The third-ranked Villanova Wildcats had already clinched their third straight Big East regular season title prior to taking on Georgetown on Saturday, but they had to wait until after their 84-71 win over the Hoyas before the celebrating could begin.
After getting off to a hot start, and building a 27-6 lead over the visiting team, 'Nova took a 19-point lead into halftime and after the first five minutes of the second half had increased the lead to 24 points.
Georgetown was able to cut it to 11 with just under nine minutes to go, but that was as close as they would get.
In the end, it was a balanced attack from the Wildcats -- and some poor outside shooting by the Hoyas (4-for-26) -- that got the job done, with four of the five starters scoring in double figures. They also had 23 assists on their 27 field goals and shot 49.1 percent while turning the ball over just nine times.
Josh Hart led the way with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Kris Jenkins added 17 points and eight rebounds. Ryan Arcidiacono, playing in his final regular season game, finished with 16 points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Fellow senior Daniel Ochefu also scored in double figures (10 points, six rebounds) and freshman Jalen Brunson added nine points.
And for most of the 21,000-plus on hand, it was celebration time.
Jay Wright's Wildcats (27-4, 16-2) won't be able savor this win for very long, as they'll be back in action at Madison Square Garden on Thursday at noon trying to defend last season's Big East Tournament title. And while their opponent for that quarterfinal matchup is yet to be determined, they won't have to go back very far for a film study.
Villanova will take on the winner of Wednesday's play-in game between No. 8 Georgetown and No. 9 DePaul, who they dispatched 83-62 on Tuesday.
In their four games this season against their two potential opponents, 'Nova is 4-0 with an average margin of victory of 16.5 points.
• 3/5 vs. Georgetown: W, 84-71
• 3/1 vs. DePaul: W, 83-62
• 2/9 at DePaul: W, 86-59
• 1/16 at Georgetown: W, 55-50
Clearly, Wildcats fans should be rooting for a DePaul (9-21) upset on Wednesday, but that's not likely given the fact that they are just 3-14 in conference play and lost twice to the Hoyas (14-17), both by double digits. Not to mention the fact that Georgetown gave Villanova a run for its money the first time they met this season.
If they're able to take care of business on Thursday, the Wildcats will play again on Friday (6:30 p.m.) against the winner of the 4-5 game, although those seeds will not be finalized until play ends on Saturday.
At some point, you have to figure they're going to collide with Xavier, the fifth-ranked team in the country. And that will likely be Villanova's toughest remaining test prior to the NCAA Tournament.
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