Dylan Addae-Wusu and Seton Hall dominated for a half and then couldn’t close it out down the stretch.
Eric Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer, poured in 25 of his game-high 32 points in the second half as Villanova overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to keep its slim NCAA Tournament hopes alive with a 59-54 come-from-behind victory at Prudential Center. Dixon scored 18 straight points for Villanova during one stretch in the second half, and hit two clutch free throws with 21.2 seconds left.
Villanova outscored Seton Hall, 39-21, after the intermission.
“Obviously, Dixon had a monster second half but if we make our free throws, we win the game,” Pirates coach Shaheen Holloway said on the radio of his team’s 8-of-17 performance.
“Not only couldn’t we make free throws, we just couldn’t score in the second half.”
After Seton Hall trailed by seven points, Garwey Dual made back-to-back buckets, the first off a steal and layup and the second on a tip-in of his own miss to trim it to 50-49 with 1:19 remaining.
Wooga Poplar (12 points, 12 rebounds) made four straight free throws down the stretch, the second pair give Villanova a 55-50 lead. And Jhamir Brickus added two to make it 59-54.
Villanova went 18-of-22 from the line.
Seton Hall guard Dylan Addae-Wusu went for 18 points (including four 3-pointers), 7 rebounds and 6 assists but managed just two points in the second half. Isaiah Coleman added 12 points and Prince Aligbe 10 in the loss.
The Pirates -- who played without Chaunce Jenkins (knee) and Scotty Middleton (ankle) -- are now 7-21, 2-15 in the Big East, while the Wildcats improved to 17-12, 10-8.
“I hate losing at home,” Holloway said. “I hate losing period, but I hate losing at home.”
The top five seeds in the Big East Tournament get a first-round bye, and the win keeps Villanova’s hopes alive for one.
If the Big East Tournament began now, the Wildcats would be the No. 6 seed and would face No. 11 DePaul, while the No. 10 Pirates would face No. 7 Georgetown in the second game on Wednesday, March 12.
The Pirates seized a 33-21 halftime lead behind 16 from Addae-Wusu.
Villanova failed to score a field goal over the final nine minutes of the half.
But The Hall went cold in the second half and Dixon drained a go-ahead 3-pointer with about 8:14 remaining to make it 43-41.
The Pirates went scoreless for nine minutes before Coleman scored on a layup to cut it to 45-43.
Dixon made a layup to push it 50-43.
“We played hard the whole game, we just didn’t make shots,” Holloway said.
The Pirates will next visit first-place St. John’s on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Seton Hall transfer Kadary Richmond and the Red Storm can win their first outright Big East title since 1985.
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.