From the heights of the top 10 and talk of the Final Four, the downward spiral that has been the past two months for the Villanova Wildcats finally crashed to the ground on Friday.

Playing in their NCAA tournament opener, the Wildcats led for most of the second half. But Villanova could not close the door on George Mason, the Patriots using Luke Hancock’s 3-pointer with 20 seconds left to bounce the Wildcats 61-57 in the second round of the East regional in Cleveland.

Villanova was 16-1 at one point this season, but closed the campaign with 11 losses in its final 16 games. Friday’s defeat was the sixth in a row for the Wildcats.

Corey Fisher led the Wildcats with 20 points. His three free throws with 31 seconds left put Villanova ahead 57-56. Hancock shook free 11 seconds later, hitting a 3-pointer to put the Patriots ahead 59-57. Morrison then dunked after a Villanova miss on the other end.

Corey Stokes added 14 points for Villanova. George Mason advances to face top-seed Ohio State on Sunday in the third round.

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At one time this season, the Villanova Wildcats looked like a legitimate Final Four contender. Playing in the toughest conference in the land, the Wildcats had run out to a 16-1 start to their season and were ranked in the top 10 in the nation.

That was then. This is now. The now is ugly.

Villanova limps into the NCAA tournament on a five-game losing streak, and has dropped 10 of its past 15 games. The latest came on the opening day of the Big East tournament on Tuesday, a 70-69 defeat to South Florida that landed the Wildcats a nine seed entering the NCAAs.

After starting 16-1, a 61-59 loss to Connecticut in mid-January started a tailspin that’s lasted nearly two months. Playing in the rugged Big East Conference certainly didn’t help, but Villanova totally fell apart in the season’s final weeks.

Now Villanova finds itself facing powerful George Mason from the Colonial Athletic Association in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on Friday in Cleveland. The Patriots have won 16 of their past 17 games and have to be considered a favorite to send the Wildcats into the offseason.

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Villanova came out flat and fell behind early, but they completely took control of the game in the final minutes of the first half.

The second half was a different story, as the Wildcats couldn’t buy a basket for an eight minute stretch.

The Wildcats will head into the NCAA tournament having lost 10 of their past 15 games, a complete free-fall.

Head coach Jay Wright said he doesn’t think any of his players or coaches have ever finished out a season this way and that they need to get it turned around in a hurry.

Up 16 points at halftime in their Big East tournament opener on Tuesday, the Villanova Wildcats looked to be in good shape.

Then everything fell apart for a team that has plunged from No. 6 in the nation to a five-game losing streak at the worst possible time.

Villanova fell to woeful South Florida in the opening round of the conference tournament at Madison Square Garden, Anthony Crater’s layup with 5.1 seconds left the difference in a 70-69 South Florida upset of Villanova.

The Wildcats fell out of the national rankings this week, thanks to a four-game losing skid to conclude the regular season. Villanova has not won since edging DePaul, the last-place team in the Big East, 77-75 in overtime on Feb. 19.

Losses to Syracuse, St. John’s, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh followed. All four of those teams were ranked when the Wildcats played them. The Bulls are not ranked and finished just 3-15 in conference play, but held the Wildcats to just 20 points in the second half.

Villanova drops to 21-11 and could be on the NCAA tournament bubble now following the early exit from the conference tournament. Maalik Wayns scored 24 points for the Wildcats in the loss.

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The Wildcats have stumbled down the second half of the Big East schedule, finishing 9-9 in conference play.

It certainly didn’t help matters that the team was forced to play without its best player, Corey Stokes.

Corey Fisher turned in another miserable shooting day, going 3-14 and finishing with just seven points.

Villanova finished the day with just four assists, and the Panthers outrebounded them by eight.

The Villanova Wildcats are ranked No. 19 in the nation this week, but all is not well. A look at the recent results shows why.

The Wildcats have lost three games in a row and five of their past seven, as the regular season draws to a close on Saturday with a trip to Big East Conference leader and fifth-ranked Pittsburgh.

It’s been a good season for the Wildcats, who are 21-9 and 9-8 in the tough Big East. But it’s been a struggle since Villanova started the season 19-4. Still, the Wildcats do have victories over three ranked teams: Cincinnati, Louisville and Syracuse.

The Wildcats are coming off a 93-72 loss Monday at No. 7 Notre Dame. That loss dropped Villanova into a tie for ninth place in the Big East with Marquette and No. 16 Connecticut at 9-8.

The Big East tournament tips off next week in New York City. As many as 11 conference teams may earn NCAA tournament bids. It would serve Villanova well to win at least one game in the Big East tournament to secure its berth in the NCAAs

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Villanova’s guards aren’t playing quite as well as in previous years and they don’t have much of a low-post presence.

The result is that Villanova has trouble scoring for periods of time and is a little bit too streaky on the offensive end.

Corey Stokes lead Villanova with 20 points, but Corey Fisher had just two. Fisher’s struggles have really hurt the Wildcats.

Unless Fisher can get things going over the next couple of weeks, Villanova might be primed for an upset in the NCAA tournament.

The Villanova Wildcats looked like a contender for the national championship just five weeks ago.

My, how things turned south in a hurry. The final step down for the Wildcats came Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Providence, R.I. The second seed in the South Regional, the Wildcats were outscored 10-3 in the final two minutes and fell to No. 10-seed Saint Mary’s, 75-68.

It was a fitting end for a Villanova team that dropped six of its final nine games. It nearly was six out of its final eight, but the Wildcats wiggled away from No. 15-seed Robert Morris in overtime in their NCAA opener.

Saint Mary’s didn’t let the Wildcats off the hook. Tied at 65-65 with just under two minutes to go, the Gaels scored the game’s next five points and that was that.

Corey Stokes led Villanova with 15 points, hitting three 3-pointers on a day where the Wildcats shot a dreadful 36 percent from the field. Maalik Wayns came off the bench to add 10 points.

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Villanova’s now on its first two-game losing streak in 70 games, after falling on the road at Pittsburgh on Sunday, 70-65.

Villanova hadn’t lost two straight games since February of 2008, but after losing to tourney-desperate UConn on Monday, ‘Nova found themselves out-hustled by the hungry Panthers on Sunday. Senior guard Scottie Reynolds, who’s been mentioned in the Big East Player of the Year conversation, finished with 20 points on the day.

“It’s been a long time since we lost back-to-back games,” Reynolds said. “I can’t hang my head and I can’t let the other guys hang their [heads] either.”

‘Nova kept clawing back in the second half, largely with some clutch shots from Reynolds, but Pitt always managed to stay ahead through the end.

“I think the good thing about our team is that they understand how to move on to the next game,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “When we were winning, that’s what we told them. It’s what we always talk about.”