If you have never seen a Clemson Tigers game over the last ... say ... three years, then you captured everything about them in this one game against Villanova.
The Tigers pressed and punched their way to a 36-18 lead with five minutes left in the first half. Then, as it always seems to happen for Clemson, it all fell apart. Nova went on a 46-21 run that spanned both halves and built up a seven point lead with under four minutes remaining.
Clemson helped facilitate this by making bad shot decisions, turning the ball over, not feeding the big dogs down low and playing poor defense. There was the fantastic fouling of a three point shooter as the shot clock expired (by the way, the shot banked in). There was James Mays and Trevor Booker shooting a combined five shots on the day ... and both fouling out. Terrence Oglesby, Cliff Hammonds and KC Rivers went a combined 4-of-25 from three point land.
Villanova, who has won more games as the lower seeded team than anyone, finished off what was one hell of a day in Tampa. Four games; four upsets. On Easter Sunday, the fine folks in Tampa will be treated to #12 Villanova against #13 Siena and #12 Western Kentucky against #13 San Diego (no word if Nova or WKU packed their white unis or not).
Nova, who was one of the last teams to get into the dance, justified its place with the win over the 3rd place team in the ACC. The Big East moved to 7-1 in the tournament (only UConn lost). Don't be surprised to see this team in the Sweet 16 and giving Kansas a run for its money.
