Jay Wright wishes he wasn’t so prophetic.
Prior to the first Big East Tournament of the new era, in talking up the league, the Villanova coach said it was wide open and any of the 10 teams could be the last one standing at the Garden Saturday night.
We saw just how wide open it is Thursday afternoon, when Wright’s top-seeded Wildcats were stunned by No. 8 Seton Hall, 64-63, on a Sterling Gibbs buzzer-beater in the first quarterfinal of the day, snapping a six-game winning streak.
“I’d rather have been wrong,” Wright said with a laugh. “But I do believe that. I really do.”
It’s hard to argue, after No. 10 DePaul upset seventh-seeded Georgetown Wednesday night and the third-ranked Wildcats (28-4), playing as well as anyone in the country entering the tournament, fell to the inconsistent Pirates (17-16).
The shocking loss likely ends Villanova’s hopes of a top seed, and possibly knocks them out of the East region. Entering the game, the Wildcats’ three losses had come to Final Four contenders Creighton (twice) and Syracuse. Wright, the Big East Coach of the Year, was more disappointed to lose a game than worried about his seed.
“Winning the Big East Tournament would mean much more to us than a one-seed,” Wright said. “This is a great tournament. We want to be here until Saturday. I think we’re most disappointed about that. The NCAA Tournament seedings, my belief is one, two, three, it doesn’t matter that much. You’re going to play great teams.”
The Wildcats dug themselves a 15-point first-half deficit and were down 13 in the second half, before finally stepping up their defense. A good 13 minutes of basketball wasn’t enough, though. Shooting 4-of-19 from 3-point range and making 15-of-25 free throws didn’t help, either.
“In the NCAA Tournament, it’s one and done. We have to bring it right from the start,” sophomore guard Ryan Arcidiacono said. “We can’t have coach call a timeout. We have to bring it.”
When it seemed as if Villanova had put the game away, ripping off a 16-0 run to build a 47-44 lead, Seton Hall stormed back with a number of big baskets. The Pirates hit two clutch shots in the final 17 seconds, Jaren Sina knocking down a go-ahead 3-pointer from the left corner and Gibbs hitting the game-winner after Darrun Hilliard gave Villanova the lead with 7.8 seconds to go.
“We were getting shots we wanted, we were getting to the foul line,” Wright said. “We missed free throws. We missed shots we normally make. … We’ve had other games like that this year where we didn’t make free throws, didn’t make shots, and we found a way to win.
“I think it’s just one of those games we’ve just to give them credit.”