Villanova repels No. 8 Arizona

The Wildcats' next test is fourth-seeded Boston College.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- With Rollie Massimino looking on proudly, Villanova rekindled memories of its 1985 championship season.
Allan Ray scored 25 points, Randy Foye had 24 and Villanova withstood a late run to hold off eighth-seeded Arizona, 82-78, Sunday in the second round of the Minneapolis Regional.
The Wildcats (27-4) advanced to play fourth-seeded Boston College (28-7) Friday. Villanova lost last season to eventual national champion North Carolina in the regional semifinal.
"We could sense here in Philly that everyone here expected us to advance out of this," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "I was really concerned about it."
Top-seeded Villanova had everything going its way, building a 12-point lead while the hometown crowd cheered and Massimino watched.
Scrappy Wildcats
Villanova, though, simply couldn't put away a scrappy Arizona team. In their two games in Philadelphia (20-13), the Wildcats looked nothing like the team that stumbled through a subpar regular season -- by their lofty standards -- in the Pac-10.
With Foye and Ray doing damage from outside, and Will Sheridan and Dante Cunningham chipping in underneath, Villanova built a 12-point second-half lead that nearly crumbled completely in the final minutes.
"It was like a home game for us," Foye said. "When you needed a stop, you heard the crowd. I was important for us down the stretch."
Arizona's Ivan Radenovic made a layup and Hassan Adams made two free throws with 1:36 left that cut the gap to 76-74.
Foye sank two free throws, but missed two more on the next trip down to keep it a four-point game and put the fans at a packed Wachovia Center on their feet.
Comeback falls short
Arizona went to Radenovic again, and his basket with 16.8 seconds to go made it 78-76.
Mustafa Shakur's layup with 8.5 seconds pulled Arizona to 80-78, but it didn't have enough time to finish the comeback and become the first No. 8 seed to knock off a No. 1 since Alabama beat Stanford in 2003.
Marcus Williams scored 24 points, Shakur had 21 and Adams 20 for Arizona.
"I thought we played as well as we can play," Arizona coach Lute Olson said. "Credit Villanova for having that extra little bit that made the difference."
Often forgotten in Villanova's four-guard lineup, Cunningham and Sheridan were sensational and formed a rare low-post presence for the Wildcats. Sheridan had 16 points, Cunningham grabbed a career-high nine rebounds and both seemed to score or defend exactly when Villanova needed a clutch play.
"I was getting good looks because teams focus so heavily on our guards," Sheridan said.
"It's definitely big for our team. It just shows we have other options."
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