Seton Hall stuns Villanova

NEW YORK - OK, so who saw this one coming?

Third-ranked Villanova, which set a program record for regular-season wins and was your top seed in the Big East Tournament for the first time since Jay Wright was finishing his third season as Hofstra's coach, drew Seton Hall yesterday afternoon in the first of four quarterfinals. The same Seton Hall the Wildcats have owned forever. And the same Seton Hall that had barely beaten Butler the night before.

Apparently, none of that mattered.

The Wildcats (28-4), who hadn't lost to any conference opponent not named Creighton, came all the way back from a 15-point, first-half hole only to see the Pirates (17-16) pull it back out, 64-63, when guard Sterling Gibbs swished a top-of-the-key jumper from just inside the arc over Darrun Hilliard's outstretched arm right before the clock hit all zeroes at Madison Square Garden.

The lefthanded Hilliard had put the Wildcats ahead 7 seconds earlier, with a righthanded lane floater that rolled in off the back rim.

So the Pirates are in the semifinals for the first time since 2001, which was also the last time they won back-to-back in this tourney. And the Wildcats finally have their first loss by less than 16.

The only good part is, they still will be playing next week in the tourney that everyone tends to remember most. And they still figure to be in Buffalo, because of the pod system, only maybe not as a No. 1 seed. Now they probably will be a 2, based on the body of work. And there's really not much difference. Still, that doesn't make what went down any less explainable.

"[Seton Hall] played better," said Wright, who on Wednesday was named Big East Coach of the Year for the third time. "They made plays at the end. We made a play. Then they came up with a better one. That's what tournament time is all about.

"We missed free throws. We missed shots we normally make. But good teams find a way to win anyway. We've had other games this year where [we did that]."

Now they've got time to think about it before Sunday's selection show.

"This was not about 1 seeds, [or] 2 seeds," Wright said. "We wanted to come [here] and win the Big East Tournament [which they haven't done since 1995]. That would mean much more to us than a 1 seed.

"I think we're most disappointed about that."

At halftime the spread was eight, at which point top scorer James Bell didn't have a field goal and Hilliard, who has been their top offensive threat down the stretch, hadn't scored. Villanova's 26 points was a season low for any half.

With 14 minutes to go the Pirates - who now get Providence (21-11), which beat host St. John's (20-12), 79-74, in what was likely an NCAA elimination game - were up 13. Villanova then went on a 16-0 run. There would be seven more lead changes in the last 6 1/2 minutes, to go with three ties.

Freshman Josh Hart made it 61-59 on a layup off a Ryan Arcidiacono midcourt strip at 40 seconds. At 0:17, Jaren Sina nailed a three from the left corner off a drive-and-dish from Gibbs. It was his third triple, and first since midway through the first half. Hilliard answered with a nice spin move and lofted a shot over big man Patrik Auda. It wouldn't be enough.

After calling time, Seton Hall inbounded from the sidecourt at 3.7. Sina got the ball to Gibbs, who took a few dribbles before lifting up. It looked good the moment he let it fly. And he got to celebrate by jumping onto the scorer's table.

"We had the right guy on him, [with] size," Wright said. "If it misses we're going, 'Oh, we got through it.' We'd still try to learn from it. This will be easy to learn from."

Villanova - which won by 16 at Seton Hall on Jan. 8 and 17 a month later at home - got 18 points in 28 minutes off the bench from Hart, who also matched Bell for team-best with eight rebounds. Hilliard, who didn't score in the first 31 minutes, and JayVaughn Pinkston finished with 11. But Pinkston went 3-for-10 at the foul line, including two misses in the final 2:22. Bell, who has struggled with his shot of late, went 0-for-8 from the field. He did have four of the team's nine assists.

The Wildcats were able to use their depth and Seton Hall's fatigue to turn up the pressure and create turnovers/easy baskets. They just needed to start doing what they do earlier.

"In the NCAA it's one and done," Arcidiacono duly noted. "We can't wait [to make something happen]."

Eugene Teague had 19 points, almost double his average, and 12 boards for the Pirates on 7-for-9 shooting. Auda had 13, all in the first half, on 6-for-8. Gibbs had 10 (and six assists). The last two will get him a prominent place on highlight shows all across the free world.

"You come in knowing you have to win four games in 4 days," he acknowledged. "So to just get one step closer to that is definitely a great feeling."

The Pirates had lost four of their last five, and eight of nine, before this. It's their first winning streak since late December.

"We've had six one-point losses," said coach Kevin Willard. "I mean, I'll be honest. It takes a lot out of you."

Now we'll have to see if it has any impact on the Wildcats. There won't be any mulligans after the next loss. If there is another loss.

"It can definitely be motivating," Bell said. "It just depends on if we get better from it or not."

Added Arcidiacono: "Some guys are a little bummed. You never want to lose and be a good team."

The Wildcats were 7-0 in games decided by five or fewer, including three in overtime. Three were on the road, two on a neutral floor. And they won another by nine, away in double OT.

Not this time.

"There's so many variables in the NCAA Tournament," Wright concluded. "We don't worry about any of that. We're happy to be in there. We'll play anybody anywhere. There's only one more challenge."

For 5 months, his guys have had that elusive "it.'' You probably don't lose that in 40 minutes, no matter how bad it looked. But they've used up their last reprieve. From this point on it's all about keeping those uniforms from getting collected.