Before he took off the red uniform for the last time, Hassan Adams had something to say.

“We came together more in these last two games than any team I’ve played for in my four years at Arizona,” Adams said.

“Every player on this team laid it on the line, 100 percent. I couldn’t be prouder.”
Arizona lost to Philadelphia’s hometown favorite, Villanova 82-78 on Sunday in a classic of a second-round NCAA Tournament game.

Had it known a game like this could happen so early in the tournament - smack dab in the hometown of the No. 1 seed - the selection committee might have given the Wildcats a break. It might not have put them behind the 8-ball with an eight seed.

“We had home court tonight, I feel a little guilty,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said.

“We love playing at home. It was an advantage, it really was. Being in Philadelphia, being at home, we were comfortable in the locker room, we were comfortable on the bench.

“We had all the advantages - No. 1 seed playing at home, the crowd, everyone talking about going to Minneapolis.”

Arizona coach Lute Olson called it “a great college basketball game,” and he was right.

Villanova’s lightning-quick, four-guard attack would light it up and pull ahead by six, eight points. . . . and the Arizona species of Wildcats would battle back, fang and claw.

A 12-5 UA run sliced the lead to 76-74 with 1:37 remaining. But a field goal by Randy Foye, who scored 24, and four straight free throws by Allan Ray, who wound up with 25, was just too much for Arizona.

“Our guys gave it everything they had,” Olson said. “But that’s a very good, very unselfish Villanova team. You saw two teams out there battling for all they were worth.”

Olson seemed reluctant to talk about Villanova’s home court advantage, other than to say it was a factor.

“No matter what you say, it will sound like sour grapes,” Olson said. “But this is a great tournament, and I think that’s something the committee needs to take a look at.

“I don’t want for a second to make that sound like it cost us the game. In fact, our guys don’t care who the crowd is yelling for as much as the noise itself. We faced the same thing a year ago when we played Illinois in Chicago. But if the NCAA is going to have a level playing field, they have to be careful with that sort of thing.”