Best Moment in Villanova Basketball History: Scottie Reynolds sends Villanova to the Final Four with a shot for the ages

The old Big East Conference will forever be remember for the great matchups it brought and the unforgettable moments it provided us with.

One of these memorable moments came in the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament, more specifically the East Regional Final.  The matchup included two perennial Big East powers in No. 1 seeded Pitt and No. 3 seeded Villanova.

The game summed up everything that was great about the conference. It was as much of a back and forth contest as you will see, with 10 ties and 16 lead changes. So it was fitting then that the game was tied in the final moments as well.

Really though it should not have even come to that point, because the two Levance Fields free throws that tied the game up only occurred due to some sloppy play that resulted in a costly Wildcats turnover.

Another funny thing is that Villanova almost didn't get in the inbounds pass that set up the famous shot. After the second Fields free throw, Villanova was all out of timeouts and therefore Pittsburgh put pressure on inbounder Reggie Redding and had everyone seemingly covered. This caused Redding force what was practically a jump ball.

Luckily, big man Dante Cunningham went up and got it, then had the wherewithal to perfectly pitch the ball off to the gliding Reynolds, in stride, much like a textbook option pitch in football.

This heads up play is often forgotten behind the actual shot, but it deserves its share of credit.  It put Scottie Reynolds ahead of the pack of players, with a direct line to the hoop.

Then, it was all elementary as he made a nifty dribble to get past DeJuan Blair and then take the contact from Gilbert Brown and finish as if there was no one even here guarding him. At that point, there was .5 seconds left, but then Fields missed a 3/4 court shot to seal the victory for the Wildcats.

Villanova would go on to lose its Final Four matchup against eventual champion North Carolina, but that didn't stop Reynolds and his shot from being written into Villanova basketball lore forever.