Game 37 - #18 Louisville @ #7 Villanova - January 12, 2011

Game - #18 Louisville @ #7 Villanova - Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Line - Villanova -3.5

Result - Villanova win 88-74 and covers

Tony Greene officiated his 37th NCAA Dividion 1 basketball game tonight in Philadelphia, an exciting Big East Conference match-up featuring ranked teams. #18 Louisville headed to the City of Brotherly Love to take on the #7 Villanova Wildcats. Tony Greene was working with Tim Higgins, whose officiating will be discussed in an ITGOTT entry later this week.

Keep 'Em Guessing - Make Bizarre Calls That Confuse Everybody

After Louisville spurted to leads of both 7-0 (then the Wildcats tied it up) and 16-9, it was clear that this game was going to be a frenetic, tight contest. Tony Greene made a bizarre illegal screen call against Louisville's Stephan van Treese with about 13 minutes to go in the first half. While the reason for this call was unclear (it certainly didn't look like a foul on the TiVo replay), it was nonetheless a bizarre Tony Greene call against Louisville.

The game remained an exciting, back-and-forth affair the rest of the first half, with Villanova taking a 1-point 42-41 lead into the locker room.

As the second half began, it became obvious that neither Louisville nor official Tim Higgins could keep up with the up-and-down pace, and the Wildcats began to pull away. Quickly, the 1-point halftime lead extended to 7 (with no apparent help from the officials) then to 13 halfway through the second half.

A brief Cardinal run couldn't reduce the 13-point Villanova lead enough to threaten the 3.5-point spread, and Villanova cruised to an 88-74 victory, easily covering the 3.5-point spread.