PROVIDENCE, R.I. _ Villanova began a stretch Wednesday night that would see the third-ranked Wildcats play four of their next five games on the road, and the loudest and most raucous venue of the four might have been the Dunkin Donuts Center.
Providence fed off the energy of its home crowd, especially at the defensive end where they crowded the Cats at the 3-point line and dared the visitors to beat them inside the arc.
But it was the Friars offense that proved to be the difference with eight 3-pointers and key baskets down the stretch, giving them a 76-71 upset over the Wildcats in a Big East game.
Villanova (23-3, 10-3 Big East) struggled once again from 3-point range, hitting just a season low three 3s in 20 attempts in the game. The Cats did not make a 3-pointer until Mikal Bridges connected with 13 minutes, 14 seconds remaining. They went the first half without an offensive rebound and finished the game with three.
Although they shot 14 of 16 on two-pointers in the second half, the Cats turned the ball over 13 times and trailed the entire period, with their largest deficit being 10 points. When it was over, the sellout crowd stormed the court.
Bridges led Villanova with 19 points before fouling out with 1:12 to play. Jalen Brunson scored 14 points but committed seven of his team's 19 turnovers, including an offensive foul call with 1:08 remaining that was his fifth personal.
The Friars (17-9, 8-5), who defeated No. 4 Xavier here last month, held a 27-23 lead at halftime and extended their margin on a personal eight-point run by Kyron Cartwright to 39-31 early in the second half. A 6-0 run later in the period moved the margin to 10 points, 49-39, on Isaiah Jackson's three-point play with 11:28 to play.
Villanova responded with an 8-0 run that included a three-point play and a 3-point basket from Bridges to trim the deficit to 49-47 but the Friars spurted out again with the help of 3-pointers from Rodney Bullock and Jackson for a 59-51 lead with 7:09 to play.
The Wildcats got as close as five points on five occasions, the last time at 69-64 on two free throws by Jermaine Samuels with 1:02 remaining. They had a chance to cut it to two or three on their next possession but Samuels was whistled for traveling.
A 3-pointer by Collin Gillespie closed the gap to 71-67 with 36.3 seconds left and his layup made it 72-69 with 29.8 seconds to play. Cartwright, the Friars' high scorer with 16 points, kept it interesting by making just three of six free throws in the final minute but the Friars had enough for the victory.
