NEWARK, N.J. _ Any concerns that Villanova would suffer with its inside game with an injured Darryl Reynolds watching from the bench were overcome by the performance of Jalen Brunson against Seton Hall on Saturday at the Prudential Center.
Brunson orchestrated a pair of runs in the final 3 minutes 10 seconds of the first half, and the first 3:10 of the second half as the second-ranked Wildcats led by as many as 27 points and defeated Seton Hall, 92-70, to clinch a tie for their fourth consecutive Big East regular-season title.
Brunson finished with 22 points and a career-high 10 assists to lead four players in double figures for the Wildcats (26-2, 13-2 Big East), who are three games ahead in the loss column with three games to play.
The Wildcats played for the third straight game without Reynolds, who has a rib injury. There was concern about how the Cats would neutralize Angel Delgado, the nation's leading rebounder, without their best inside player.
The 6-foot-10 Delgado accounted for his 13th double-double in 14 Big East games and his 21st of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Pirates (16-10, 6-8), but the Seton Hall defense could do little to stop Villanova's offensive onslaught.
The Wildcats shot 67.3 percent from the field and 57.1 from 3-point range. Those numbers in the second half were 75.0 and 66.7. Kris Jenkins, who went 5 of 6 from beyond the arc, also had 22 points for the visitors, who got 19 points from Josh Hart and 15 from Mikal Bridges.
Led by Brunson, who scored 18 of his points in the opening 20 minutes, Villanova took control of the game with a 13-4 run in the last 3:10 of the first half, and a 15-2 spurt in the opening 3:10 of the second.
On Villanova's last 13 points in the opening half, Brunson scored eight points (two free throws, two 3-point baskets) and set up the other five (a 3-point basket by Bridges and a layup by Jenkins) to give his team a 42-31 lead at the break.
Brunson didn't take a shot during the 15-2 Villanova run in the second half, but he assisted on each of the Cats' first four baskets, including a pair of 3-pointers by Eric Paschall. Bridges ended the run with two free throws, giving 'Nova a 57-33 lead with 16:50 to play.
The Wildcats lead got to 27, 69-42, on a short jumper by Brunson with 12;10 remaining. The Pirates had a scoring spurt a short time later but never got closer than 16, 81-65, on Myles Powell's layup with 5:50 remaining.
Villanova ended up making seven of its last eight shots and connected at a 60 percent rate in the first half even though it played the final 4:52 without Hart, who picked up his first two fouls in a span of 18 seconds. Jenkins added 10 in the first half.
Trailing 9-3 early, the Wildcats gradually got into a rhythm and outscored Seton Hall 16-3 over a six-minute stretch to take a 19-12 lead on Hart's pull-up jumper with 10:52 to play. The visitors scored on 9 of 11 possessions, with Hart scoring all three of his first-half baskets during that time.
The Wildcats stretched their lead to eight, 27-19, on Brunson's pull-up jumper from the wing with 5:16 left until halftime. Carrington then scored six of the Pirates' next eight points to trim the deficit to two, 29-27, before Brunson's late heroics.
