Villanova keeps its NCAA bubble chances alive as Eric Dixon scores 32 points in a narrow win at Seton Hall

With the regular season dwindling down, one thing holds true: A win is a win. But that doesn’t mean Villanova’s 59-54 victory over Seton Hall was pretty.

If anything, the only pretty thing about it was Eric Dixon’s performance.

Dixon put up a game-high 32 points — his third 30-point effort of the season — and also grabbed 10 boards Wednesday to help the Wildcats avoid what would have been a crippling defeat for their NCAA Tournament chances. Twenty-five of Dixon’s points came in the second half, including a stretch of 6 minutes, 25 seconds in which he was the only player on the court to score, tallying 12 points in a row.

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Villanova (17-12, 10-8 Big East) ended the first 20 minutes of play on a nine-minute field-goal drought and trailed the Pirates, 33-21. The Wildcats shot just 32% from the field while turning the ball over seven times in the first half.

But Villanova turned the tide in the second half and it was the Pirates (7-21, 2-15) who couldn’t find the basket — let alone the rim. Seton Hall went scoreless for more than nine minutes, and Villanova capitalized with a 17-0 scoring run.

Senior guard Wooga Poplar joined Dixon with a double-double, tallying 12 points and leading Villanova with 12 rebounds. He also went 5-for-5 at the charity stripe, with four of those free throws coming in the final 46 seconds to seal Villanova’s win.

Meanwhile, Seton Hall’s Dylan Addae-Wusu racked up a team-high 18 points and added seven rebounds and six assists, but he was held to just two points in the second half. Sophomore guard Isaiah Coleman contributed 12 points, while junior forward Prince Aligbe had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Pirates.

Despite Villanova’s win, the Wildcats still find themselves on the outside of the tournament bubble looking in. And that may be where Villanova stays.

Right now, all the win over Seton Hall does is keep Villanova’s hopes alive for a bye in the first round of the Big East Tournament. Villanova is sixth in the conference, a half-game behind Xavier (18-10, 10-7).

With the first four teams in the Big East locked in, it’s down to the Wildcats and Musketeers for the final first-round bye in the conference tournament.

After Wednesday’s victory and Friday’s Quadrant 1 win over No. 16 Marquette (21-7, 12-5), the Wildcats are listed at No. 77 by ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, the first team in his “next” category and the ninth team out of the field.

Villanova sits on the very edge of the March Madness bubble, and the only way it is guaranteed a ticket to the Big Dance would be to win the Big East Tournament. Earning a first-round bye, resulting in three possible games as opposed to four, would be a helpful first step. Two or three wins at Madison Square Garden and a trip to the Big East title game might be enough, but that scenario would leave Villanova with an anxious wait on Selection Sunday.

But before all that, the Wildcats have two regular-season games remaining. Villanova will host Butler (13-15, 6-11) on Saturday at the Finneran Pavilion before traveling to Georgetown (16-12, 7-10) on Tuesday.

If Villanova fails to make it to the Big Dance for the third season in a row, the Wildcats likely will receive an invitation to Fox Sports’ inaugural College Basketball Crown. The CBC will compete with the National Invitation Tournament, in which the Wildcats have been eliminated in the first round in the last two seasons.

The CBC will take place from March 31-April 6 in Las Vegas, while the NIT will take place from March 18-April 3, with the semifinals and championship being played at Butler’s famed Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

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