Villanova in 'Catbird seat in East

MY TOP FOUR NCAA Tournament seeds if the selections were today.

East: Villanova

South: Oklahoma

Midwest: Iowa

West: North Carolina

It was a very good week for Villanova when it played and when North Carolina played.

After leading all the way Saturday afternoon at Providence and winning 72-60, the Wildcats (20-3, 10-1 Big East) have vaulted past UNC for the No. 1 seed in the East after Carolina lost at Louisville Monday and at Notre Dame Saturday night.

The parts are still moving and nothing has been decided with 'Nova, UNC, Maryland and Virginia all still in play for the East's top seed. But the Wildcats are in a great spot as they head into the final weeks of the regular season.

The Wildcats really dominated the Friars much of the game, leading 10-0, 29-10 and never letting PC (18-6, 6-5) get comfortable on offense. PC's OT win over 'Nova at the Wells Fargo Center was really atypical of its typically average offense this season. The Wildcats made the Friars look very average in the rematch, holding them to 33.3 percent shooting and crushing them on the glass, 46-29.

With Daniel Ochefu still out with a concussion, Darryl Reynolds was a revelation inside, going 9-for-10 and getting one of three 'Cats double-doubles with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Reynolds looked very comfortable with everything he did, a very promising development for a team that does not have much frontcourt depth.

Josh Hart (14 points, 13 rebounds) was great again as he makes a run at Big East Player of the Year. Kris Jenkins (10 points, 10 rebounds) was the third double-double man.

When PC made a late run to get to 56-50 and 58-53, it was, of course, Ryan Arcidiacono who made the winning plays to stretch the lead out again. In the lost art of waiting on screens, Arch is an absolute master of timing them just right to clear space. He finished with 16 points and once again demonstrated how to run a team with a late lead.

The NCAA results broke pretty well Saturday for Saint Joseph's so, despite the home loss to St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, SJU would still likely be in the field at the moment after winning, 82-60, at Fordham.

The Hawks (19-4, 8-2 Atlantic 10) trailed 7-0 after 5 minutes, but got control when Lamarr Kimble hit three treys in 90 first-half seconds and never looked back. Kimble and fellow point guard Shavar Newkirk combined to shoot 10-for-16 overall and 6-for-9 from the arc while scoring 30 points.

DeAndre' Bembry did what he does - 16 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists as the Hawks shot 30-for-59 (50.8 percent) against the Rams (12-9, 3-7) and maintained the nation's only perfect road record (8-0). That record will get severely tested Wednesday at George Washington, which just won at VCU, giving the other Rams their first conference loss. If SJU can win at GW, that will really solidify an at-large spot and resonate all the way to Selection Sunday.

Temple and coach Fran Dunphy had to wait beyond the buzzer to see if it would win at UCF and "Dunph" would get the Big 5 record for wins. A replay review said a Knights' follow-shot was after the buzzer so Temple won the game, 62-60, and Dunphy became the all time leader in Big 5 wins with 517, passing John Chaney.

The coach naturally deflected attention, saying it just meant he had been around a long time. While that may be true, his teams at Penn and Temple have been consistently good to really good for a long time with tons of league titles to prove it.

The Owls (14-8, 8-3 American) played a difficult non-league schedule, but did not get any real résumé-building wins. The American is not going to carry any of its teams this season. If the Owls beat Villanova next week, they're going to be very difficult to keep out of the tournament.

UCF (11-10, 5-5) missed two potential game-winning threes before the final shot that did not count. They buried the Owls on the glass, 47-32. But Temple's defense forced them into 40 missed shots.

The Owls got 16 points from Mark Williams, who had scored 30 points in the previous 11 games, and committed just nine turnovers. With two-loss SMU ineligible for any postseason, the Owls are essentially in first place in the league vying for the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

Like Villanova, Penn had three players (Darien Nelson-Henry, Max Rothschild and Matt Howard) with double-doubles as the Quakers hammered Harvard on the glass, 53-32, and won, 67-57, at the Palestra.

Nelson-Henry (18 points, 12 rebounds) had a great weekend, shooting 17-for-25 and scoring 37 points. Penn (8-11, 2-3 Ivy) absolutely is getting better and is a few bounces away from 4-1 in the Ivy. Harvard (9-13, 1-5 Ivy) shot just 30.9 percent and, playing without injured point guard Siyani Chambers (ACL), is not remotely the same team it has been in previous seasons.

Same scenario for the undermanned Explorers against Rhode Island at Gola Arena as they played well for a while and then got tired, losing 79-62.

URI (13-10, 5-5 A-10) shot 53.6 percent against the Explorers (5-16, 1-9), who had as many turnovers (18) as baskets. La Salle has lost eight straight and 15 of 16. When will this season ever end?

After his team lost at home on Thursday to James Madison, Drexel coach Bruiser Flint lingered in the press room talking about all the young players that he has to use too many minutes because of injuries and how he spends some time commiserating with La Salle coach John Giannini.

It is hard to find the bottom when your team is 3-20, 1-11 in the Colonial, but the Dragons may have found it at Charleston when they made just eight baskets while losing 60-38 in a game they trailed 14-0 and 30-10 at the half. Drexel committed 23 turnovers and shot 23.5 percent. When will this season ever end?

jerardd@phillynews.com

On Twitter: @DickJerardi