Big East

Pittsburgh reached the Big East Tournament championship game for the fifth time in six years and continued the conference’s run of postseason upsets.

The sixth-seeded Panthers beat No. 2 Villanova 68-54 Friday in the semifinals, and will meet ninth-seeded Syracuse for the title.

The sixth-seeded Panthers beat No. 2 Villanova 68-54 Friday in the semifinals, and will meet ninth-seeded Syracuse for the title.

Pittsburgh (24-6) and Syracuse both won three games to get to the championship game, just the fourth and fifth times that has happened in tournament history. None of the previous three, including West Virginia last season, won the title. One of them will this year.

The Wildcats (25-4) not only joined top-ranked Connecticut, third-seeded West Virginia and fourth-seeded Marquette on the list of this year’s losers, but they may also face an uncertain NCAA Tournament.

Allan Ray, a first-team all-Big East selection and Villanova’s second-leading scorer and rebounder, was hit in the right eye early in the second half and was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital.

“I just got a report from the doctors at the hospital and it was great news,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “It actually looked a lot worse than it was. He will be released from the hospital and he has vision. He is a day-to-day prognosis right now. He will go home with us on the bus tomorrow.”

Gerry McNamara was a big part of Syracuse’s national championship as a freshman in 2003. Four years later, the guard was the runaway MVP in the Orange’s surprising Big East Tournament title run.

Syracuse repeated as conference champions by beating No. 15 Pittsburgh 65-61 on Saturday night. It was the first time in the Orange’s record four victories that they didn’t need late-game heroics from McNamara.

It was sophomore Josh Wright who clinched the title win, making four free throws in the final 17 seconds.

But it was still McNamara’s tournament.

“Gerry had as good a four games here as anybody I’ve ever seen,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “He just wanted to win.”

Syracuse became the lowest-seeded team to win the Big East Tournament — the Orange came in at No. 9 — and the third school to repeat, joining Georgetown in 1985 and Connecticut in 1999.

The Orange (23-11) arrived in New York this week with their chances of claiming an at-large NCAA Tournament berth as on the bubble as a team can get. They are leaving with an automatic bid and a folk hero

Gerry McNamara waited one day to one-up himself.

The senior guard hit a 3-pointer with less than a second to play to give Syracuse a win over Cincinnati in the opening round of the Big East Tournament.

On Thursday, his 3 with 5.5 seconds left in regulation tied the game and the ninth-seeded Orange went on to beat No. 1 Connecticut 86-84 in overtime.

“I said yesterday’s shot was the best under the circumstances,” an exhausted McNamara said Thursday. “I’d have to change that to today’s. We needed it.”

The win should help the Orange (21-11) end any talk about whether they deserve an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

“Obviously they’re a tournament team,” Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said. “I thought they were a tournament team yesterday.”

That was a McNamara highlight show ago.

Pick. Pass. Layup. Villanova’s winning basket came just that easy.

Nothing else did.

Randy Foye had 25 points and Dante Cunningham scored off an inbounds play with 3.2 seconds left, leading No. 2 Villanova to its 11th straight win Thursday night, 74-72 over Cincinnati.

The Wildcats (22-2, 12-1) wasted a 12-point lead down the stretch before pulling out a win that kept them in control of the Big East and gave them a taste of what comes next.

Playing with a No. 2 ranking for the first time in 10 years, Villanova also extended a few notable streaks. The Wildcats matched the best start in school history - they also did it in 1937-38 - and set a school record with their 11th straight win in the Big East.

“Teams play at another level against us, and we’re learning to handle that,'’ coach Jay Wright said.

They had to fight off the temptation to look past this one. The Wildcats go to Connecticut on Sunday for a rematch with the third-ranked Huskies, the team they beat on Feb. 13 to take control of the Big East.

Their rematch shapes up as a game to decide the regular-season title, and the Wildcats know what to expect.

“Cincinnati plays as hard as any team in the Big East, and this environment is as difficult as any in the Big East,'’ Wright said. “We’re going to see the same thing Sunday. It’s like we set this up for perfect preparation.'’

