LAS VEGAS — The most spirited matchup across the first four days of the inaugural College Basketball Crown, a game between two of the field's most well-respected brands in Villanova and USC, both of power-conference lore, was distilled to this: less than a minute remaining, the score tied, the best player from each team given one chance with the ball in their respective hands and a guaranteed financial reward on the line.
From his position on the right wing, Villanova star Eric Dixon pondered and probed his isolation duel with Rashaun Agee, a springy big man who poured in 22 points on Thursday night. He peppered his jab step as the clock melted beneath 30 seconds, weighing the decision to drive or shoot. He pump-faked to test Agee's resolve, knowing full well that USC, just like every team Dixon has faced this season, implores its players not to fall for his savvy antics. But Agee bit, Dixon jumped, and a referee blew the whistle. Dixon made one free-throw to give the Wildcats a one-point lead.
At the opposite end of the court, the Trojans turned to leading scorer Desmond Claude, a slashing guard who'd been quiet for most of this quarterfinal matchup. Claude nimbly split two defenders off a pick and roll before contorting his body to create a sliver of space at the rim, where his right-handed layup cruelly spun in and out, dangling above the cylinder momentarily before Dixon — of course — could snatch it away: Villanova 60, USC 59. Final.
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"He's a great player," USC head coach Eric Musselman said when asked about Dixon during the postgame news conference. "He knows how to draw fouls. We were supposed to stay down on the pump fake, and then obviously the last point of the game was off of a pump fake. But he's Villanova's all-time leading scorer for a reason."
That fake, and the ensuing free throw, proved to be the difference on a night when the Wildcats needed all 28 points Dixon gave them to overcome an uncharacteristically choppy first half and inefficient shooting from wings Wooga Poplar and Jordan Longino, who made just five of 22 field goals combined. It was Dixon who single-handedly erased his team's 10-point deficit by embarking on a personal 13-2 run during a breathtaking stretch that bisected the second stanza. He scored 24 points after halftime, including seven of Villanova's final nine, to propel the Wildcats into a semifinal matchup with UCF on Saturday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena. Nebraska will tangle with Boise State on the other side of the bracket.
For the Wildcats to get this far, they overcame an unsightly start to Thursday's game in which their offensive firepower inexplicably vanished near the midway point of the first half. A string of five consecutive made field goals that had pushed Villanova to an early lead suddenly gave way to an alarming chorus of clanks, clunks and clattering misses that allowed USC to seize control of the game. The Wildcats bricked 12 of their final 14 shots to end the half, including nine misfires from beyond the arc, as their narrow advantage morphed into a seven-point deficit. Were it not for some timely scoring from Poplar, who netted 14 of his team's 27 points in the opening half, Villanova could have packed its bags at the break.
"They took it to us in the first half," interim head coach Mike Nardi said.
How much competitive juice Nardi could squeeze from this group was a legitimate question from the moment Villanova accepted an invite to the College Basketball Crown, especially in the wake of Kyle Neptune's firing. It was widely surmised that one of the principal goals here in Las Vegas was to ensure that center Eric Dixon, a fifth-year player, had a chance to break the school's all-time scoring record held for nearly 30 years by Kerry Kittles, an all-time Wildcats great. But once that item was checked off the list against Colorado on Tuesday evening — Dixon passed Kittles with another pump-fake aided jumper in the first half — it became fair to wonder how much motivation a team that didn't always exude passion during the regular season would realistically muster for the remainder of this tournament.
When the Wildcats returned to the floor for second-half warmups, Nardi strolled over to where Dixon was launching baseline jumpers with a heating pad wrapped around his lower back. Nardi told Dixon that he had been too hesitant during the first half, especially in a win-or-go-home situation, and encouraged his star to "shoot ‘em up, sleep in the streets, take your shots," and make sure there were no regrets with how the second half unfolded.
What followed was an otherworldly onslaught from Dixon in which he exploded for 24 of his team's 33 points in the second half on 8-for-16 shooting. He scored seven points in fewer than two minutes after the under-16 media timeout and whittled USC's lead to five. Then, after a basket from Agee momentarily stopped the bleeding, he scored seven more points in fewer than three minutes to push Villanova ahead by the 8:32 mark. The barrage of baseline spins and muscled layups were augmented by five free throws and three 3-pointers, including one of the difficult step-back variety. Dixon attempted more shots than the rest of his teammates combined in the second half.
"It was amazing," point guard Jhamir Brickus said of that flurry. "Just the way he can be able to score the ball and make plays for others, it was definitely amazing. But it's something I'm used to, though."
Which is why there was absolutely no question who would have the ball in their hands for Villanova's most important possession. Nardi knew it, the Trojans knew it, everyone inside MGM Grand Garden Arena knew it. The only uncertainty was which move Dixon would choose, and from which part of the floor he'd unleash it.
The answer, in hindsight, seemed rather obvious: He caught the ball on the right wing and baited Agee into a game of cat and mouse. There was only going to be one winner.
"I'm just trying to read body language," Dixon said when asked about the final sequence. "And I'm also thinking about past possessions and what they did. [Agee] had been aggressive — rightfully so — playing good, tough defense. I just tried to get him off his feet.
"And I got him."
Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
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