#8 Seed Seton Hall Pirates 64 #1 Seed Villanova Wildcats 63
Seton Hall guard Sterling Gibbs made a step-back jumper as time ran out to lift the Pirates to a 64 – 63 win over the top-seeded and nationally third ranked Villanova Wildcats in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden.
Villanova trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, but were fortunate to get to within 34 – 26 at halftime.
Early in the second half the Wildcats went on a 16 – 0 run to take a 47 – 44 lead on a three-pointer by guard Darrun Hilliard at the 8:03 mark. The game would go back and forth from that point. Hilliard sunk a jumper with 7.8 seconds to play giving the Cats the lead before the final play.
Guard Josh Hart led Villanova with 18 points and 8 rebounds in the game. Hilliard and forward JayVaughn Pinkston scored 11 points each. As a team the Wildcats were 22 for 58 from the floor (37.9%) and made 4 of 19 from beyond the arc (21.1%).
Meanwhile Seton Hall shot 22 for 58 from the floor (45.5%) and made 8 of 19 from distance (42.1%). Gibbs scored 10 points and handed out 6 assists. Forward Eugene Teague registered a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Villanova finishes the season with a 28 – 4 record, and will find out on Sunday if the loss will have an impact on the seeding received from the NCAA Tournament Committee.
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