Defending Champions Villanova Suffer Shocking 76-68 OT Upset to Furman

The defending champions can't catch a break in the season's early going. 

Three days after Michigan blew out Villanova by 27 points, the eighth-ranked Wildcats slipped suffered a 76-68 overtime loss to the Furman Paladins at Finneran Pavilion. 

At 2-2 overall, the Wildcats are primed to plummet in the rankings when the new Associated Press Top 25 poll drops on Monday. 

The Paladins, meanwhile, improved to 5-0 and have defeated two of last year's Final Four teams after they stunned the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers, 60-58, on Nov. 9. 

Guard Jordan Lyons paced Furman with 17 points, while forward Matt Rafferty stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points and 17 boards as five Paladins scorers finished in double figures. 

Conversely, the Wildcats didn't boast much balance as Phil Booth (20 points) and Collin Gillespie (19 points) combined for 57 percent of the team's scoring output. Villanova shot 33.8 percent from the field, including 14-of-44 (31.8 percent) from three. 

The Wildcats, of course, are in the midst of an adjustment period after key contributors Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Omari Spellman all bolted for the pros on the heels of a stellar national title run. 

Even so, the reigning champs have more talent than most—and more than enough to tread water in the early going. That said, head coach Jay Wright has proved reluctant to play 5-star point guard Jahvon Quinerly. On Saturday, Quinerly failed to see the floor after he played eight minutes in Wednesday's blowout loss to Michigan. 

The Wildcats will aim to snap out of their slump Thursday against Canisius before four straight intracity showdowns against Big Five competition.