March Madness games of the decade: Villanova-Pitt at No. 8

Watch the entire Villanova-Pittsburgh game from March 28, 2009

Scottie Reynolds might not be a good pro.

He's small.

He's not a true point guard.

But he's long established himself on the college level as one of the sport's great closers, as someone who can take over games and make big plays when big plays need to be made. As I type, it's only January of his senior year, meaning Reynolds still has time to make more big plays, and he most certainly will. But it's doubtful he'll make any play bigger than the play he made in last season's Elite Eight.

Coming in at No. 8 on the list of the "10 Best NCAA March Madness games from this decade" is ...

Villanova vs. Pittsburgh (2009)

The best season in Big East history led to two of the conference's best meeting in the Elite Eight in Boston. By tip-off, Connecticut had already punched its ticket to the Final Four. So either Pittsburgh or Villanova would be the second league member to reserve a place in Detroit, and, in 24 hours, Louisville would have an opportunity to get there, too.

Reynolds attacks the rim and gets the winner to fall. (US Presswire)

Pitt was the favorite, a No. 1 seed. But the Wildcats were one of four schools to beat Jamie Dixon's team in the regular season, and that they jumped to a double-digit lead in the first half suggested they could do it again. Naturally, that lead disappeared by halftime. Villanova trailed Pitt 34-32 after 20 minutes. Nobody led by more than five points in the second half. But Pitt led 67-63 with less than three minutes remaining.

"It felt like we had it done," Big East Player of the Year DeJuan Blair would later say. "And then it was anybody's ballgame."

Fast forward to the final minute, Villanova was up 76-74 and inbounding under its own basket. Rather than get the ball in safely and force Pitt to foul, Reggie Redding threw the ball away, and Levance Fields ended up with it. He was fouled just after crossing halfcourt with 5.5 seconds remaining. The Pitt point guard sank both free throws to create a 76-76 tie, and what came next was Scottie Reynolds' Tyus Edney moment, a dash to the other end for the win.

Reynolds flew up the right side of the court, then crossed in between two Panthers to get into the lane. With 0.5 seconds remaining, Reynolds made what was either a contested runner or layup, or perhaps a cross between the two. Either way, the point is that he made it, and that he sent the Wildcats to their first Final Four since Rollie Massimino guided the school to the 1985 national championship.

Final score: Villanova 78, Pittsburgh 76.

Lasting memory: Reynolds making a big play to win.

Since then, it's been more of the same.

Just this past weekend, Reynolds scored 27 points and grabbed an offensive rebound in the closing minutes to help Villanova improve to 16-1 with a win over Georgetown, this only days after scoring 16 points in the final 6:05 to lead Villanova past Louisville. Consequently, the senior guard has developed a reputation as one of the best closers in college basketball. But it's doubtful he'll ever make a play bigger than the one he made in the 2009 NCAA tournament, unlikely he'll ever have a more crucial basket than the one that sent Villanova to the Final Four.