Head coach Quentin Hillsman called a timeout just one minute into the game. Something wasn’t right. Villanova had come out and drilled its first two long-range shots – a dangerous sign from a team that thrives from beyond the 3-point arc.

But the timeout didn’t stop the bleeding for Syracuse, as the Wildcats opened the game on an 11-2 run, torching the Orange zone defense with a bevy of 3-point field goals.

‘It was just one of those days,’ Hillsman said. ‘We ran into a buzz saw. We ran into a team that just shot the ball really well. They made some contested ones and they made some open ones, they just really had it going on.’

The sharp shooting Wildcats (13-8, 5-2 Big East) would go on to hit 16-of-36 3-pointers, baffling the Syracuse (14-7, 3-5 Big East) defense in a one-sided, 69-51 victory Saturday at the Carrier Dome in front of 1,370 fans. The defeat was Syracuse’s third-consecutive home loss.

Syracuse has lost four of its last five Big East games this season to drop to 3-5, a stark departure after last year’s 10-6 conference record.

Villanova’s victory showcased what has become head coach Harry Perretta’s patented offense: hitting an onslaught of long-range shots, forcing defenses to adjust, and in turn, allow for wide-open inside looks in the second half.

‘That was the coin flip,’ Hillsman said. ‘We could keep them in front of us and guard them and really contest shots, or we get to a point where we’re really trying to scramble around and get to spots on the floor where we’re keeping the ball out of their hands.

‘Harry has that offense, it’s called the ‘Villanova offense.’ It’s his thing and they ran it good.’

The first phase of Perretta’s offense was made easy by a Syracuse injury. After suffering a chest contusion in Tuesday night’s loss to Marquette, sophomore guard Erica Morrow was unable to play, forcing sophomore Marisa Gobuty to step in and help anchor the Orange’s 2-3 zone. Then, Villanova found the holes in the SU’s zone.

With up to four players circling the perimeter on offense, Villanova worked the ball around the key with possessions that sometimes lasted through 10 or 12 passes, tiring the inexperienced Syracuse frontcourt.

‘They definitely made the extra pass and they had us scrambling a little bit there,’ Gobuty said. ‘But that’s their offense and we practiced it in practice. I think we were prepared, but I think sometimes things just happen in the game.’

As soon as space presented itself in the Orange zone, Villanova would shoot one of its 24 first-half attempts from beyond the arc, sinking 11 – the most Syracuse has surrendered in a half this season.

Emerging from halftime utilizing in a full-court press, Syracuse attempted to use its speedy frontcourt to force Villanova into turnovers. But after breaking down the press into a half-court set, Wildcat senior forward Laura Kurz worked inside and drew a foul.

The second phase of Perretta’s defense was underway. Villanova attempted only 12 3-pointers in the second half while shooting 43.5 percent from the field.

‘What happens is (hitting first-half 3’s) forces them to press us, and if we make the right passes against the press we can get easier shots, which we did in the second half,’ Perretta said. ‘In the second half we were able to get more layups, because we were able to stretch their defense.’

The clockwork offense allowed the Wildcats to open up a lead as big as 25 in the second half while Syracuse continued to try and feed consistent scorers Nicole Michael and Chandrea Jones, who scored a combined 16 points, well below their averages.

After the game, Hillsman remained optimistic about his team’s prospects for the remainder of the season. But the confidence may be overshadowing a bigger issue brought up in Saturday’s loss: Syracuse allowed the lowest-scoring team in the Big East to put up 69 points, while scoring 20 points below its average.

It’s an issue Hillsman will undoubtedly address in practice. But in the meantime, he said he has already forgotten about the loss to Villanova and is looking ahead to Tuesday’s matchup against No. 6 Louisville.

Hillsman’s optimism has remained steadfast throughout this tough stretch. In mid-January he had to deal with controversy regarding a 107-53 loss to No. 1 Connecticut. On Jan. 24 he stuck up for his team in a two-point loss to Pittsburgh, saying the UConn incident hurt his team, which he said fought as hard as it could.

But despite his optimism, his team’s recent performance may be leading them away from a repeat NCAA Tournament bid.

‘Once I walk out of the locker room, it is behind me,’ Hillsman said. ‘We already talked about practice, we already handed out scout reports for Louisville because it doesn’t matter, there’s nothing we can do to change this. We have to move forward and get ready for Louisville, which is obviously going to be a tough game down there.’

ctorr@syr.edu

Published on February 1, 2009 at 12:00 pm