Villanova Wildcats vs Seton Hall Pirates Box Score on Mar 09, 2019

Myles Powell scored 20 points and Sandro Mamukelashvili notched a double-double with 12 points and 18 rebounds to lead host Seton Hall to a 79-75 upset of No. 23 Villanova on Saturday afternoon at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

The Pirates (18-12, 9-9 Big East) remained on the NCAA Tournament bubble while preventing Villanova (22-9, 13-5) from earning the outright conference regular-season title, but only briefly.

Villanova ultimately earned the top seed at next week's Big East Tournament when Georgetown upset Marquette later Saturday.

The Wildcats never led against the Pirates and were unable to come closer after trailing by one with 3:57 left.

Myles Cale scored 19 points, Jared Rhoden had 15 and Michael Nzei delivered 10 for Seton Hall.

Villanova trailed by 16 with 18:35 remaining, but rebounded with a 13-0 run over the next 3:48 to climb back into the game. Eric Paschall scored six of his 14 points during the surge. Collin Gillespie led the Wildcats with 22 points, while Phil Booth scored 16, Saddiq Bey had 13 and Jermaine Samuels had 10.

Foul trouble played a role down the stretch, as both teams entered the bonus by the 10:28 mark of the second half. The Pirates and Wildcats both shot 48.1 percent (13-for-27) from 3-point range.

Seton Hall had the edge for most of the first half, leading by as many as 14 points before taking a 39-28 advantage into the break.

While the teams were about even on the stat sheet in the first 20 minutes - Seton Hall shot 41.9 percent compared to 40.9 percent for Villanova - the Pirates created separation with hard work inside, outscoring the Wildcats 10-4 in the paint and 10-0 on second-chance points.

After a Gillespie 3-pointer drew Villanova to within 24-23 with 6:19 left in the first half, Seton Hall responded with a 10-0 run that began with layups from Mamukelashvili and Nzei. Treys from Cale - off an offensive rebound - and Powell closed the spurt.

Villanova had earned four straight Big East regular season titles from 2013-14 to 2016-17, with Xavier snapping the Wildcats' streak last season.

--Field Level Media