazing the difference in the way the different sides perceive this game. Read the Asbury Park Press story or the AP story, and you read about how Monmouth played a good game and gave Villanova some trouble. Read the game coverage in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and they refer to Monmouth as "awful" and "never got much better." They give Monmouth no credit for Villanova shooting just 30.8 perecent and committing 12 turnovers. Which is further proof that Philadelphia sucks.


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