NEWARK, N.J. _ The game before a screaming crowd of 16,863 at Prudential Center was all it was expected to be Wednesday night, with Villanova trying to keep Seton Hall from winning the outright Big East Conference regular-season championship for the first time since 1993.
The 14th-ranked Wildcats succeeded but made it difficult on themselves with seven missed free throws down the stretch. They got 20 points from Saddiq Bey and 19 each from Justin Moore and Jermaine Samuels for a 79-77 victory over the No. 8 Pirates to keep their hopes alive of gaining a share of the Big East title.
Villanova (23-7, 12-5) needs a win Saturday over Georgetown and a Creighton win over Seton Hall (22-7, 13-4) on the same day to create a three-way tie at the top. It would be their sixth outright or shared title in the last seven years.
The Wildcats led by as many as 14 points in the second half with runs of 10-0 and 8-0 in the first six minutes. They knocked down five 3-pointers in that stretch, with Samuels' trey giving them their largest lead at 53-39.
Seton Hall gradually chipped away at the lead, getting it down to three points, 64-61, on Shavar Reynolds' 3-point basket with 5:19 to play. A Collin Gillespie scoop was answered by as driving layup from Sandro Mamukelashvili for a 66-63 Wildcat lead at the 4:26 mark.
But Justin Moore followed with a 3-ball and Samuels drove in for layup for a 71-63 lead with three minutes remaining, and the Wildcats made it a 7-0 run when Gillespie laid in a pass from Samuels to make it 73-63 with 2:28 remaining.
Five quick points _ a 3 from Myles Powell and a layup by Mamukelashvili _ made it a five-point game with 58.6 seconds to play and poor free-throw shooting by the Wildcats kept Seton Hall in the game. The visitors went just 4 of 11 from the line in the final 1 minute, 3 seconds.
Mamukelashvili brought Seton Hall to within three with 22.3 seconds to play but Villanova beat the press with a Samuels dunk at 18.6 to make it 78-73.
It was the final home game for Powell, who scored 14 points but made just 5 of 18 shots and 3 of 10 from beyond the arc. The Wildcats, as with every Seton Hall opponent, paid special attention to him. Bey got the assignment of guarding Powell, but his teammates knew where the Seton Hall star was at all times. It didn't mean they checked him effectively but Powell missed all but one of his six 3-point tries and finished the half with seven points.
Villanova shot 51.9% from the field and knocked down 13 3-point baskets.
Jay Wright kept his starters on the floor for much of the game. His bench players only played 13 minutes.
Mamukelashvili led the Pirates with 20 points.
