Villanova was in a less than ideal situation Wednesday night. Coming off a disappointing loss to Providence, the Wildcats had to head to Newark to take on a No. 8 Seton Hall team that was celebrating senior night and that had an opportunity to claim the regular-season Big East title. The ‘Cats responded in a big way, and despite another shaky stretch run, were able to tough out an absolutely huge win.

It was an entertaining first half. There was no slow start for the Wildcats, who jumped out to a 5-0 lead and carried an advantage to the 10:01 mark when Quincy McKnight tied the game with a free throw. Seton Hall took its first lead on the ensuing possession on a McKnight layup, setting the stage for a back and forth end to the half.

Seton Hall took a five-point lead with 5:00 minutes to go, but Villanova would end the half on an 11-3 run to take a 33-30 lead into the break.

A 12-4 spurt to start the second half pushed the ‘Nova lead to 11, but the Pirates quickly responded with five straight to get back within six. The ‘Cats had an immediate answer, ripping off eight straight points to build their biggest lead of the night at 14.

In case you hadn’t noticed, a trend was developing. Hall would proceed to get back within six, ‘Nova pushed it back to 10, and the Pirates once again closed within six. A ‘Nova two followed by a Hall three dwindled the margin to five. And this was all in the first 10 minutes and change.

From there the dramatic runs settled down a bit, but the intensity did not as the teams played within three and eight points of each other for about six minutes. Five in a row from ‘Nova from 3:51 to 3:17 gave the Wildcats an eight-point advantage with 2:47 to go after a Seton Hall turnover and foul.

The Wildcats were up 10 with 2:28 to go, but you knew it wouldn’t be that easy. The lead was down to five with 1:02 left and three with 22 seconds to play after Collin Gillespie missed a pair of free throws and Sandro Mamukelashvili hit a three. A near-disaster inbounding situation somehow turned into a Jermaine Samuels dunk with 18 seconds left to put ‘Nova up five, but Hall got a layup in just four seconds to get back within three. Saddiq Bey then missed two free throws to give Seton Hall an opportunity to tie the game with a three. Myles Powell missed, but a foul was called on Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree on the rebound, sending Hall to the line for a one-and-one. Hall converted both to close within one. Villanova was able to get the ball in, sending Samuels to the line with 3.4 seconds left. Samuels hit one of two (making ‘Nova one of their last six from the line) for a two-point lead. Myles Cale missed a three at the buzzer (that may not have counted anyway) and ‘Nova escaped with the huge win, 79-77.

The disappearance of the 10-point lead over two and a half minutes, and especially the poor free-throw shooting down the stretch, put a bit of a damper on things but it was too big a win and too good of a game for us to dwell on the negative.

‘Nova bounced back nicely from Saturday’s poor offensive performance against a good defensive team in Seton Hall. The ‘Cats shot 51.9 percent overall and 40.6 percent from three. Bey led the way with 20. Justin Moore was fantastic with 19 points, hitting 5-of-8 from three and adding three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Samuels was great as well with 19 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Gillespie added 12 points, while Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had nine points and 11 rebounds.

‘Nova stepped into an absolutely electric atmosphere with Seton Hall honoring the senior class, and Myles Powell, and with the Pirates having an opportunity to lock up the Big East regular-season title. For the Wildcats to play the way they did and get out of there with a win is incredibly impressive. The offense was good overall and all in all the defense was solid against a team that can do some different things to you offensively. Considering the atmosphere, the circumstances, and the fact that ‘Nova was trying to bounce back from a disappointing performance you have to love what you saw from the ‘Cats, late free-throw shooting notwithstanding.

We’ll have an eye on Omaha on Saturday, as a ‘Nova win over Georgetown and a Creighton win over Seton Hall would create a three-way tie at the top of the Big East, a situation that would see the Wildcats move into the 2 seed in the Big East tournament while claiming a share of the regular-season title. ‘Nova-Georgetown is a noon tip on FOX while Seton Hall-Creighton will follow immediately after.

Catch your breath, enjoy tonight’s big win, and get ready for a fun Saturday.