PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Justin Moore scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and No. 15 Villanova rallied from a seven-point deficit to beat Seton Hall 73-67 Saturday.
Jermaine Samuels added 16 points while Brandon Slater had 10 points, including the go ahead layup with 1:26 left to play for the Wildcats (19-6, 12-3 Big East). Collin Gillespie and Eric Dixon each scored 10.
Kadary Richmond and Tray Jackson had 16 points apiece for Seton Hall (15-8, 6-7). Myles Cale added 11 and Alex Yetna had 15 rebonds for the Pirates in the see-saw game that was last tied at 67 before Slater's basket.
Richmond had an open look for a three-pointer out of a timeout that rimmed out. Villanova would then keep the ball for the next 45 seconds after Gillespie grabbed an offensive rebound on a missed Caleb Daniels jumper and a Moore 3-pointer was knocked out of bounds by Seton Hall in a scramble.
Moore eventually would hit two free throws to make a 71-67 lead.
Moore had suffered an ankle injury in Villanova’s loss at Marquette on Feb. 2, missing a Feb. 5th game against UConn. He returned with a 16-point effort on Tuesday night against St. John’s. For most of the game, Moore struggled, missing seven of his first eight shots before starting to get into the flow midway through the second half.
The second half developed into a series of runs. After a 9-0 run gave Villanova a 45-41 lead. Seton Hall followed by an 11-0 spurt for a 52-45 lead. The Wildcats answered that run with another 9-0 sprint over three minutes to regain the lead with 7:19 to play. After that point, the lead went back and forth with Richmond and Moore taking starring roles.
Seton Hall led at halftime was only 32-29.
BIG PICTURE
Seton Hall: The Pirates need to get Bryce Aiken- who was leading the Big East in scoring- back in the lineup. In the first game against Villanova on Jan. 1, Aiken scored 22 points. However, he hasn’t played since suffering a concussion on Jan. 15 against Marquette. Willard was quoted by NJ.com Thursday saying Aiken won't be back “anytime soon”
Villanova: The Wildcats hopes for a Big East regular season championship- an eighth one since the conference was realigned in 2013-14- will depend on how it does in two regular season games against Providence. The Friars presently hold a two-game lead in the loss column over the Wildcats.
UP NEXT
Seton Hall: Travels to No. 24 UConn on Wednesday
Villanova: Plays at No. 11 Providence Tuesday night
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