Villanova may not be the regular season Big East champions, but they can lay claim to beating the Big East regular season champions twice this season after a thrilling 76-74 win over No. 9 Providence Tuesday night.

The combination of the Wildcats hosting a top 10 team and the fact that it was the last game at Finneran Pavilion for Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels led to an electric atmosphere that spurred the ‘Cats and matched the intensity on the court.

“Great college basketball game,” Jay Wright said. “Really appreciate our fans making that a great environment. Proud of our guys.”

Providence did it’s best to take the crowd out of the game with some hot shooting early. The Friars hit their first three attempts from 3 and jumped out to a 9-2 lead less than three minutes into the game. But the Wildcats responded quickly, ripping off a 10-3 run to tie the game that was capped by an electrifying sequence. It started with an absolute poster slam dunk by Brandon Slater, during which he was fouled. He proceeded to hit the free throw, then get a steal in the backcourt on the ensuing Providence possession, dishing it off to Caleb Daniels for another slam that tied the game.

The teams traded blows for a bit before ‘Nova landed a big blow late in the half. The Wildcats ripped off a 16-2 run over the final 4:34 of the half, capped by a Justin Moore 3 at the first-half buzzer, that sent the ‘Cats into the break with a 14-point lead and all the momentum.

“That was good for us,” Wright said. “We had young guys out there. So be able to increase our lead there was really important.”

Providence wasn’t going to go way, however. The Friars scored the first six points of the second half and extended that push to 22-8, tying the game at 48 with 11:37 to go. Providence hit its first seven 3s of the second half, with Noah Horchler and A.J. Reeves singlehandedly keeping the Friars in the game. With 13:10 left, as the Friars were in the midst of their run, Horchler and Reeves had a combined 27 points on 9-15 3-point shooting.

Gillespie restored some order for the ‘Cats with a 3 after Providence tied it, but Justin Minaya immediately answered for the Friars to re-tie the game.

Then it was Daniels’ turn to make an impact. He scored eight straight points for the ‘Cats, helping restore a six-point lead with 7:29 to play.

“He definitely changed the game in that spurt when he scored eight straight,” Wright said.

Providence got back within two with 5:01 to play, setting the stage for a wild final five minutes. From 4:40 to 3:07 the teams treated fans with an incredible display of shot-making. Moore hit a huge 3 to push the Villanova advantage to five, only to see Reeves answer with a 3 of his own. Moore came right back with another 3, but this time Jared Bynum had the answer, knocking down a 3 of his own. Daniels had the answer for ‘Nova, hitting a 2 in the paint to push the ‘Nova lead to 67-63 with 3:07 left. It was a truly remarkable stretch.

Gillespie and Moore each hit one of two from the line to run the ‘Nova advantage to 69-63 with 1:26 to play, but Providence promptly ripped off five points in a row to pull within one with just 33 seconds left. Eric Dixon hit a huge pair of free throws with 22 seconds to go to give the ‘Cats a three-point edge, but ‘Nova allowed Providence to score in just seven seconds to get back within one with 15 seconds left.

Daniels calmly hit two from the line with nine seconds to play, then Villanova intentionally fouled to prevent a Providence 3-point attempt. Bynum hit both his free throws with five seconds to go to pull back within one, but Daniels hit another pair with four seconds left sending ‘Nova back up 3. The ‘Cats once again intentionally fouled Bynum with just two seconds left. After making the first, it appeared he attempted to miss the second on purpose, but his high arcing shot found its way to the bottom of the net. Providence was forced to foul Moore, who hit one of two to restore the lead to two. Providence’s final hail Mary pass was intercepted by Eric Dixon and the ‘Cats escaped with a wild 76-74 win.

Despite Providence’s scorching second-half 3-point shooting (76.9%), Villanova was able to hold on thanks in part to improved rebounding. After giving up 11 offensive rebounds and seven second-chance points in the first half, the ‘Cats limited Providence to three offensive rebounds and two second-chance points in the second half.

“That was big,” Wright said. “We were disappointed with our defensive effort there on glass in the first half. Really proud of them in the second half. Caleb only got credit for two defensive rebounds but a lot of times he’s holding off their bigs and then someone else can come and get it. I thought we did a really good job of keeping bodies on bodies and rebounding the ball.”

Turnovers were also big for the ‘Cats. They forced 16 Providence turnovers while committing just five, taking a 19-7 advantage in points off turnovers. After getting pounded in the paint in the first meeting between the teams, ‘Nova had a 20-16 advantage in the paint on Tuesday night. The ‘Cats limited Nate Watson to just six points.

‘Nova also continued its stellar free throw shooting (21-25) and built a 12-point advantage from the line.

“Taking care of the basketball was big, hitting free throws was big,” Wright said.

The plan to limit Watson and keep the Providence guards from getting into the paint was largely successful, but the Friars almost made ‘Nova pay with that otherworldly 3-point shooting in the second half. Some of the looks were open, which is something the ‘Cats will look to clean up, but you also have to credit Providence for hitting some tough, contested shots as well. Wright thought that some good looks the ‘Cats gave up early set the stage for the second half display from Providence.

“I think early in the game we were poor,” Wright said. “I think in the second half they hit some incredible shots. What happens is early in the game you let guys get hot and now they got it going and then it’s tough to stop them. I thought Horchler especially we didn’t play aggressively on him, and he got it going and then he hit some tough ones. Reeves, he just did that last game, he’s in a groove right now.”

It’s hard to overstate how important Caleb Daniels was for the ‘Cats Tuesday night. In addition to that big stretch where he scored eight straight points, he hit those four clutch free throws late and finished with a game-high 20 points. Wright also credited him with doing a lot of dirty work.

“Caleb’s a starter for us, he plays as many minutes as any of the starters and we’ve got great confidence in him,” Wright said. “He’s a really confident offensive player and he’s an underrated defensive player. We had Jermaine in foul trouble, and he was guarding forwards. He only came up with two defensive rebounds that he got credited for, but he was keeping them off the glass. He’s really underrated defensively.”

For Daniels, it was just about confidence and wanting to make plays for his teammates. “That’s just being confident and stepping up for my teammates,” Daniels said. “Guys have been making plays the whole game and those are the moments where I just have to step up and make those plays. That’s making a free throw, making a shot, getting a rebound, getting a stop it doesn’t matter what. I just gotta step up for my brothers and that’s the only thing that was on my mind.”

For Gillespie, it was a fitting way to end his Finneran Pavilion career. “I think that’s just what the Big East is about and how every game is gonna be when you come into the Big East, it’s always a battle and it’s always intense.”

While watching the 14-point lead disappear was less than ideal, the ‘Cats showed great resolve. Also, after losing a tough, close game to UConn they were able to make the little plays that help close out games this time around.

The win was key for the ‘Cats. It secured the two-seed in the Big East Tournament, gave the ‘Cats a second top 10 win and moved them to 7-5 overall against top 25 opponents. It will likely have important seeding implications on Selection Sunday as well.

Now, the ‘Cats will prepare to wrap up the regular season with a trip to Butler on Saturday.