Defending national champ Villanova hands FSU first loss, 66-60
Box Score: Villanova 66, FSU 60
There were no late-game heroics this time.
For the second game in a row, the No. 13 Florida State Seminoles found themselves trailing in the final minute against a high-quality opponent. And for the second game in a row, they started to make a run -- with Trent Forrest scoring five straight points to cut the lead to two.
But that's as close as it got as the defending national champion Villanova Wildcats held on for a 66-60 victory Sunday in the championship game of the Advocare Invitational in Orlando.
Florida State is now 5-1 on the season and returns home on Wednesday night to take on No. 24 Purdue in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge.
The Seminoles struggled shooting all game against the Wildcats, hitting 43.1 percent from the floor and just 3-of-12 from 3-point range.
Villanova, which was 15-of-40 from 3-point range on Friday, only made three against the Seminoles. But they were able to convert 20 of 29 shots from inside the arc against the swarming Florida State defense, which was dead set on taking away the perimeter shooting of the Wildcats.
One of the key stretches in the game came in the second half when FSU senior Terance Mann was called for hooking a Villanova player on what would have been an offensive rebound. The Wildcats got two free throws and the ball and scored four points on that possession.
Then later, after a Mfiondu Kabengele "and-one" basket, Villanova took the lead on a free throw and then extended it to a three-point advantage a moment later on a putback.
Kabengele missed the front end of a one-and-one on the next possession, Villanova scored again, and the Seminoles began a furious rally that came up just short.
Forrest and Kabengele both scored 11 points to lead the way for the Florida State offense. M.J. Walker, who scored 21 in Friday's win over LSU, scored just two points for the Seminoles, who had 17 second-chance points on 13 offensive rebounds.
Villanova's Collin Gillespie scored 17 to lead all scorers.
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