Obviously that’s hyperbole, but only just.
Imagine you’re Ryan Conwell.
There are just under 5 minutes left in the game, and it’s a game your team has to win. You were held more or less silent in the first half. Sure, you picked up 4 assists, but you only had 6 points, and you weren’t brought to Xavier to pass the ball. You bided your time, didn’t force it, and found yourself down 8 at the half. Still, it could have been worse. Without a late Octavius Ellis impression from Jordan Longino, you’d have been down 10.
You came out of the locker room glowing hot. You had 11 second-half points before 5 minutes had come off the clock to drag your team from down 8 to tied. Nobody in a Nova uniform could stop you.
Someone in stripes could. The refs – led by Bill Covington in what I sincerely hope was the worst game of his life – decided the fans who had come to see them were distracted by you. They drilled you with your third and fourth fouls of the game in quick succession before the under-12 media timeout. The contest that you worked so hard to bring your team back into would now proceed without you for a stretch. Down 40-38 with 11:47 to play, you were consigned to the bench.
Nova immediately pushed the lead to 6, promoting a timeout. Your teammates – led by Dayvion McKnight, Marcus Foster, and Dailyn Swain on off nights for Zach Freemantle and Dante Maddox Jr – answered back. They never brought it level, but they kept it from getting away. Now it’s winning time.
The three that Eric Dixon just splashed gave Nova their 54th point of the game in 35 minutes of play. If they continue scoring at that pace, they’ll end up with 62. With Xavier sitting on 48, you’ll need to find 15 points to get over the top.
15 points. 5 minutes. How are you going to do it?
Well, Nova left you open on the right wing while you were doing math in your head. That’s 3 of them right there. Two trips down the floor later, Sean Miller calls the same play he started the game with, having you run across a screen from the right corner to the top of the key. Just like at the start of the game, you knock it down. This time, Enoch Boakye is close enough to foul you and you cash out the free throw. You’re ahead, but that’s a top-10 offense in the nation you’re squaring off against.
7 points down. 8 to go. Clock’s ticking.
Next time down, Marcus Foster drives from the right wing to the elbow just as Zach Freemantle ducks in to the left block. With you on the left wing, your man drops into the paint to help. Why would he do that? Not your problem. Three more, please and thank you.
Down to your last 18% of win probability, you’re now up 4 with well under a minute to go. Defensive rebound, 2 FTs. Defensive rebound, 2 FTs. Draw a dead ball foul, 2 FTs. Signed, sealed, delivered.
If you were imagining you were Ryan Conwell, you probably feel pretty good right now. From the point at which Villanova went down 54-48, Conwell outscored the Wildcats 16-9 on his own. If you’re scoring at home, that’s 64-63 to the home team even if nobody else managed a single point for Xavier in the last 5 minutes. That mythic closing performance kept Xavier just barely alive on the season; maybe we look back on it as the springboard that launches then back into the conversation.