VILLANOVA, Pa. John Elway . -- Patrick Farrell missed his first free throw, and was off on his second. With only 19 seconds left in the game, the pressure was on for Farrell to make the third. The Villanova fans stood and cheered, and his teammates were stoked, yelling from the bench at the sophomore forward that the final one would be good. Farrell practiced his motion, took a breath, released, and watched as the basketball bounced twice around the rim before it plopped through the net. The eighth-ranked Wildcats went wild, celebrating Farrells first point of the season like a game-winner, and not just the finishing touches of a 67-48 victory over Butler on Wednesday night. For a team that played about 30 minutes of basketball to forget, that moment of team bonding for the deepest of deep reserves was one to remember. "I love that," coach Jay Wright said. "Thats whats special about this team." The Wildcats (25-3, 13-2 Big East) survived one of their worst halves of the season to win for the ninth time in 10 games. They needed almost the first 10 minutes of the game to score 10 points, missed eight of their first nine 3-point attempts, and didnt have a player reach double digits in scoring until midway through the second half. "Youve got to find a way to grind against them," Wright said. "Ill take that." Darrun Hilliard and James Bell led them with only 11 points each and the Wildcats put up the kind of numbers that usually lead to a loss. Not against the lowly Bulldogs (12-16, 2-14). Butler was even worse, shooting only 26 per cent in the first half, and the Bulldogs lost their seventh straight game. The Wildcats had a small hot streak at the end of the first half, making 5 of 6 shots, to build enough of a cushion and slowly pull away. The Wildcats fell shy of their 79.9 points per game average and played for about 35 minutes looking nothing like the team that has become one of the best in the Big East. Each team took turns trading clunkers and clangers in the first 10 minutes, one reason the Wildcats only led 10-4. With 6 minutes left in the half, the Bulldogs and Wildcats combined for only 26 points. And no, Bo Ryan wasnt coaching either of the teams. The Pavilion had all the atmosphere of an art museum on a sleepy Sunday morning, making this one feel more like a bad NBA preseason game than the final on-campus home game of the season. Wright did let senior reserves Nick McMahon and Tony Chennault start -- though McMahon played only 20 seconds before he was benched for Ryan Arcidiacono. McMahon couldnt have been worse than the rest of the offence. Villanova missed 12 of its first 15 shots, most from 3-point range. The Wildcats were determined to keep shooting 3s until they fell. Bell and Arcidiacono did hit two straight near the end of the first half for a 28-15 lead. Butlers Kellen Dunham buried the shot of the game with a high banker for 3 that cut it to 34-20 at halftime. He led Butler with 12 points. Hard to believe these teams needed overtime before Villanova pulled out the win in their first matchup. "We didnt have it tonight," coach Brandon Miller said. "When you keep getting the results you dont want, it weighs on you a little bit." Bell was the lone senior regular for the Wildcats and exchanged an emotional hug with Wright after he checked out for the final time. "It was tough," Bell said. "I dont see my mom that much. My dad works a lot, doesnt really get the chance to get down that much. That was probably the toughest part, seeing my mom crying. Other than that, it was time to play." Pick a stat in the first half and both teams probably wish the number could be wiped from the record book. Butler missed 8 of 10 3s; Nova missed 12 of 16. Butler had two starters who went scoreless in the half. The Wildcats shot 38 per cent from the field. But theres a reason the Wildcats have spent most of the season in the Top 25, and they showed why in the second half, going more than 25 minutes without a turnover during a 16-3 run that stretched the lead to 24 points. Butler scored six baskets in the first half, and didnt reach seven for a second-half total until there was 1:51 left. While the Wildcats are in the hunt for a top-three seed in the NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs need a shocking conference tournament championship to have any shot at returning for some March Madness. "This is a really good group to coach," Wright said. "Its been a pleasure all year. But it cant let that prevent us from driving them and them driving themselves to get better." Shannon Sharpe . Tavares, who turns 23 this month, is the 14th captain in the teams 42-year history. Malik Jackson . For much of the night, Team Canada forced everyone to hold their collective breath while goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis and Latvia played with house money in the mens Olympic hockey quarter-final.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Ottawa Senators continue a tough stretch before the Olympic break as they visit the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, one night after visiting the leaders of the Eastern Conference. The Senators lost for the fourth time in six games with Mondays 2-1 overtime setback to the Pittsburgh Penguins, though they were able to earn a point following a disappointing 6-3 loss in Toronto on Saturday. Craig Anderson made a season-high 46 saves, but was unable to stop James Neals shot at the 1:55 mark of overtime. Stephane Da Costa scored for the Senators, who had cruised to a 5-0 win on home ice against the Pens back on Dec. 23 and now sit three points behind Detroit for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. "We knew we had to come out hard after the second half of our game in Toronto, which was not up to our liking," said Anderson, who surpassed his previous season high of 35 saves last done on Jan. 30. "We needed to come back and have a good game, and we knew they would want to come back hard at us too after we beat them in our building." Things dont get easier tonight for the Senators as they visit a Blues club that is third overall in the Western Conference with 79 points, three back of the Central Division-leading Chicago Blackhawks. Ottawa will visit the NHL basement-residing Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, but then visit the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins on Saturday. After a heavy workload last night, Robin Lehner is likely to give Anderson a deserved break tonight. Lehner has faceed the Blues just once before, making 30 saves in a 3-2 overtime victory at home on Dec. Rahim Moore. 16. The Senators snapped a two-game slide to the Blues and have won six of the last eight meetings. They will visit St. Louis for the first time since a 5-2 loss on Nov. 19, 2010. Defenseman Cody Ceci scored his first NHL goal in the matchup with the Blues and it was the game-winner in overtime. Chris Stewart scored twice for the Blues and Brian Elliott made 29 saves. Derek Roy added two assists for St. Louis and the Ottawa native has 14 goals and 39 points in 45 career games versus the Sens. Elliott made 28 saves as the Blues won the opener of a four-game homestand by besting the Nashville Predators 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday. Vladimir Tarasenko had a game-tying goal in the third period before notching the winner in the tiebreaker. "We needed this game after losing the last game," said Tarasenko, referring to a 3-1 setback in Carolina the previous night. He also had an assist versus the Predators. Jaden Schwartz and David Backers also lit the lamp for the Blues, who won for the fourth time in its last five games and moved to 20-5-2 at home this season. Jaroslav Halak will start tonight for St. Louis, which is 9-0-0 at home versus the Eastern Conference this season. Halak is 3-5-1 with a 2.76 goals against average in his career versus the Senators. Blues coach Ken Hitchcock is one win shy of 110 with the Blues, which would tie Scotty Bowman for fourth on the franchises all-time list. ' ' '
