The Louisiana State Tigers felt pretty confident with a 21-point lead and nine minutes left to play, but Villanova's Malcom Grant blazed back onto the court, scoring 18 points in the game's final seven minutes to put the Wildcats ahead, 68-67, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. Villanova wasn't the only Top 25 team to hang tough yesterday:
No. 13 Butler also fended off a threatening underdog, finishing 53-46 over the Detroit Titans. Freshman Matt Howard made his first start at forward and collected a team-high 20 points and 11 rebounds, thwarting a Titans defense that focused its energy on holding Butler's productive seniors, A.J. Graves and Mike Green, to a combined 17 points. (More NCAA basketball stories.)