NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. — Jermaine Samuels had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Brandon Slater had 15 points and a highlight-reel block to help No. 8 Villanova reach the Big East Tournament championship game with a 63-60 win over No. 20 Connecticut on Friday night.
The second-seeded Wildcats (25-7) play Creighton in Saturday night’s championship game at Madison Square Garden. The fourth-seeded Bluejays crushed Providence 85-58 in the first semifinal.
The Wildcats are at home in March at MSG under coach Jay Wright — they won the tournament in 2015 and 2017-2019.
The Huskies (23-9) went 4:44 without a basket late in the second half until Adama Sanogo scored with 54.5 seconds left to pull them to 60-57. The scoring drought crushed third-seeded UConn.
Samuels made two free throws and that seemed like it would be enough for Villanova. But UConn’s Andre Jackson though fired a moonshot and the ball landed for 3 to make it 62-60. The Wildcats held on from the line.
Tyrese Martin led the Huskies with 19 points. Sanogo scored 15.
One of Villanova's game-saving plays came with 5 minutes left: The Huskies snagged a loose ball and Martin appeared to have an open, easy bucket when Slater bounded out of nowhere and used his outstretched left hand to knock the ball off the glass. The crowd erupted and the Wildcats kept their seven-point lead.
Villanova's first five baskets of the game were 3s and the team made eight overall in the half. Samuels, though, went inside to send Villanova into the half with a 33-32 lead by drawing an and-1 on an off-balance shot that kissed the backboard. He also made the free throw -- expected from a Villanova team shooting 83% on the season.
The Wildcats' two leading scorers, Collin Gillespie and Justin Moore, were held to a combined 11 points.
UP NEXT
Villanova: Plays Creighton in the title game, a team they split two games with early in the regular season, with the home team winning each time.
UConn: Awaits NCAA Tournament seeding.
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