Fields finally falls short in Pitt's 78-76 loss

BOSTON " Pittsburgh and Levance Fields finally ran out of time.

Half a second was too little even for the Panthers' late-game star to keep their season alive.

Supremely confident, though, the point guard thought his desperation heave from three-quarters court might go in. Instead, it banked off the backboard as the buzzer sounded, and Villanova held on for a 78-76 win Saturday night and a berth in the Final Four.

"For a minute there, to be honest, I thought I had a chance off the glass," Fields said in the quiet of his locker room where one player slumped with a towel over his head. "That's all you could ask for with five-tenths of a second left."

His optimism was understandable, given his history of making big baskets with the outcome on the line.

And on Saturday he had a chance to sink the biggest of his career in an outstanding game.

"Obviously, it's a game that I guess people will talk about as far as a great game," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "But right now, all we're reflecting on is it's just a disappointment and a loss. But I'm not disappointed at all in our effort or character we displayed."

Top-seeded Pitt (31-5) had reached the East Regional final with a 60-55 win over Xavier in which Fields gave the Panthers the lead with a 3-pointer with 50.9 seconds left, then hit a layup off his own steal.

In his previous game, an 84-76 win over Oklahoma State, the game was tied at 74 before Fields made a layup and a 3-pointer. The Panthers never trailed after that.

Could it happen again?

The man who makes their offense go told Sam Young to make sure to inbound the ball to him after Scottie Reynolds' driving layup gave Villanova the lead.

"I felt I could make it," Fields said. "I just was hoping Sam would give me a chance."

Fields got the ball and a good look at the basket, even though it was from long distance. He launched it, then took a few steps backward as it soared toward the end of his season. When it missed, he raised his hands to his forehead then clapped them in frustration.

Young scored 28 points and DeJuan Blair had 20 for Pitt as Fields was content to pass the ball to the team's top scorers most of the game.

The senior leader of a team with those outstanding pro prospects did score 10 points. Two of them came on free throws with 2:01 left, giving Pitt a 69-68 lead.

Then Villanova (30-7) went ahead 75-72 and Fields missed a jumper from the top of the key with 25.7 seconds to go. He tugged on the right shoulder strap of his uniform, wiped his face and walked slowly upcourt.

But he would have another chance.

With the score 76-74, Villanova's Reggie Redding launched a pass from under his basket to the other end where teammate Dante Cunningham saved it from going out of bounds but batted it to Pitt's Jermaine Dixon.

He got the ball to Fields, who was fouled with 5.5 seconds left.

"Everybody in the gym knew those two free throws were going in," Jamie Dixon said.

Even a timeout called by Villanova between the shots couldn't unnerve Fields.

Then the Wildcats struggled to inbound the ball.

"I thought it was going to be a five-second call," Blair said.

But Redding passed the ball to Cunningham just in time, and he got it to Reynolds, whose layup put the third-seeded Wildcats ahead. The clock kept running down to 0:00 and Fields slumped to the floor at midcourt, thinking, perhaps, that the game was over.

But the officials put a half-second back.

"We take halfcourt shots every day" in practice, Fields said. "I've seen them go in numerous times."

Earlier, Fields hit a 3-pointer to make it 30-all, the first time Pitt didn't trail since the early going, and he waved with his left hand to fire up the fans.

Fields handed out six assists. But the director of Pitt's offense was eliminated from the tournament three wins short of his goal.

Pitt's only other appearance in the Final Four came in 1941 when just eight teams played in the tournament. It beat North Carolina then lost to Wisconsin.

After the Panthers beat Xavier, Blair said with a laugh that the key to their success was to "give Levance the ball."

On Saturday, the Panthers did.

They won't have another chance.