The Villanova Wildcats solidified their bubble bid for an NCAA tournament berth with a home win over the No. 5-ranked Georgetown Hoyas. The victory is one of the biggest wins of Villanova's season, while the Georgetown loss figures to knock them out of a No. 1 seed for the time being.
Villanova, who improved to 19-12 and 10-8 in the Big East, got a big game out of JayVaughn Pinkston, who scored 20 points, grabbed four rebounds, notched five steals, and went 11-of-14 from the free throw line. Mouphtaou Yarou played big for the Wildcats as well, snaring a game-high 12 rebounds.
Villanova is fighting tooth and nail for a spot in the Tournament, and the impact of this win was not lost on head coach Jay Wright. "I would think given where everything is right now, we would be,'' Wright said. ''We also know we're close enough that things could happen, too.''
Despite some ugly losses on their ledger, the Wildcats own three victories over teams in the top five. In back-to-back games in late January, Villanova knocked off then-No. 5 Louisville Cardinals and then-No. 3 Syracuse Orange. Entering the matchup with Georgetown, however, they were coming off back-to-back losses including a one-point loss to Seton Hall, which is 3-14 in the Big East.
Georgetown entered the game winners of 11 straight contests, with road wins at then No. 20 Notre Dame and then-No. 8 Syracuse. Their streak had them looking like a one-seed, and their star Otto Porter Jr. was making a strong push for Player of the Year. Porter Jr. struggled from the 3-point line in Wednesday's loss though, hitting just 2-of-9 long-range shots. He finished the night with 17 points, five assists, four rebounds, a steal and a block. It was a good effort, but not enough to tame the hungry Wildcats.
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