Villanova holds off Seton Hall

And down the stretch when Angel Delgado did everything but make a final attempt in close, while Josh Hart showed why he is Big East Player of the Year.

The first half ended tied at 35 and it didn’t take the Pirates long to take control.

“I think the biggest thing in the feeling this year is, I think these guys understand the excitement and the importance of the Big East Tournament“, Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said.

“You’ve just got to bounce back”.

Both squads earned hard-fought victories in Friday night’s semifinals. Villanova would get their Big East Tournament revenge on the Seton Hall Pirates, winning 55-53 in a hard-fought game led by one of the game’s national stars, Josh Hart.

To say that Chrasbascz is an outstanding role player could be seen as underselling his overall abilities.

Hart is averaging 18.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game this season. “I kicked it to Kris (Jenkins). I think he was surprised he was so open”, Hart said. “We’re going to have to turn the page and get some good practices in”.

Patton, a 7-foot center, averaged 13.1 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 69.3 percent from the field, which is third in the country and on pace to set the NCAA record for a freshman. “I’m like, ‘Come on, Josh, you can’t miss the front end of a one-and-one with two minutes left in the game down one. That’s it. I can’t tell you nothing right now”, Delgado said in a quiet locker room. “That’s it. I’ve got to live with it”.

When Hart approached Delgado after the game, he let him know that he’s been in his shoes before.

“It’s incredible”, Hart said. “I’m never going to forget that moment”. And even though it was just the semifinals, the rematch may have proved to be even better.

Really, this game was an instant replay of last year’s.

On the upper level, a display case memorializes the Big East’s greatest game, and perhaps one of the best in college history, holding a jersey and other artifacts from Syracuse’s six-overtime victory over CT in the 2009 tournament.

In fact, despite winning four straight regular season Big East crowns, the Cats are just 1-for-3 so far when it comes to taking home the hardware, knocking off Xavier in the 2015 finale.

Foster, a junior from Hirschi High School, finished with 15 points and two assists. He’d finish just 3-11 from the floor with six points in his final performance at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Turnovers played a significant role in the game, as Providence was outscored, 26-8, in points off of turnovers.

Foster led Creighton with 11 points at the break, becoming the 11th different player in Creighton history to amass 600 or more points in a season. “We know we didn’t play Villanova basketball for the first 20 minutes. We just challenged each other”. Seton Hall beat Nova in the title game a year ago.

What an evening it was in Madison Square Garden. Though Hart missed the free throw, the Wildcats led 41-40.

The Wildcats trailed 27-20 at halftime, the lowest offensive output in any first half this season.