For much of Villanova's opening game at the Big East Tournament, the Wildcats did not look like a team playing for its NCAA Tournament life.

Playing a DePaul team that entered with a 3-28 record, a 19-game losing streak and that hadn't beaten a team ranked better than 199 by KenPom, the Wildcats scuffled through much of the game, trailing by as many as eight with under 13 minutes to play. But thanks to some heroics from Justin Moore, the 'Cats will get another opportunity to impress the selection committee.

“Proud of our guys," Kyle Neptune said. "This is March, tough games. We took their best shot I thought. I think we’re a resilient crew. I thought we just kept coming. Thank God for Justin Moore at the end.”

DePaul started the game the way you might expect a 3-28 team to start a game. The Blue Demons missed their first seven shots and didn't score until the 15:22 mark. In a sign of things to come, however, Villanova was only able to turn the abysmal start from DePaul into a 7-0 lead, which was cut to 7-3 when DePaul finally put the ball in the basket.

Let's just take a look at some of DePaul's shooting numbers and Villanova's corresponding lead: 2-14, 'Nova up 10-9; 2-16, 'Nova up 12-9; 2-18(!!!), 'Nova up 15-9 and 5-25, 'Nova up 19-17. Somehow, DePaul's six make (on 26 attempts) actually gave the Blue Demons a 20-19 lead. Yes, despite Villanova's opponent starting the game 2-18, the Wildcats actually TRAILED with just over two minutes to go in the first half. Back-to-back threes from Jordan Longino put the 'Cats back in front, but despite DePaul's stunningly poor offense, 'Nova took just a two-point lead into the break.

It would get worse. An 11-0 run from DePaul early in the second half gave the Blue Demons an eight-point lead with 12:57 to go. 'Nova answered with an 8-0 run to tie the game with 9:39 left, and the teams would play within a possession of each other the rest of the way.

A DePaul basket with 1:13 remaining put the Blue Demons up two. After a missed three by Eric Dixon, Villanova was able to force a shot clock violation on DePaul's next possession, giving 'Nova the ball with 19 seconds left. It was time for Moore to play hero.

Moore rose up and drilled a three with nine seconds to go to give the 'Cats a one-point lead. A chaotic final possession from DePaul ended in a turnover and Villanova avoided what would have been one of the more shocking losses in recent memory.

“I was just reading the situation, he gave me too much space.," Moore said of the game-winner.

As a result, Villanova advances and gets another chance to impress the committee with a quarterfinal matchup against Marquette.