Wartburg 311 » This year, first-year coach Jay Gruden has chan

VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Patrick Farrell missed his first free throw, and was off on his second. With only 19 seconds left in the game, the pressure was on for Farrell to make the third. The Villanova fans stood and cheered, and his teammates were stoked, yelling from the bench at the sophomore forward that the final one would be good. Farrell practiced his motion, took a breath, released, and watched as the basketball bounced twice around the rim before it plopped through the net. The eighth-ranked Wildcats went wild, celebrating Farrells first point of the season like a game-winner, and not just the finishing touches of a 67-48 victory over Butler on Wednesday night. For a team that played about 30 minutes of basketball to forget, that moment of team bonding for the deepest of deep reserves was one to remember. "I love that," coach Jay Wright said. "Thats whats special about this team." The Wildcats (25-3, 13-2 Big East) survived one of their worst halves of the season to win for the ninth time in 10 games. They needed almost the first 10 minutes of the game to score 10 points, missed eight of their first nine 3-point attempts, and didnt have a player reach double digits in scoring until midway through the second half. "Youve got to find a way to grind against them," Wright said. "Ill take that." Darrun Hilliard and James Bell led them with only 11 points each and the Wildcats put up the kind of numbers that usually lead to a loss. Not against the lowly Bulldogs (12-16, 2-14). Butler was even worse, shooting only 26 per cent in the first half, and the Bulldogs lost their seventh straight game. The Wildcats had a small hot streak at the end of the first half, making 5 of 6 shots, to build enough of a cushion and slowly pull away. The Wildcats fell shy of their 79.9 points per game average and played for about 35 minutes looking nothing like the team that has become one of the best in the Big East. Each team took turns trading clunkers and clangers in the first 10 minutes, one reason the Wildcats only led 10-4. With 6 minutes left in the half, the Bulldogs and Wildcats combined for only 26 points. And no, Bo Ryan wasnt coaching either of the teams. The Pavilion had all the atmosphere of an art museum on a sleepy Sunday morning, making this one feel more like a bad NBA preseason game than the final on-campus home game of the season. Wright did let senior reserves Nick McMahon and Tony Chennault start -- though McMahon played only 20 seconds before he was benched for Ryan Arcidiacono. McMahon couldnt have been worse than the rest of the offence. Villanova missed 12 of its first 15 shots, most from 3-point range. The Wildcats were determined to keep shooting 3s until they fell. Bell and Arcidiacono did hit two straight near the end of the first half for a 28-15 lead. Butlers Kellen Dunham buried the shot of the game with a high banker for 3 that cut it to 34-20 at halftime. He led Butler with 12 points. Hard to believe these teams needed overtime before Villanova pulled out the win in their first matchup. "We didnt have it tonight," coach Brandon Miller said. "When you keep getting the results you dont want, it weighs on you a little bit." Bell was the lone senior regular for the Wildcats and exchanged an emotional hug with Wright after he checked out for the final time. "It was tough," Bell said. "I dont see my mom that much. My dad works a lot, doesnt really get the chance to get down that much. That was probably the toughest part, seeing my mom crying. Other than that, it was time to play." Pick a stat in the first half and both teams probably wish the number could be wiped from the record book. Butler missed 8 of 10 3s; Nova missed 12 of 16. Butler had two starters who went scoreless in the half. The Wildcats shot 38 per cent from the field. But theres a reason the Wildcats have spent most of the season in the Top 25, and they showed why in the second half, going more than 25 minutes without a turnover during a 16-3 run that stretched the lead to 24 points. Butler scored six baskets in the first half, and didnt reach seven for a second-half total until there was 1:51 left. While the Wildcats are in the hunt for a top-three seed in the NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs need a shocking conference tournament championship to have any shot at returning for some March Madness. "This is a really good group to coach," Wright said. "Its been a pleasure all year. But it cant let that prevent us from driving them and them driving themselves to get better." Winnipeg Jets Jerseys . -- Top-seed Shahar Peer and Canadian Eugenie Bouchard advanced to the second round of the inaugural WTA Citi Open. Patrik Laine Jersey . Wiggins, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward who plays his first exhibition game on Wednesday against Pitt State, was the top prospect in the class of 2013. http://www.officialwinnipegjetspro.com/Bobby-hull-jets-jersey/ . Following the Ford Womens World Curling Championship gold medal match that attracted record-breaking audiences to TSN, the networks exclusive live coverage of the tournament begins Saturday at 7am et/4am pt with Canadas opening draw against Denmark. Blake Wheeler Jersey . Clevelands manager had just watched his team lose 5-3 to Kansas City, which completed a 2-6 homestand and dropped the Indians 2 1/2 games behind Detroit in the AL Central. Custom Winnipeg Jets Jerseys . TSN was honoured with several awards, with Rod Smith and James Duthie sharing the win for Best Sports Host for SportsCentre and the NHL: Season On The Brink coverage, respectively.ASHBURN, Va. - Chris Cooley has been all about the Washington Redskins and no other team in his NFL life. He played nine seasons, went to a couple of Pro Bowls, made his home in the D.C. area and now breaks down game film on the team-affiliated radio station.And hes doing it during a historically bad time for the once-proud franchise.I hate my role right now, because of that, Cooley said. I want to be honest with our fans, and I dont want to be negative towards our players or coaches or ownership, but I have a hard time being anything besides being honest. It would be so much fun if they would win. Its not fun. Its frustrating.The Redskins (3-11) are lousy. No other way to say it. Theyve lost 19 of 22 games, a run of futility unmatched in team lore since the early 1960s. They ended last year with an eight-game losing streak and are on pace to do the same this year. Back-to-back 3-13 seasons would compare only to the 1960-61 years, when they went 1-9-2 and 1-12-1.In January 2010, not long after Bruce Allen was hired as general manager, he said: The status quo has to end. We have to change the way weve been doing some business. ... Last place two years in a row is not Redskins football.Apparently, it is. Under Allen, the Redskins claimed the cellar of the NFC East in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, and again in 2013 and 2014. Their last-place slot this year was secured with Sundays loss to the New York Giants.When Dan Snyder first emerged as a potential buyer for the team in 1999, he told The Washington Post: I miss winning. It was a fair assessment from a lifelong fan because there had been some lean years since the last of the three Super Bowl trophies was won in the early 1990s.Snyder bought the team later that year. Hes since overseen eight last-place finishes and a 107-147 record, tied for the fifth worst record in the NFL during that span. It would be fair to conclude that he still misses winning.Some fans, at least the ones who still come to the games, are starting to wear bags on their heads, and they are quick to point out that Snyder is the one constant amid all the losing. There have been isolated moments of success in the last decade — playoffs in 20055, 2007 and 2012 — but expectations arent what they used to be.ddddddddddddI think this fan base would be fine with a competitive 7-9, 8-8 team, Cooley said. My first couple of years here, it was always like 10, 11. Now its Aw, we can win seven or eight.The cumulative effect has worn on the usually even-keeled Santana Moss, the teams longest tenured player. Moss was ejected from Sundays game when he argued a decision that overturned a touchdown after a replay review. His tirade represented a decade of going-nowhere frustration.It feels like every time we do something good, something bad comes out of it, and its only been happening to us, Moss said after the game. Its been 10 years of this, so I just got carried away.Moss cited entitlement and inconsistency as two persistent Redskins themes. He said hes seen too many teammates over the years that played ahead of others who probably were more worthy — a comment that reinforces the Redskins-Snyder reputation of coddling to marquee names.Moss has played for four coaches since he arrived in 2005, and with 10 starting quarterbacks. This year, first-year coach Jay Gruden has changed starting QBs five times.Coach is trying to win, but it hurts when you dont have a solid guy, and Ive been through that all my career, Moss said. Whenever you have to have that many changes, regardless of what youre trying to do and what you have out there, theres always going to be a hiccup, theres always going to be a crutch because you cant be successful with that many changes all the time.Cooley said the culture of change has to, well, change.One thing that I think would be great moving forward is just at least for the team to believe in what we have, to have consistently and continuity, and give fans pieces that they can know will be here, and coaches that they know will be here, Cooley said. And get away from this idea that were going to fire a guy after one year, or trade a guy or cut a guy after one year, and start building from what we are — which is one of the worst teams in the league.___AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL___Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP ' ' '