Two teams headed in completely opposite directions were on display Sunday at MCI Center. The team on the way up basically assured itself a spot in the field of 65. The team on the way down likely saw its NCAA Tournament hopes swept away.

Georgetown once again took a whole half to get warmed up and once again fell well short of digging out of a big hole in a 67-56 loss to No. 19 Villanova Sunday before a crowd of 11,770.

With next week’s final home game against Providence coming at the beginning of Spring Break, Sunday’s loss marks the final home game for most of Georgetown’s senior class. If Georgetown fails to qualify for the NCAA, this will be the first four year stretch since 1974 where the Hoyas failed to make the tournament.

Barring a huge upset Wednesday night at No. 17 Connecticut or an equally unexpected run deep into the Big East Tournament next week, the loss on Sunday afternoon spells an end to the NCAA Tournament dreams of the Hoyas (16-9, 8-6).

The Hoyas have lost three straight games at the worst possible time. All of the losses have come against teams that they had beaten earlier in the season. The Wildcats (19-6, 9-5), earned their fifth straight victory and 10th in their last 12 games as they all but locked up an NCAA bid if they had not done so already.

In their first matchup of the season, Georgetown defeated Villanova 66-64. This time, though, the Hoyas found the tables turned.

“For us it was a really impressive performance because Georgetown really took it to us in the last game,” Villanova Head Coach Jay Wright said.

The Hoyas were never able to put a solid run together where they played good basketball on both ends of the floor. The first half was marked by poor outside shooting and long scoring droughts.

Georgetown opened up shooting 2-for-10 from the floor and had just four points after more than nine minutes had elapsed. Only an equally cold shooting start by Villanova, which missed nine of its first 12 shots, kept the game from being a walkover from the very beginning.

Villanova clearly made a concerted effort to stop freshman forward Jeff Green, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the first meeting last month. Sunday, he was held to only two points in the first half and five in the entire game.

“This team decided to not let Jeff touch the ball,” Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III said. “Even before he had the ball sometimes, he was doubled.”

The Wildcats eventually found their range later into the first half and opened up a 27-11 lead. Only two late threes from Georgetown senior swingman Darrel Owens kept the game interesting as Villanova led 29-17 going into the locker room. In its last three games, Georgetown has trailed by 13, 16 and 12 points, respectively, after the first half.

In the second half, the Hoyas looked like they had intentions of turning the game around. They came out shooting the ball better than they had in weeks. Freshman guard Jonathan Wallace and senior forward Brandon Bowman hit two threes each as Georgetown nearly matched its first half point total in the first five minutes of the second.

But the Hoyas had no answer for the Wildcats on the other end of the floor. Despite the barrage of threes to open the half, they could cut no more than six points off the Wildcat lead. Villanova grabbed rebound after rebound, and a three-pointer by junior guard Allen Ray with 14:59 to go pushed the lead right back to 11 at 42-31. Georgetown threatened on several other occasions but could never get within seven points.

Villanova showed why it has put itself among the elite teams in the Big East in the last month of the season. Four different players scored in double figures. Ray, the team’s leading scorer coming into the game, shot only 5-for-17 from the floor, but freshman guard Kyle Lowry, who was averaging just under seven points a game, and sophomore forward Will Sheridan, who was averaging four points a game, both scored well above their averages with 12 and 14 points, respectively, on a combined 10-for-14 shooting from the floor.

“They’re feeling pretty good about themselves,” Bowman said. “They’re a team that’s on the rise. Kudos to them. They played a great game today.”

After the game, Thompson acknowledged that Georgetown’s struggles in recent weeks could be attributed to its lack of experience playing important games late in the season. He was hopeful, however, that there was still time for a turnaround. “For this group, we’re in uncharted waters in that we have important games this time of year,” he said. “It’s tough, but we’re going to fight back, we’re going to scrap and we’re going to get through this.”