On the other side, this one meant a lot to Cincinnati (18-10, 7-7), which went into a nosedive after forward Armein Kirkland tore a knee ligament on Jan. 9. Four wins in the last six games put the Bearcats back in the running for an NCAA tournament berth.

A victory over Villanova - the highest-ranked opponent to play in Cincinnati’s 17-year-old arena - would have underscored their worthiness.

With a late 16-4 run led by power forward Eric Hicks, the Bearcats showed they had enough to keep up, not quite enough to pull it out.

“Either they’re overrated or we’re underrated, one of the two,'’ Cincinnati point guard Devan Downey said.

Hicks, playing on two sprained ankles, made a pair of free throws and a putback that gave Cincinnati its first lead since the opening minutes, 72-70. Foye’s free throws tied it with 53.9 seconds left, and Downey was called for a charge on Shane Clark.

On an inbounds play under the basket, Cunningham broke free and made an uncontested layup from the right side for only his second basket of the game.

“That’s a play we run all the time,'’ said Foye, who added a career-high 14 rebounds. “We have plays for 7 seconds left and plays for 4 seconds left. We just ran the play, and they left Dante wide open.'’

He came off a pick and had no one guarding him.

“It was a simple screen and we handled it poorly,'’ interim coach Andy Kennedy said. “All five guys mishandled it and, as a result, we gave up a layup.'’

Hicks’ 3-pointer at the buzzer was too hard. He finished with 21 points. Allan Ray added 19 points for Villanova.

For most of the game, it didn’t figure to be so close. At the outset, the Bearcats struggled under the pressure - some self-imposed, most of it from Villanova’s energetic, four-guard lineup. Cincinnati made only three baskets in the first 12 minutes, going 3-for-17 from the field while Villanova pulled ahead by 11 points.

Foye and Ray had 13 apiece in the first half, which ended with Villanova up 40-34.

Cincinnati started taking advantage of Villanova’s defense by hitting pull-up jumpers in the second half. Muhammad’s floater cut it to 40-36 at the outset.

Ray’s fall-away 3-pointer - his back hit the floor as the ball met the net - blunted the comeback and set up a back-and-forth pace that held until midway through the half.

Foye made a three-point play and a 17-foot jumper that helped Villanova pull ahead 66-54 midway through the half. Forward James White, Cincinnati’s top scorer and defender, picked up his fourth foul on Foye’s three-point play, leaving the Bearcats in deep trouble.

Down, but not yet out.

Hicks’ three-point play sparked an 11-0 run that cut it to 68-67. Moore’s 3-pointer from the right corner made it a one-point game with 4:07 left.

Both teams lost key players to fouls - Cincinnati’s White and 6-foot-8 forward Will Sheridan, the only big man in Villanova’s lineup. With Sheridan gone, Hicks asserted himself and brought the Bearcats the rest of the way back.

With the Bearcats’ makeshift lineup staying close in the second half, fans stood and cheered “Hire Andy!'’ during a second-half timeout. Kennedy has held the Bearcats together throughout a chaotic season that started with Bob Huggins’ ouster in August.

Randall Hanke scored 22 points to lead Providence to a 77-56 win Tuesday night over the University of South Florida.

Donnie Magrath added 20 points for the Friars (12-12, 5-8 Big East), who remain in the running for a spot in the conference playoffs.

James Holmes with 18 and Melvin Buckley with 15 paced the Bulls (6-20, 0-13), who lost a school-record 15th straight game. South Florida has yet to win a conference game in its first year in the Big East.

Hanke had 19 points in the first half. Only Holmes, who scored 12 points in the first half, all on 3-pointers (4-of-7), kept the Friars from breaking out even more in the first 12 minutes. Melvyn Richardson’s jumper pulled South Florida to within 7, 25-18, at 8:15, and that was the closest the Bulls would come.

USF trailed at the half, 41-22, after committing 11 turnovers while shooting just 31 percent.

