Villanova Wildcats vs Seton Hall Pirates Box Score on Mar 04, 2020

Saddiq Bey scored 20 points, Justin Moore and Jermaine Samuels added 19 apiece, and No. 14 Villanova defeated No. 8 Seton Hall 79-77 on Wednesday in Newark, N.J., preventing the Pirates from clinching an outright Big East regular-season championship.

Collin Gillespie had 12 points, and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl contributed nine points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats (23-7, 12-5 Big East).

Sandro Mamukelashvili led Seton Hall (21-8, 13-4) with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Quincy McKnight added 16 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Myles Powell had 14 points and eight assists despite 5-for-18 shooting, and junior Shavar Reynolds Jr. added a career-high 12 points.

Seton Hall is now just one game up on both Villanova and Creighton (23-7, 12-5) with all three teams heading into their regular-season finales.

Villanova missed five free throws in the final 52 seconds to help Seton Hall get within one possession late. Myles Cale had a chance to drop in the game-winning 3-pointer as time expired, but the shot missed. It also appeared as if the attempt was not released before the clock expired.

McKnight hit a 3-pointer and Powell dropped in a reverse layup to put the Pirates ahead 27-22 with 4:58 left in the first half.

Moore responded with a deep trey and Bey made a 3-pointer from the wing to put Villanova back ahead 28-27 with 1:39 to go before the break. After an empty Seton Hall possession, Gillespie capped a 9-0 run with a 3-pointer for a 31-27 advantage with 43 seconds left.

Villanova led 33-30 at halftime.

When Moore hit a trey with 17:18 remaining, the Wildcats pulled out to a 41-34 advantage. On Villanova's next possession, Bey converted a four-point play to boost the lead to 11 points.

Seton Hall pushed back with a 5-0 run, and Cale's trey closed the gap to 45-39.

Villanova then scored the next eight points with consecutive 3-pointers by Robinson-Earl and Samuels extending the advantage to 53-39 with 14:20 remaining.

The Pirates kept battling and got within 57-52 with 10:02 left when Reynolds knocked down a trey from the corner.

After Seton Hall cut the lead to three, Moore came back with a 3-pointer and Samuels added a layup for a 71-63 Villanova lead with 3:13 left.

--Field Level Media