Not even Pope Leo could save Villanova from turnover-filled collapse vs Notre Dame - USA Today
No special prayers from Pope Leo XIV could help Villanova men's basketball leave Rome with a victory on Sunday.
Playing in the shadow of the Vatican, Villanova — of which Pope Leo XIV is an alum — watched its advantage slowly slip away in the closing minutes against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish erased the deficit late and handed Villanova a 74-72 loss in the Eternal City Tip-Off at Palazzo dello Sport in Rome on Sunday, Nov. 1.
The collapse of Kevin Willard's squad had multiple factors, most notably 20 turnovers and poor offensive shooting down the stretch. Notre Dame big man Logan Duncomb hit the eventual go-ahead 3-pointer off a Villanova turnover to give the Fighting Irish the lead with just over 60 seconds remaining in the game.
Duncomb's 3-pointer, which had the small contingent of Notre Dame fans on their feet and Fox Sports' Bill Raftrey already in midseason form, provided the Fighting Irish with their first lead since they were up 16-15 in the first half.
It also came during a 16-10 run from Notre Dame in the final 7:26 of the second half.
Villanova's offense was abysmal down the stretch, including in the closing seconds. Down two points after Duncomb's triple, Kwame Evans Jr. attempted a 3-pointer, but his attempt was blocked by Brady Koehler.
Then, with under 20 seconds and facing another two-point deficit after Notre Dame missed the front end of a one-and-one, Elijah Crawford took an early mid-range shot that rolled out of the rim. Notre Dame stole the roll-out at the line to seal the win.
Tyler Perkins gave Villanova a 60-50 lead with 10:24 to go in the second half. The Wildcats then made just two of their next nine attempts and committed two critical turnovers.
The Wildcats committed 20 turnovers in the loss, including 15 in the first half, and Notre Dame capitalized on those mistakes by scoring 20 points off turnovers. Until Darryl Simmons scored an easy layup as the buzzer went off, Villanova went almost four minutes without a successful field goal to close the game.
"We just gave up too many offensive rebounds," Willard said after the loss. "It’s been one of our struggles so far. We just got to fix our offensive rebounds and turnovers. You can’t have 20 turnovers and 18 offensive rebounds and expect to win."
The loss is by no means a season-ending one for the postseason as it might be for college football, but it certainly isn't a "good loss" for the Wildcats. Villanova, picked to finish third in the Big East and projected to make the men's NCAA Tournament for the second straight season under Willard, fell to a Notre Dame team that finished 16th in the ACC last season and didn't make its conference tournament.
"We’re playing 30-some games this year," Perkins said after the game "That’s one game. We obviously wanted to win. We should have won. We hurt ourselves at the end of the day, but we just got to stay together."
On the flip side, it's a statement win for Micah Shrewsberry's squad, which was picked to finish 16th in the preseason ACC poll and lost its top-three scorers — Markus Burton, Jalen Haralson and Cole Certa — from a season ago to the transfer portal. Braeden Smith and Koehler both led with a team-high 16 points, while Braeden Shrewsberry added 15 points.
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