Villanova Wildcats dash NCAA Tournament dream of Kyle Zunic's Winthrop Eagles

The Eagles, who were 23-1 going into the tournament, including winning their second straight Big South Conference crown earlier this month, started the match slow, hitting only five of their first 17 shots from the floor - including five straight misses.

But Zunic's side dug deep and fought their way back into the match during the final 8:39 in the half, hitting eight of their next 12 shots to going into the break down 34-33 against the 2018 national champions.

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Unfortunately, the Eagles shooting woes returned at the start of the second 20 minutes, missing their first seven shots of the stanza before Adonis Arms' three-pointer reduced the margin to six (43-37).

Arms' shot from deep kick-started an 8-2 run that brought the Eagles within one possession (45-42) of tying things up.

Midway through the half, the Wildcats put together a 9-0 run in the span of two and a half minutes to push their lead to 60-47 with just under seven minutes to play.

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Zunic ended the run with a three-pointer from the wing as Chandler Vaudrin kicked the ball out from inside the lane, making it a 60-50 game.

But that proved to be as close as the Eagles got, as the Wildcats ran out winners 73-63.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl led the way for Villanova with 22 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocks, while Zunic added eight points in the loss.

Despite being knocked out, in Zunic's fourth and final season with the Eagles, Winthrop's 23-2 season record represents the best winning percentage in the history of the program (.920) for a single campaign.

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