Eagles Fall Victim to Wildcat Strike

Villanova’s fans may have to stop storming the court. After all, wins over ranked teams are suddenly becoming routine for the Wildcats.

Randy Foye scored 23 points and the No. 23 Wildcats survived a nine-minute stretch without a field goal to defeat No. 3 Boston College, 76-70, Wednesday night.

The enthusiastic fans stormed the court like they have for two other home wins over top-25 teams, chanted “Tournament!” and shook hands with Coach Jay Wright.

“We’re learning how to win,” Wright said. “It gives them confidence and experience that’s invaluable.”

The Wildcats, 18-6 overall and 8-5 in the Big East Conference, beat their fourth top-25 team this season, including a victory over then-No. 2 Kansas last month, and bolstered their chances of making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1999.

“We were confident we could come in and play well, but we’re still not thinking about the NCAAs,” said Curtis Sumpter, who played with a sore knee and scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half. Kyle Lowry added 11 points for the Wildcats.

Craig Smith led a second-half rally for Boston College (22-2, 11-2) and finished with 18 points, while Jared Dudley had 15.

The Wildcats, coming off a win over then-No. 17 Pittsburgh on Sunday, used 70% shooting from three-point range in the first half to take a halftime lead they stretched to 13 points early in the second half. When Jason Fraser made a layup at the 13:15 mark, the Wildcats led, 57-47, and seemed in control.

The Eagles -- who rallied from halftime deficits to win eight times this season -- started their run while Villanova went into a field goal drought that stretched just over nine minutes.

Steve Hailey capped a 12-2 spurt with a three-point shot that pulled the Eagles to 62-60 with 6:23 left.

Foye banked a six-footer for a 67-64 lead, ending the long stretch without a field goal. The Wildcats never lost the lead thanks to eight-for-10 shooting from the free-throw line during that span. They were 36 of 41 from the line.

“It’s very difficult to win a game when the opposing team shoots 41 free throws,” Boston College Coach Al Skinner said. “We just didn’t make the plays that were going to tie it and make them feel uncomfortable. We never got over the hump.”