City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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NEW YORK – The 2016 Big East Championship Game was a classic. It was a back-and-forth tilt between two traditional conference teams in front of a packed Madison Square Garden.

But the end of that game ultimately ended up out of Villanova’s hands. After Josh Hart grabbed a rebound with five seconds left and had three Seton Hall players contest the putback with some contact, there was no whistle. The Pirates hit a free throw, Villanova missed its tough look at the buzzer and third-seeded Seton Hall was celebrating on the floor of the World’s Most Famous Arena with a 69-67 victory.

And with the loss, Villanova took its NCAA Tournament path out of its hands. A win would have likely given the Wildcats a No. 1 seed in the East region and the chance to play third- and fourth-round games in Philadelphia. But now there is much more uncertainty surrounding where Villanova will be placed on Selection Sunday.

As for the uncertain lack of whistle in the final ticks of Saturday’s title game, the Wildcats did not use that as an excuse. Hart’s rebound came off a missed 3-pointer by Kris Jenkins, who had previously given Villanova the lead with a cold-blooded trey in the final minute.

“We wanted to get it to Kris, give Kris a chance to shoot it or drive it. And then we wanted to attack the offensive glass,” Wright said. “When you're down, you know you want to get to the glass and Josh got a great look, you know, and it didn't go. …You want to get your best scorer with a shot or a chance to drive, and then you want to get your offensive rebounders on the glass.”

Villanova found itself in a one-point hole after Seton Hall’s star, Isaiah Whitehead, made his most important play of the evening. With the Pirates down by two points, Whitehead drove to the hoop, and scored a while drawing a foul from Jenkins. The sophomore guard finished the three-point play at the line, which proved to be the game-winner.

“I really just attacked the basket,” Whitehead said. “I felt I had an opportunity to score the ball. I mean, I saw Kris Jenkins coming over and I knew that he wouldn’t be able to get in position fast enough for me to draw a charge. I just tried to lay it in on him.”

Added Jenkins of the play: “I just saw him attacking the basket. He had a clear path. I tried to step over and make the play on defense at the end.”

Jenkins ended with a team-high 23 points, hitting five of his 11 3-pointers. Hart added 17 points, but the three other Villanova starters were limited to 11 points. Senior guard Ryan Arcidiacono was held to five points on 2-of-10 shooting and freshman guard Jalen Brunson was scoreless in nine minutes. Forward Daniel Ochefu again came off the bench due to an ankle injury and provided five points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes.

For Seton Hall, Whitehead got his 26 points on 11-of-21 shooting, and he spurred a first half run which saw the Pirates enter the locker room with a 40-29 lead. Villanova chipped away and used an 11-2 run to tie the game 50-50 and bring a pro-Villanova crowd at the Garden roaring to its feet.

But the Wildcats were unable to defend their Big East Tournament title, and they head back to Philadelphia wondering where they’ll end up in the bracket. Wright knows playing in Philadelphia is a possibility, but for his squad, it’s certainly not a necessity.

"I don't know enough about it. I don't know what the criteria is with the other teams," Wright said about possibly still getting a No. 1 seed. "I haven't followed it closely enough. I know we're in the running. We really don't care about that. I know we have a chance to play in the east. We would love to play in the east. But if we don't we're so happy to be playing in the NCAA Tournament. We'll take whatever we get."