PITTSBURGH – For nearly 20 sweet minutes Friday afternoon, the Blue Hens and a large, boisterous rooting section could ponder the wonderful possibilities.

Delaware shot well and defended strongly at the outset of its NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament first-round showdown with Villanova inside PPG Paints Arena, which pulsed with sound and fervor.

But toppling college basketball giants is a 40-minute exercise requiring considerable precision and certainly some good fortune as well.

The Blue Hens ran out of both after their encouraging start, and Villanova pulled away for an 80-60 victory while beginning its pursuit of a third national title in seven years.

"I'm pretty sure we appreciate it," Delaware guard Kevin Anderson said of the great start, "but as soon as we started appreciating it, they started hitting 3s."

BOX SCORE: Villanova 80, Delaware 60

The Wildcats used 8-0 runs at the end of the first half and start of the second to erase a Delaware lead that had been as many as seven points and quickly build and stretch their own advantage.

Whatever flames of hope were still flickering for Delaware and its legion of followers were dampened by Villanova scoring on eight of its first nine second-half possessions and taking command by as many as 19 points in the first five minutes.

"We have a competitive group of guys," Jyare Davis said, "and if we were playing the Golden State Warriors, I think everybody would believe in ourselves, believe in us winning. So definitely going into the game, we expected to win and throughout the whole game, we expected to win but we came up short."

Delaware never dented Villanova’s hopes because it couldn’t match the Wildcats’ belated but brutally consequential 13-for-28 3-point aim.

"I think that was the difference in the game," Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby said.

The Wildcats filled the stat sheet with five double-digit scorers, led by Justin Moore and his 21 points, and shot 51% (28-for-55) overall despite a 4-for-14 start.

The Blue Hens were 3-for-20 on 3-pointers and 22-for-40 overall (44 percent) from the field.

"I just think it took us time to get used to their speed," Villanova coach Jay Wright said.

NCAA BRACKET: Villanova gets Ohio State next

Sanford School graduate Davis led the Hens with 17 points, and frontcourt mate Andrew Carr had 13. But Delaware's guards had trouble getting shots to fall.

Big East Tournament titlist Villanova (27-7) advanced to Sunday’s round-of-32 against No. 7-seed Ohio State, which handled No. 10 Loyola Chicago 54-41 in Friday’s first game.

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament champion Delaware (22-13) will digest the disappointment but treasure the experience and the expenditure of effort.

"They were ready to compete," Ingelsby said of his team. "This group became very confident coming off what we did in D.C. [winning the CAA title]. They really believed they could compete on a big stage against Villanova."

The Blue Hens were attempting to become the 11th No. 15 seed to upend a No. 2 seed since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The 10th occurred Thursday night when Saint Peter’s stunned Kentucky 85-79 in overtime.

Delaware was playing its sixth NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament game and seeking its inaugural victory, having previously lost first-round matchups against Cincinnati (1992), Louisville (1993), Purdue (1998), Tennessee (1999) and Michigan State (2014).

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Over the 70 years of their basketball relationship, Villanova remained an insurmountable hurdle for the Hens, who are 0-16 all-time against the Wildcats. Only four of those games have been decided by single digits, including a 78-70 Wildcats win Dec. 14, 2019, in Newark, New Jersey, that had given some of these UD players hope.

Delaware is also now 0-35 all-time against nationally ranked opponents, and Villanova arrived sitting at No. 6 in the AP poll.

Keyed by strong early shooting, Delaware went up 15-8, and still led 19-14 when Dylan Painter scored from the low post against his former team with 8:46 left in the first half.

"At the start of the game it took us some time to just adjust to their speed and their intelligence," Wright said. " … We knew what they were doing; we just couldn't guard it."

Villanova took its first lead 20-19 with 7:39 on the clock on Caleb Daniels’ 3-pointer. After baskets by Ryan Allen and Davis put the Hens back ahead, Villanova closed the first half on a 15-2 run and cruised into halftime up 35-25.

Delaware made just one of its last 10 shots while Villanova closed 6-for-6 from the field with three 3-pointers.

The Wildcats then continued their hot shooting to start the second half, with back-to-back 3s by Moore being particularly critical.

"That's a really good team," Anderson said. "Whenever you make a mistake, they capitalize on it. Playing against them you gotta be close to perfect on defense."

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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: NCAA basketball tournament: Delaware Blue Hens fall to Villanova