WKU held No. 5 Villanova close, but ultimately fell to the Wildcats 66-58 in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
WKU led for 14:14 of the first half and only trailed by three points at the half after holding Villanova to 33 percent shooting and forcing seven turnovers. But WKU did not lead at any point in the second half and tied the game just once in the final 20 minutes.
“We’re disappointed we lost,” WKU head coach Rick Stansbury said. “I’m really proud of our team’s effort, but I think it’s the way we kind of let the game get away from us in the second half that I’m really disappointed with.