PHILADELPHIA — Villanova had Syracuse’s vaunted 2-3 zone scrambling around the court in the opening minutes. Crisp passes and ball fakes led to easy jump shots and drives for the Wildcats.

They dictated the game with their flawless execution and stormed out to a 10-0 lead at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday. The early run ignited the home crowd and gave Villanova confidence that it could pull the upset over the No. 3 Orange. And that’s exactly what the Wildcats did, coming out on top in a dramatic 75-71 overtime victory after losing their lead late in the second half.

“They jumped out to a heavy lead there on us in the beginning, and we was playing catch-up after that for a little while,” said forward Jerami Grant. “Probably all the way up until the middle of the second half it was playing catch-up.”

Villanova came out with a perfect first possession. The home team swung the ball around the top of the key and worked it back out top to Wildcats point guard Ryan Arcidiacono. He got free with a pump fake and found backcourt mate Darrun Hilliard, who gave a fake of his own before dropping a runner through the basket.

After a goaltending call following a turnover, Hilliard nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner to put his team up 7-0. Like the first possession, a handful of passes got the zone moving before Hilliard escaped to the corner.

James Bell joined the fun with a 3 that caused the Villanova faithful to erupt and SU head coach Jim Boeheim to stand and call for a timeout. Boeheim remained calm despite the big run, but the Wildcats bounded to the sideline with confidence and excitement.

“They did a good job setting the tempo,” said forward C.J. Fair. “They hit a couple tough shots, and we was missing a lot of shots early.”

Syracuse battled back with seven unanswered points, highlighted by an alley-oop dunk by Rakeem Christmas that got the Orange going.

Villanova head coach Jay Wright was livid on the sidelines following the play. His team’s perfect start was over as his team’s lead was cut to six due to the blown defensive play.

Red-faced, Wright screamed to his players before admonishing his players on the bench while pointing to the basket where Christmas just finished his dunk. Wright kept the intensity up as SU closed the lead, and his players maintained the advantage for the entire first half.

“I think sometimes energy is lacking when we see that these guys are making shots,” SU guard Brandon Triche said, “and they’re making plays because of our lack of energy, then we pick it up.”

Syracuse cut the lead to three on Triche’s 3 with 1:22 to play in the first half. But Villanova responded with a 3-pointer by Arcidiacono, and a steal and layup finished by Hilliard to retake the momentum.

Villanova would take a six-point lead into the break. Syracuse’s offense didn’t click until after halftime, and it cost the Orange in a close matchup that came down to the final shot of regulation.

Said Boeheim: “We couldn’t get going offensively for a long time and we hung in there and battled and we had a little run to get our offense going in the middle, later part of the second half.”

Published on January 26, 2013 at 5:38 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu