Saturday, March 20, 2010

Big Trouble for Big East: St. Mary's Knocks 'Nova

NCAA Tourney Update: 2nd round result

South Region

10 St. Mary's 75
2 Villanova 68

Just as he did in their opening round win over Richmond, St. Mary's Omar Samhan dominated the interior - though this time with even more emphasis on the offensive end - scoring 32 points to lead the Gaels past the South region #2 seed, Villanova.

Samhan had 29 in the first round and upped the ante against the Wildcats, hitting 13 of 16 shots and 6 of 8 from the foul line. St. Mary's led by as many as 10 points in the first half, gave up the lead in the second half, but batted on and eventually overcame the higher-seeded Wildcats.

Mickey McConnell and Matthew Dellavedova scored 15 and 14, respectively. Both cashed key three-pointers late in the contest, especially McConnell, who banked one in from 35 feet with just over a minute left to play.

With the loss, the Big East drops to 4-5 in the tournament. Villanova was the highest seed to be ousted thus far.

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