The Bulls came within nine points in the second half when Buckley had three consecutive 3-pointers. Providence countered with a 11-0 run to bring the margin to 60-40.

Ryan Williams and Phil Missere are the only seniors who see playing time for St. John’s.

They had a unique view of Tuesday night’s game against Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden because it could have been their last time on the court that serves as one of two homes for the Red Storm.

A huge effort from junior Lamont Hamilton - 19 points and 15 rebounds - and a game-closing 12-3 run gave St. John’s a 58-47 victory that keeps it alive in the hunt for one of 12 berths in the Big East tournament next month at Madison Square Garden.

“Coach Martin said something before the game that we had to play all out because this could be our last time,'’ Williams said, referring to assistant coach Jose Martin. “I told Phil we had to play as hard as possible so we could get back here in two weeks.'’

The Red Storm (12-13, 5-9), who had lost seven of eight, are still in danger of being one of the four schools not invited to the conference tournament. They are tied for 12th place in the league, a half-game behind Rutgers and Providence.

“I’m not going to lie, it went through my mind throughout the day,'’ Missere said of possibly missing the Big East tournament for a third straight season.

St. John’s kept itself out of postseason play two years ago after several players were suspended for breaking curfew in Pittsburgh. Last year, the Red Storm missed the tournament as part of their self-probation over admitted NCAA violations that occurred when Mike Jarvis was coach.

“You can call this win ugly but I thought it was pretty as all get-out,'’ second-year coach Norm Roberts said. “We defend. We take people out of their comfort level.'’

Jamar Nutter scored 16 points for Seton Hall (16-9, 7-6), which has lost three of four following a six-game winning streak. The Pirates were looking to make a run at being one of four teams from the Big East to earn a first-round bye in the tournament and they could have moved into a three-way tie for fifth with Georgetown and Marquette with a win.

“No question we competed, but we have to get more done,'’ Seton Hall coach Louis Orr said, referring to his team being outrebounded 48-31. “Our defense was good and we didn’t shoot the ball well, but nobody missed on purpose.'’

The Pirates have three games left in the regular season, at DePaul, home for Cincinnati and at Pittsburgh.

“You shouldn’t have to put the weight of the world on your shoulders every game,'’ Orr said. “It should just happen.'’

Ricky Torres scored on a fast break to give the Red Storm the lead for good at 39-37 with 8:50 to go.

Neither team was able to generate much offense all game. St. John’s, which leads the Big East in defense at 59.8 points per game, shot 18-for-54, including 2-for-12 from 3-point range.

Seton Hall shot 20 percent in the second half (6-for-30) and 28.1 percent overall (16-for-57).

Nutter’s 3-pointer from a couple of feet beyond the NBA line brought Seton Hall to 46-44 with 2:27 to play, but that’s when the Red Storm turned up the defense and started their game-closing run.

Aaron Spears and Eugene Lawrence each had four points as St. John’s went ahead 53-45 with 43 seconds to go. Seton Hall managed one free throw in that span, missed all four shots from the field and turned the ball over once.

St. John’s then went 5-for-6 from the free throw line over the final 31 seconds to end a four-game losing streak to the Pirates.

Lawrence had 10 points for St. John’s, which again played without leading scorer Darryl Hill and third-leading scorer Anthony Mason Jr. Hill is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury and Mason missed his second straight game after spraining his ankle in practice last week.

“We played with a lot of energy,'’ Roberts said. “We played with a lot of passion.'’

Kelly Whitney and Donald Copeland each had 11 points for the Pirates.

Seton Hall won the first meeting this season 69-61 in overtime, overcoming a 20-point deficit in the second half.

St. John’s finished 5-5 in the regular season at Madison Square Garden, one of its two home courts. The Red Storm play at Villanova and then close the regular season on March 5 against Rutgers at Carnesecca Arena.

“From the end of the season last year and during the summer, that was definitely one of our main goals, to make the Big East tournament,'’ Missere said. “We just have to keep coming out with the same passion and energy and play St. John’s basketball, which is defense, and the rest will come, hopefully.'’

Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun had that sick feeling in his gut.

His third-ranked Huskies were headed toward an apparent rout of unranked Notre Dame on Tuesday night when it suddenly unraveled.

The Fighting Irish showed why they were the best 3-point shooting team in the conference and hit four 3s in a 25-2 run to erase a 19-point second half deficit in a hurry. The Irish had their first lead at 61-60 midway through the half and Calhoun quickly called a timeout to gather his shaken team.

“They were stunned. It happened so quick,'’ he said. “We shut the engine off and stopped playing.'’

Then it was the Huskies’ turn to rely on their strength - the inside game. UConn finished with a Big East record 19 blocks, pounded the ball inside down the stretch and afer Marcus Williams’ bank shot sent the game into overtime, the Huskies escaped with a 75-74 win.

Silenced by the Notre Dame’s rally, the sellout Hartford Civic Center crowd of 16,294 was deafening in the overtime period.

“(Notre Dame) had every right to win that game just as much as we did,'’ Calhoun said. “We had to will our way back in. Thank God it was here at the Civic Center. I’m not sure we could win that game on the road.'’

Williams finished with a triple-double for UConn, which sent Notre Dame to yet another close loss. The Fighting Irish (13-11, 4-9 Big East) lost by an average of 4.3 points in their previous 10 defeats and are now 1-6 against ranked teams this season.

Hilton Armstrong blocked seven shots and hit a pair of free throws late in overtime to put UConn ahead. Rudy Gay came down with a key defensive rebound as time expired, helping the Huskies (24-2, 11-2) hang on after blowing the big lead.

Williams finished with 18 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for the sixth triple-double in school history and first since Emeka Okafor in December 2003 against Army. His 10th rebound was the most important. With time running out in regulation, Williams scooped up a miss from Gay along the baseline and banked in a runner to tie it at 71 and send the game into overtime.

“I saw it was kind of long, so I tried to just drift to the other side,'’ Williams said. “I’ve never had 10 rebounds. Ever. I never had 10 rebounds shooting by myself.'’

Williams was flawless in the first half with 15 points, nine assists, six boards and no turnovers to help the Huskies to a 48-32 lead at the break. They got there easily, shooting nearly 46 percent from the floor. The Fighting Irish, as it turned out, were just getting started.

Chris Quinn started the rally with a bank shot with 15 minutes left in regulation and Colin Falls scored 12 points in the 25-2 spurt. His baseline layup gave the Irish their first lead at 61-60 with 10:35 to play.

UConn relied on its size inside to come back. Josh Boone scored on a pair of putbacks and grabbed a couple of boards on the defensive end. The Huskies bought time with Williams’ bank shot at the end of regulation.

Neither team scored until Gay hit a jumper with 1:41 left in the extra period. Rob Kurz countered with a 3-pointer and the Irish regained the lead 74-73. Armstrong was fouled on UConn’s next possession and hit both free throws to close out the scoring.

Chris Quinn, who finished with 13 points for Notre Dame, gave the Irish one final chance. He threw up a floater in traffic and Gay came down with the rebound.

“Connecticut made some big plays when they had to,'’ Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “I’ll go to bed with that Chris Quinn runner for the rest of my life and play the law of averages. We did not get it.'’

Boone had 12 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks for UConn. Gay added 17 points and three blocked shots.

It was UConn’s first overtime game this season and the fourth for the Irish, who have lost them all. Notre Dame also lost by three at Pittsburgh, two at Marquette, two against Villanova and one at West Virginia.

Falls, who shot 5-of-14 from 3-point range, finished with 23 points for Notre Dame. Rick Cornett scored 12 before fouling out in the closing minutes.

The Huskies outrebounded the Irish 56-46. Notre Dame, the best 3-point shooting team in the conference, finished 10-of-28 from beyond the arc.

UConn concluded its regular season at the Civic Center 10-0 and snapped Notre Dame’s three-game winning streak.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win a basketball game against a very good team,'’ Brey said. “For our group, there is no more resilient basketball team than my guys.'’

