NEW YORK _ As expected, Villanova was pushed to the limit by Seton Hall in the championship game of the Big East tournament, right down to the last four-tenths of a second.
But the Wildcats saw an inbounds pass by the Pirates go awry without a shot attempt, and they celebrated after winning a record third straight tournament championship with a 74-72 victory at Madison Square Garden.
The Wildcats (25-9) won for the fourth time in the last five years and take the conference's automatic NCAA Tournament bid. The Pirates (20-13) are certain to be moving on to the tournament as well.
Eric Paschall led the 'Cats with 17 points and Phil Booth added 15 of his 16 points in the second half. Freshman Saddiq Bey had 16 points and nine rebounds. Seton Hall's Myles Powell led all scorers with 25 but missed a 3-point attempt on the Pirates' penultimate possession.
Booth grabbed the rebound of Powell's miss but was called for traveling. The officials reset the clock to 0.4 seconds but Anthony Nelson's inbounds pass hit the backboard, and Jermaine Samuels tipped the ball away as time expired.
The Wildcats led, 73-68, when Samuels hit one of two free throws with 48.6 seconds remaining but Nelson hit both ends of a 1-and-1 at the other end to make it a three-point game with 42.3 seconds to play.
Paschall then was called for an offensive foul against Myles Cale with 25 seconds left, and Powell followed up his own miss to make it 73-72 with 15.5 seconds remaining. Paschall then was fouled and made one of two from the line at the 13.7-second mark for the final score.
After Booth sank two free throws following a technical foul call against Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard, the game was tied at 55. Paschall broke the tie with a 3-point basket, and Booth followed with another 37 seconds later to give the Wildcats a 61-57 lead with just under eight minutes remaining.
Cale scored on a layup for Seton Hall, and the game stayed at 61-59 for three minutes before Villanova scored seven in a row. Bey and Booth sank two free throws each and Samuels drained a three from the left corner to give the Wildcats their largest lead, 68-59, with 3 minutes to play.
The Pirates were not finished. Nelson converted a three-point play and Powell sank a layup to make it a four-point game. After Bey dunked one home, Powell hit both ends of a 1-and-1 and the 'Nova lead was 70-66.
The Wildcats made just 2 of 13 shots from the field in the final 9:33 of the first half, one of them being a follow-up basket by Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree off Paschall's miss just before the halftime buzzer that gave them a 28-26 lead. Paschall led all scorers with 11 points and Bey had seven points and seven rebounds.
The Wildcats shot 37 percent in the half and made just 4 of 13 3-point tries but really struggled at the free-throw line, going only 4 of 9. The Pirates made just 33.3 percent of their field-goal attempts and were led by Powell with six points.
The Cats got off to a quick start in the second half, making five straight shots in a 10-0 run that gave them a 41-34 lead on Samuels' conventional three-point play four minutes in. The Pirates answered with a 12-3 stretch led by five points from Powell and four from 7-foot-2 Romero Gill.
The two teams then alternated spurts of seven straight points. Booth hit a foul-line jumper and a 3-ball to help 'Nova take a 53-48 lead, but Seton Hall answered and took a 55-53 lead when Anthony Nelson followed up his own miss with 9:22 left.
As Villanova took the ball upcourt, official John Gaffney assessed a technical foul on Pirates coach Kevin Willard. Booth made the two free throws, and the game was tied at 55.
