Villanova needs OT to win Big East
NEW YORK — Mikal Bridges scored 25 points and made two 3-pointers in overtime to lift No. 2 Villanova to a 76-66 win over Providence in the Big East men’s basketball tournament championship game Saturday night.
The Wildcats (30-4) won their second straight Big East tournament and third in four years. (They lost the 2016 final.) They put the bow on a fantastic season that is expected to be rewarded with a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Second-seeded Villanova had rolled to a pair of dominant victories in the tourney and held off pesky Providence, which played its third straight overtime game.
The fifth-seeded Friars (21-13) rallied in the second half from yet another double-digit hole and seemed set to pull off one more upset and earn the automatic NCAA berth. Providence erased a 17-point hole in the second half to beat top-seeded Xavier to reach the final. With one stunning rally on its résumé, Providence nearly made it two.
Kyron Cartwright hit a jumper with 1:38 left that tied the game at 58-all, and Alpha Diallo scored on a driving layup with 40 seconds left for a 60-58 lead. Big East player of the year Jalen Brunson tied it for Villanova with two free throws.
Providence missed a last-gasp shot at the buzzer and played in its third straight overtime game.
The Friars ran out of gas in the extra period. Bridges, who scored 25 points, opened overtime with a 3 and hit another that helped stretch the lead for good. Brunson tied a career-high with 31 points on an emphatic dunk that sent the Madison Square Garden crowd into a frenzy.
Brunson proved his worth as the best in the conference. He hit four 3s and was 12-for-23 overall from the floor, showing on the national stage why he’s a candidate for national player of the year.
Cartwright put Providence’s comeback in overdrive when he hit a 3 that made it 51-46 and had coach Ed Cooley smiling and clapping on the sideline. He loved it even more when Cartwright came right back and hit another 3 to pull the Friars within two.
Drew Edwards flexed his biceps when he was fouled on a tying basket and had the crowd chanting “Let’s Go, Friars!” headed into a timeout. He sank the free throw to give Providence its first lead of the game, 52-51.
The Wildcats snatched the lead back, and Bridges buried a 3 from the top of the arc that sent his teammates on the bench to their feet. Brunson was whistled next time down for an offensive foul, and coach Jay Wright twirled and stretched his arms toward the sky in protest. Eric Paschall hit a floater in the lane that seemed to steady the Wildcats.
Providence just kept on coming. The Friars had defeated three top-five teams this season and were soaring after two straight overtime victories over Creighton and the Musketeers to reach the final.
Diallo led with 22 points and Cartwright scored 19 for Providence.