Villanova, despite never building a double-digit lead, seemed to be in complete control from the opening tip.

The Wildcats finally looked like the team that many felt could be a Final Four contender, but it didn’t take long for that other group to show up.

With a six-point lead with just three minutes to play, the Wildcats started to run down the clock a bit too early.

The passiveness on the offensive end of the floor lead to a lot of missed opportunities to score, allowing George Mason to crawl back into the game and eventually win it.

The ending for the Villanova Wildcats came in crushing, gut-wrenching fashion in Friday’s NCAA tournament opener.

Leading for most of the game, the reeling Wildcats managed to lose control at the finish. Luke Hancock’s 3-pointer with 20 seconds left gave George Mason the lead, and Mike Morrison’s dunk 16 seconds later knocked Villanova out of the NCAAs 61-57, in the second round of the East regional in Cleveland.

For a Villanova team that had lost five games in a row, it was a bitter ending to a season during which the Wildcats were ranked in the top 10 at one time and considered by many a Final Four contender.

Corey Fisher led the Wildcats with 20 points. His three free throws with 31 seconds left put Villanova ahead 57-56. Hancock shook free 11 seconds later, hitting a 3-pointer to put the Patriots ahead 59-57. Morrison then dunked after a Villanova miss on the other end.

Corey Stokes added 14 points for Villanova. George Mason advances to face top-seed Ohio State on Sunday in the third round.

—30—

Now would be a good time for the Villanova Wildcats to turn things around. The NCAA tournament is here, and nobody expects much from a team that has totally fallen apart after a white-hot start to the season.

At one point this season, Villanova was 16-1, ranked in the top 10 in the nation and looked every bit like a Final Four contender.

That was then. Now, Villanova limps into the NCAA tournament on a five-game losing streak, and has dropped 10 of its past 15 games. The latest came on the opening day of the Big East tournament on Tuesday, a 70-69 defeat to South Florida that landed the Wildcats a nine seed entering the NCAAs.

After starting 16-1, a 61-59 loss to Connecticut in mid-January started a tailspin that’s lasted nearly two months. Playing in the rugged Big East Conference certainly didn’t help, but Villanova totally fell apart in the season’s final weeks.

Now Villanova finds itself facing powerful George Mason from the Colonial Athletic Association in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on Friday in Cleveland. The Patriots have won 16 of their past 17 games and have to be considered a favorite to send the Wildcats into the offseason.

—30—

Regular season. Postseason. No matter the season, it’s been nothing but a struggle lately for the Villanova Wildcats.

The Wildcats at one time were ranked No. 6 in the nation. But after losing their final four regular-season games, Villanova lost a 16-point lead and fell 70-69 to South Florida in the opening round of the Big East tournament on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

Anthony Crater’s layup with 5.1 seconds completed the rally for the Bulls and continued Villanova’s struggles.

Villanova has not won since edging DePaul, the last-place team in the Big East, 77-75 in overtime on Feb. 19.

Losses to Syracuse, St. John’s, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh followed. All four of those teams were ranked when the Wildcats played them. The Bulls are not ranked and finished just 3-15 in conference play, but held the Wildcats to just 20 points in the second half.

Villanova drops to 21-11 and could be on the NCAA tournament bubble now following the early exit from the conference tournament. Maalik Wayns scored 24 points for the Wildcats in the loss.

—30—

The good news for the Villanova Wildcats is they have won 21 games this season and are above .500 in the rugged Big East Conference.

The bad news is the Wildcats are limping to the finish line in the regular season. The Wildcats have lost three games in a row and five of the past seven.

That’s not the way Villanova wants to be playing as it closes the regular season Saturday against No. 5 Pittsburgh, the Big East leader. But the 19th-ranked Wildcats do have victories over three ranked teams: Cincinnati, Louisville and Syracuse.

The Wildcats are coming off a 93-72 loss Monday at No. 7 Notre Dame. That loss dropped Villanova into a tie for ninth place in the Big East with Marquette and No. 16 Connecticut at 9-8.

The Big East tournament tips off next week in New York City. With as many as 11 conference teams expected to earn NCAA tournament bids, it would be a good idea for the Wildcats to win at least once in the conference tourney to ensure they will head to the big dance.

—30—

Villanova trailed for most of the game but once again tried to make a late comeback, and they almost pulled it off thanks to their pressure defense.

In the end, it was simply too much Austin Freeman. He hung 30 points on Villanova, and I’m sure players will be seeing him in their sleep.

The Wildcats had the more balanced offensive attack of the two teams, with five players scoring in double figures.

However, stars Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher combined for just 28 points, and Villanova needs more scoring out of those two if they are going to win games against good teams.

The hangover from knocking off the third-ranked team in the nation wasn’t the problem for the Villanova Wildcats on Wednesday.

Rather, it was the Providence Friars who presented a challenge the Wildcats could not overcome. No. 7 Villanova never led in a 83-68 defeat at Providence.

The Wildcats (17-3, 5-2 Big East) trailed 34-25 at halftime and were down by as many as 18 points in the second half, falling to Providence for the first time since 2004. Villanova was troubled by poor shooting, hitting just 32.5 percent of its attempts from the field. In an 83-72 upset of No. 3 Syracuse on Saturday, Villanova shot 50 percent from the field.

Villanova’s top two scorers, Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes, each finished with just seven points. Stokes and Fisher combined to go 1 of 13 from 3-point range.

The Wildcats look to rebound Saturday at home against Georgetown, opening a three-game homestand which also features matchups with Marquette and West Virginia. Villanova drops into a tie for second place in the Big East with UConn and Louisville.

—30—

After falling behind by 12 points midway through the second half, Villanova went on a 19-0 run to take control of the game.

Maalik Wayns lead the way with 22 points for the Wildcats while Corey Fisher added 17, including eight during the big run.

The Wildcats struggled to find an answer for Maryland’s Jordan Williams, who finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds.

Head coach Jay Wright implored his team at halftime to pick up the defensive effort, saying Williams was killing them.

Andy Katz seems to think so. Despite the graduation of Scottie Reynolds, second on the all-time scoring list at the university, Katz ranks the Wildcats No. 9 in his Preseason Top 25.

Why? Jay Wright’s returning team is full of potential stars, led by guards Corey Fischer and Corey Stokes. But this team appears to be as deep as any in the country, with Antonio Pena, Maalik Wayans, and Dominic Cheek equally able to fill it up when necessary.But how far Villanova goes could depend on the development of Mouphtaou Yarou and Maurice Sutton. Both are supremely talented but were brought along slowly last season. If Wright can extract productive minutes out of these two on a nightly basis, the Wildcats will be the team to beat in the Big East this season and could make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

For the first time in quite a while, the Wildcats appear to be better off without relying on Reynolds to do the heavy lifting.

Villanova got off to a slow start, but they finally started to hit their stride midway through the second half.

In the end, the Wildcats simply let Saint Mary’s hang around for far too long, and it came back to bite them.

Scottie Reynolds had another rough day, and the Wildcats couldn’t overcome it against a quality opponent.

It’s a disappointing loss for Villanova, which still believed they were a Final Four caliber team.