Steve Novak had already showed the Big East his scoring ability. Now he’s teaching his young teammates how to win close games.

Novak scored 19 points and set Marquette’s season record for 3-pointers, leading the Golden Eagles to a 57-51 victory over No. 17 Georgetown on Thursday night.

“We said if we’re going to win like we want to, we’re going to have to close out games like we did,'’ Novak said. “We were reminding each other about that.'’

Dominic James scored 16 points and Jerel McNeal added 10 for Marquette (17-8, 7-5 Big East), while the 6-foot-11 Novak put on another shooting show at home - going 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.

“He makes more contested shots than anyone I’ve seen in a long time,'’ Hoyas coach John Thompson III said. “It’s a gift that he’s worked on, clearly.'’

The Golden Eagles beat a ranked conference opponent for the second time after a 94-79 victory over then-No. 2 Connecticut in their inaugural Big East game on Jan. 3. Marquette led No. 4 Villanova for most of the game earlier this month before faltering down the stretch and had a similar collapse in a loss at No. 11 West Virginia.

“Our players are building mental toughness. It’s really hard with a young team,'’ Marquette coach Tom Crean said. “It’s very hard to close teams out in a close game. The more that you get experience at it and the more you learn from the experience is when you don’t do it is where it can really help you.'’

Roy Hibbert, who had 17 points, made a layup with 6:03 to go to cap a 7-0 run that brought Georgetown (17-6, 8-4) within 44-42. Ashanti Cook’s 3-pointer gave the Hoyas their first lead in the second half, 49-48.

“They went up by one point, but we still felt very confident we were going to win the ball game,'’ James said.

James, a freshman, found Joe Chapman for a 3-pointer to give Marquette a 51-49 lead with 2:30 remaining and Marquette shut down the Hoyas the rest of the way.

“Joe’s been stepping up all year, taking big shots and making big shots,'’ said Novak, a senior as is Chapman. “There is no question everybody on the team believes in him.'’

Neither team scored again until James hit a runner with 48 seconds left that made it 53-49.

Darrel Owens of the Hoyas fired an off-balance 3-pointer that missed badly and Marquette sealed the game with 20 seconds left when Novak, a career 93 percent free throw shooter, made two.

“We have to make it a defensive game every time we turn around, that’s the Big East,'’ Crean said. “You’ve got to take advantage of your possessions.'’

Novak, who already owns the career mark for 3s at Marquette, broke Travis Diener’s season record with his 91st of the year and fourth of the game to give the Golden Eagles a seven-point lead early in the second half.

Brandon Bowman and Jeff Green, leading the Hoyas in scoring by averaging 12 points each, combined for nine points on 4-of-14 shooting and 11 turnovers - eight by Green.

“This is probably the worst game I’ve ever seen Jeff Green play,'’ Thompson said. “He was just in a funk offensively and it happened against a very good team.'’

It left the 7-2 Hibbert to shoulder the load, but Marquette’s defense forced him away from the basket and he was only able to set picks for his teammates until late in the game.

Georgetown went more than 6 minutes without a field goal in the second half while missing eight consecutive shots. That was a far cry from the first half, when Georgetown had no problem establishing its inside game early with Hibbert and hit its first seven field goals.

But the Hoyas began settling for jumpers, and quickly lost their composure - finishing 3-of-17 from the field after the hot start, including 1-of-9 from 3-point range.

Marquette took advantage by going on a 14-1 run capped by a dunk by James to take a 29-22 lead just before halftime.

The Seton Hall players had trouble remembering what happened last Saturday against top-ranked Connecticut after their 71-64 victory over No. 11 West Virginia on Tuesday night.

“That’s the type of team we are,'’ Pirates center Grant Billmeier said. “We weren’t going to sit around and feel bad. We had a chance against another Top 25 team and we took advantage of it.'’

Kelly Whitney had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Brian Laing added a career-high 19 points for the Pirates (16-7, 7-4 Big East), who had won six straight before the 99-57 loss to Connecticut last weekend.

