Demontez Stitt led Clemson with 14 points.

March 22, 2008

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher kept Tampa's upset streak intact.

Reynolds scored 21 points, Fisher added 17 and the 12th-seeded Wildcats gave this NCAA tournament pod its fourth upset in as many games with a 75-69 victory over No. 5 seed Clemson in the first round of the Midwest Region on Friday night.

Villanova, which has more wins as a lower-seeded team in the tournament than any program since 1979, overcame an 18-point deficit for this win.

Reynolds and Fisher were at the center of it all.

The Wildcats trailed 36-18 with 5 minutes to play in the first half. But they got hot from 3-point range - Reynolds made his first three after the break - and slowly sliced into the big lead.

Fisher was 2-for-3 from behind the arc and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.

Reynolds' biggest shot was an off-balance 3-pointer with Cliff Hammonds in his face just before the shot clock expired. Hammonds fouled him on the play, then dropped his head in disbelief after the ball banked off the backboard and through the hoop.

Reynolds missed the free throw, but his bucket gave Villanova its first lead of the game, 50-49 with 11:56 remaining.

Clemson nearly folded from there, looking every bit like a team that hadn't been in the NCAA tournament in 10 years.

But Villanova helped the Tigers get back in it.

The Tigers trailed 64-57 with 3:44 remaining, but Terrence Oglesby made five consecutive free throws - three after he was fouled on a 3-pointer and two more after Villanova coach Jay Wright was whistled for a technical.

Clemson's Demontez Stitt tied it at 66 with two more free throws with 1:55 to go, but the Wildcats retook the lead by making 9-of-10 from the stripe over the final 1:37.

Stitt led the Tigers with 14 points. K.C. Rivers Jr. added 12, and Oglesby finished with 11.

Clemson said tournament experience was overrated, and players pointed to their run in last year's NIT as something that would help them in this one.