Brandon Slater’s layup with 1:26 left Saturday afternoon gave Villanova the lead for good as the No. 15 Wildcats outlasted visiting Seton Hall 73-67 in a back-and-forth Big East clash in Philadelphia.
Justin Moore and Jermaine Samuels finished with 16 points apiece for Villanova (19-6, 12-3 Big East), which also beat the Pirates by the same score in Newark, N.J. on Jan. 1. Slater, Collin Gillespie and Eric Dixon had 10 points each.
Slater’s game-winner capped a sequence in which six consecutive baskets resulted in a lead change or tie. The go-ahead bucket was set up by Gillespie, who picked up a loose ball in the paint and dished to Slater.
Kadary Richmond missed a 3-pointer on Seton Hall’s next possession before Caleb Daniels and Moore each missed 3-pointers for Villanova. The Wildcats retained possession when the Pirates’ Jared Rhoden had his foot on the line while grabbing a loose ball. Moore was fouled on the subsequent inbounds pass and sank two free throws.
Richmond was forced into a turnover when he stepped out of bounds while being defended by Gillespie on the other end. Moore was fouled after corralling a length-of-the-court pass and iced the win with two more free throws.
Richmond and Tray Jackson had 16 points each for Seton Hall (15-8, 6-7). Jackson drained three 3-pointers in the second half, including back-to-back treys that gave the Pirates a 63-62 lead with 3:16 left. Myles Cale added 11 points while Alexis Yetna finished with 15 rebounds.
Seton Hall led 32-29 at the half before the teams exchanged runs over the final 20 minutes. Down by five, Villanova scored nine unanswered points to take a 45-41 lead, after which the Pirates called timeout and responded with an 11-0 run to take the biggest lead of the game at 52-45.
Villanova called timeout and mounted a 9-0 run that ended with Samuels converting a go-ahead three-point play to give the hosts a 54-52 lead. The teams traded misses before Richmond put back the rebound of his own miss to tie the score.
The Wildcats scored eight of the next 11 points, including a 3-pointer by Chris Arcidiacono that extended the lead to 62-57, before Jackson’s 3-pointers started a 10-5 run for the visitors that was followed by Villanova’s game-ending 6-0 finish.
–Field Level Media