“We weren’t going to let one game make us forget we had won six a row,'’ Laing said. “This was another big game and now this one is even bigger.'’

Kevin Pittsnogle had 24 points for the Mountaineers (18-6, 9-2), who had won four of five and host Connecticut on Saturday.

“We’re all trying to get as many wins as possible and they took a major step with the win tonight,'’ West Virginia coach John Beilein said. “I thought they played tremendous defense on us. We couldn’t make shots the way we normally do.'’

Seton Hall entered the game last in the Big East in shooting percentage (41.7), but the Pirates shredded the Mountaineers inside, scoring 44 points in the paint. Seton Hall shot 49.1 percent (27-for-55) for the game, a number even more impressive since the Pirates went 2-for-15 from 3-point range in beating West Virginia for the fourth straight time at Continental Airlines Arena.

The Pirates’ starting frontline was 18-for-25 from the field with Whitney going 6-for-10, Laing 8-for-11 and Billmeier 4-for-4.

West Virginia entered the game 15th in the 16-team Big East in field goal percentage defense (43.9) and Seton Hall certainly took advantage.

“Going inside was something we focused on the last two days in practice,'’ Whitney said. “I felt like I let the team down against Connecticut and my teammates got me the ball inside as much as possible tonight and this bounce back was huge.'’

The Pirates opened the second half with an 11-3 run to go up 48-34 on a free throw by Whitney with 14:22 to play.

The Mountaineers were down 50-38 when they finally started hitting 3-pointers. Pittsnogle had two 3s and Darris Nichols had one in an 11-4 run that brought them within 54-49 with 9:20 to play.

Laing, whose previous best was 15 points this season against Marist, then started a 7-2 run with an alley-oop dunk and capped it with a 3 with 3 seconds left on the shot clock, making it 61-51 with 6:02 to go.

“I was just being aggressive and got open shots so I stepped up and made them,'’ Laing said. “We’re really doing well and we got another big win against a ranked team.'’

West Virginia cut the lead to six points four times but the Pirates answered each time. Pittsnogle’s 3 with 7.7 seconds left made it 69-64 and Whitney made two free throws with 1.5 seconds left.

The Mountaineers finished 8-for-32 from 3-point range and shot 37.7 percent overall (23-for-61). They are second in the NCAA, averaging 10 3s per game.

“We know that they’re going to play good defense. We call it the New Jersey defense, the strong, tough defense,'’ Beilein said. “We knew that they were going to play that way.'’

It was the fifth time this season, and the second in the last 19 games, that Laing reached double figures and the third time this season Billmeier had 10 or more. Seton Hall is 3-3 this season against ranked teams, having beaten Syracuse and North Carolina State on the road.

“In order for us to be consistently good, we have to defend and rebound. Then we can take the game to another level,'’ Seton Hall coach Louis Orr said. “UConn was just one loss. We don’t give up 99 points in a game. That isn’t what we do. There’s a song that says ‘I fall down, I get back up.’ Well, we might have fallen down, but we got back up. This team doesn’t quit. I’ve never coached any team like this.'’

This was West Virginia’s third straight game on the road. The Mountaineers lost at Pittsburgh and beat Georgetown in their previous two games.

“Maybe we got a little fatigued there,'’ Beilein said. “We keep playing and playing and maybe that caught up with us a little. I created the problems a little. I knew that we were not going back to Morgantown for one day. That wore on us, because we’re not a deep team. We need rest.'’

And there won’t be much of that before Connecticut arrives in Morgantown.

“I don’t know how you get ready for Connecticut,'’ Beilein said.

Villanova went inside in the first half and stayed outside in the second. Add some solid defense and an offensive boost from an unlikely source, and the Wildcats came up with a way to beat No. 1 Connecticut.

Allan Ray keyed the Wildcats’ 7-for-9 effort from 3-point range in the second half and fourth-ranked Villanova beat the Huskies 69-64 Monday night, its first victory over a top-ranked team in nearly 11 years.

