Seton Hall rivalry remains Big East’s best
PHILADELPHIA » It was a rock fight right from the opening tip on Saturday, which is what you expect whenever Villanova and Seton Hall square off.
In what has become the best rivalry in the Big East, the latest edition did not disappoint, as the 15th-ranked Wildcats pulled out a 7367 victory over the Pirates in front of 17,803 onlookers at the Wells Fargo Center.
That it came down to the final few possessions shouldn’t have been a surprise.
“It’s a Seton Hall-Villanova game,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “You can’t expect anything different.”
No, you can’t. Close, down-to-the-wire games decided by a possession or two between the Wildcats and Pirates have been the norm, not the exception, since the Big East was reconfigured in 2013.
It was the eighth straight game in which the teams have been separated by single digits, seven by six points or fewer. And of the 21 times the teams have met over the last nine seasons, 15 have been determined by single digits, eight by two points or less, including both times the teams have met in the Big East tournament final.
Seton Hall got the better of Villanova in 2016 with a 69-67 triumph at Madison Square Garden. The Wildcats returned the favor with a 74-72 victory in 2019 to wrap up its third straight tournament title.
“I think it comes down to both teams being relentless in their physical approach,” Villanova forward Jermaine Samuels said. “At the same time that competitiveness is there. Both sides want it just as much as the next guy next to them. You can tell from tip-off what type of game it’s going to be and usually they’re always close.”
The Wildcats and Pirates followed that script to the letter on Saturday.
Seton Hall’s biggest lead was seven (52-45 with 10:58 left in the game). Villanova’s largest advantage was the final margin of victory. There were seven ties and nine lead changes. Villanova didn’t take the lead for good until Brandon Slater hit a layup off a feed from Collin Gillespie with 1:26 to play to put the Wildcats up, 69-67.
Justin Moore hit four free throws in the final 16 seconds to seal it.
But it was two huge offensive rebounds that set the stage for the comeback. Samuels put back a Gillespie miss with 7:19 to play to put the Wildcats up, 53-52. Slater tapped an Eric Dixon miss to a wide open Chris Arcidiacono for a 3-pointer and a 6257 advantage with 4:39 remaining.
“What I love about Jay’s teams and what I love about the kids on his teams (is) that they make a lot of winning plays,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said.
Willard has seen it many times. He’s the second-longest tenured coach in the Big East, in his 12th season in South Orange. Only Wright, who is in his 21st season on the Main Line, has been around longer.
“Jay and I have been in this league a long time,” Willard said. “I kind of know what Jay’s going to do and he knows what I’m going to do. I think that’s one of the reason us, Providence with Eddie (Cooley), we just know each other so well. To prepare your team to play against somebody that you know inside and out. I know Jay’s plays better than Jay does. We go into the games and we know what we have to do and I think that’s what makes this league unique. We’ve had some guys in the league for so long.”
“I think we’re really similar programs and we’ve all been around,” Wright said. “We take pride in our culture, both of us. We know each other so well. We’ve played each other so many times. We try to be good defensive teams, both of us, we’re just very similar.”
Familiarity may breed contempt, but not in this case. That closeness has developed into the best rivalry in the Big East.
“I think it is,” Willard said. “If you just watch the games over the last seven years we’ve had with each other have been a battle. I’ve talked about how much respect I have for Gillespie and Samuels and what they’ve done for the league. It’s definitely a battle whenever we play.”