Seton Hall hands Villanova first loss in overtime
NEWARK, N.J. – Villanova hoped that a mammoth performance by Daniel Ochefu could enable them to escape the Prudential Center undefeated on Saturday but Seton Hall freshman Khadeem Carrington had other thoughts with the game on the line.
Carrington scored four of the Pirates' six points in overtime and came up with a pair of big steals to take a 66-61 over the sixth-ranked Wildcats, handing the visitors their first loss of the season.
Ochefu, the Cats' 6-foot-11 center, established career highs with 19 points and 24 rebounds but the Wildcats were never able to gain a comfortable margin after trailing for the entire first half and leading for most of the second half.
Villanova dropped to 13-1 and 1-1 in the Big East.
Carrington, a 6-foot-3 freshman, finished with 17 points for the Pirates (11-2, 2-0). Teammate Sterling Gibbs led the Hall with 20.
After Seton Hall scored the first points of overtime, Ochefu hit a hook in the lane to tie the score with 3 minutes, 6 seconds to play. Josh Hart converted one of two free throws to put the Cats up by one but Carrington gave the Pirates the lead back on a spinning drive to make it 62-61 with 1:30 to play.
Ryan Arcidiacono missed on Villanova's next possession. Gibbs launched a three-point try at the shot-clock buzzer but Seton Hall got the deep rebound and Carrington made two free throws to make it a three-point game.
On the Wildcats' next possession, Carrington tipped a pass by Arcidiacono and Seton Hall outworked Villanova for the loose ball. Jared Sina sank a pair of free throws to ice the game for the Pirates, and Carrington intercepted a pass on 'Nova's last possession.
The game was tied at 54 and 56 before Carrington's driving layup gave Seton Hall a 58-56 lead with 1 minute, 1 seconds to play, but Villanova's Kris Jenkins answered with a pair of free throws with 37.0 seconds remaining.
Each team had a chance to win in regulation but Gibbs missed a runner for Seton Hall and Darrun Hilliard's three-point try at the buzzer went off the front rim for the Wildcats.
Hilliard scored 14 points but sat out much of the second half in foul trouble and fouled out in the overtime.
The Wildcats trailed the entire first half and 31-27 at the break but Hilliard scored seven points on his team's first two possessions of the second half – a four-point play and a three-point basket – to put the Wildcats in the lead just 51 seconds in.
Villanova later held a pair of five-point leads, the second one at 48-43 on JayVaughn Pinkston's inside basket with 9:19 remaining in regulation. But the Pirate s rallied to tie the game with 6:18 remaining on Gibbs' three-pointer. The game remained tight with little scoring the rest of the second half.
The Pirates played excellent basketball at both ends in the game's opening seven minutes. They scored on their first five possessions to take a 10-1 lead and led 17-3 before the Wildcats even recorded a successful field goal attempt. Josh Hart hit a drive at the 13:36 mark for 'Nova's first basket.
However, the Pirates lost Angel Delgado, the Big East's leading rebounder, after he picked up his second personal foul less than three minutes into the game. Coach Kevin Willard kept him on the bench for the remainder of the half, which led in large part to Ochefu tying his career high of 12 rebounds just in the opening 20 minutes alone.
Although they had trouble getting stops early, the Wildcats picked up their defense and Seton Hall made just three of its last 18 attempts from the floor in the opening half.
After its early 14-point deficit, the Cats closed to within three at 25-22 on Hilliard's three-point basket with 5:39 left in the half. But they didn't hit another basket for 3 ½ minutes, or until Hart's three-ball which combined with an Ochefu free throw made it a two-point game.
But Desi Rodriguez hit a driving shot in the lane to put the Pirates up 31-27 at the break.