Associated Press
NEW YORK ó At first, it seemed the game clock was moving faster than it should have been for Villanova. Then, less than a second was taking forever.
An improvised play led to a last-second layup by Dwayne Anderson that fell in as the buzzer sounded and gave the 10th-ranked Wildcats a 76-75 victory over No. 21 Marquette on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
Reggie Redding had the ball near the top of the key for Villanova with less than 10 seconds left and the Wildcats were down one. He was trying to find Scottie Reynolds but Marquette’s defense wasn’t allowing that to happen and since the Wildcats didn’t have a timeout, it was all up to him.
“I knew time was running down so I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got to make a play,”‘ Redding said. “I drove and Dwayne’s man stepped up on me. Dwayne made a great second cut and I hit him with a pass and he finished it for us.
“I felt like it was up there 20 seconds. It hit every part of the rim. I’m just saying, ‘Please drop, please drop.’ ”
The sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden erupted when the ball finally fell through for Anderson’s only field goal of the game. The Marquette players wandered around the court with stunned looks on their faces while the officials reviewed the tape to make sure the ball left Anderson’s hand before the buzzer.
It did.