“It was a big test for us. UConn was a great team,'’ said Ray, who had 19 of his 25 points in the second half. “A lot of teams didn’t think we were going to win. It was just a great test for us to go out and see where we were at.'’

Ray had five 3-pointers in a 22-4 run that gave Villanova (20-2, 10-1 Big East) the lead for good in its ninth straight victory. The Wildcats, who forced the Huskies into 17 turnovers, also got a lift from their center in an offense that relies on four guards.

The four guards account for 79 percent of the team’s points, but center Will Sheridan, who averages 4.5 points per game, matched his career high with 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help the Wildcats stand up to Connecticut’s size advantage.

“We need to get our forwards involved. We’ve been working on it,'’ Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “Will has been defending, making plays, but not scoring as much. Tonight he took it to another level in a big game against an outstanding team, which I think tells you a lot about Will Sheridan.'’

Sheridan, not known for his outside shot, hit two big jumpers from the corner in the second half.

“They made 3s, Sheridan hit some tough baselines. I don’t know what adjustments you’d like us to make for Allan Ray’s 28-footers,'’ Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said.

Rudy Gay had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Huskies (22-2, 9-2), who had an 11-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 7-1 against ranked teams this season.

Connecticut had a chance to tie in the final seconds but Marcus Williams lost the ball for the Huskies’ final turnover and Ray made two free throws with 2.2 seconds left to make it 69-64.

“There was supposed to be a pick but Rashad Anderson said Ray pushed him and we bumped and lost the ball,'’ Williams said.

It seemed most of the 20,859 at the Wachovia Center, the largest crowd to watch a college basketball game in Pennsylvania history, stormed the court to celebrate the Wildcats’ first win over a No. 1 team since Feb. 18, 1995, when they beat Connecticut.

“I think we beat them on a good night. They’re great. They deserve to be No. 1,'’ Wright said. “They answered everything we did, we answered what they did and that’s what made a great game between two outstanding teams.'’

UConn opened the second half with a 13-0 run to go ahead 45-33. That’s when Ray, a 36 percent from 3-point range entering the game, started his long-range barrage. The first 12 points of the big run were on his 3-pointers and Mike Nardi, who had missed the last two games with tonsillitis, scored his only points of the game on another 3.

The Wildcats were 2-for-10 in the first half on 3s, but they made five of their first six in the second half.

Kyle Lowry, who had 16 of his 18 points in the first half on a series of inside baskets against Connecticut’s big frontline, which leads the nation in blocked shots, then scored on an offensive rebound and Villanova was ahead 50-47 with 11:35 to play.

After Williams scored on a drive, Ray hit the last of his 3s and Sheridan connected on a jumper from the corner and it was 55-49 with 9:20 to go.

Sheridan knows he isn’t much of an outside threat.

“Everybody doubles our guards, why wouldn’t you?'’ he asked. “They were kind of backing off a little bit. I just felt like I had good looks tonight. The guards were seeing me.'’

Connecticut, which missed four straight free throws over the final 5 minutes, got within 67-64 on a drive and short jumper by Williams around two missed drives by the Wildcats, who were trying to use up as much of the shot clock as possible. “There’s no one in the country that has guard play like them and they’re a very difficult team to stop,'’ Calhoun said. “Lowry was driving by anybody and everybody we had.

“They did a good job of putting so much ball pressure on us through traps and otherwise.'’

Randy Foye finished with 10 points for Villanova, which is 5-14 all-time against No. 1 teams. The Wildcats, who had 13 steals, had lost seven of their last eight against the Huskies.

Williams and Anderson each had 12 points for Connecticut, which had 11 turnovers in the first half, three off their season average for a game.

“They denied our passes and played the passing lanes well,'’ Williams said. “They are a gritty team but we had a 10-point lead in the second half and missed free throws. That’s got something to do with focus.'’

The Huskies, who had been 14-1 on the road as a No. 1 team, blocked eight shots, one off their average.

The teams meet in Storrs, Conn., on Feb. 26.

“I was already marking down that game,'’ Gay said. “Now, definitely.'’