COL BKB: Villanova 80, American 67

Dante Cunningham and Dwayne Anderson led a Villanova comeback with 25 points each Thursday and the Wildcats recorded an 80-67 NCAA win over American.

The Eagles owned a 14-point advantage early in the second half in a bid to become the first 14th-seeded team in three years to win a tournament game. Coming into this year’s tourney, No. 14 seeds had a combined overall record of 17-96.

Villanova, however, ran off 15 straight points to go in front for good. Corey Fisher added 11 points for the Wildcats (27-7).

Villanova made 24-of-26 foul shots in the second half and closed the game on a 33-12 run.

Garrison Carr made six 3-pointers for the Eagles and scored 22 points. American (24-8) had a 13-game winning streak halted.

It had been the second-longest current streak in the country behind Memphis, which survived its opening-round game earlier Thursday against California State-Northridge.

American’s largest lead came at 45-31 a minute into the second half. The Eagles still had a 55-47 advantage with 9:38 to play, but they endured a scoring drought of 5:25 while Villanova moved in front 62-55.