Kadary Richmond scored 20 points, Jaden Bediako tied up a double-double with two crucial free throws and Seton Hall held off Villanova 66-56 in a critical Big East contest on Wednesday night in Newark, N.J.
Richmond added six rebounds and five assists while Dre Davis tallied 18 points, seven rebounds and four blocks for Seton Hall (19-11, 12-7 Big East), which won a matchup of two teams believed to be on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Bediako paired 11 points with a game-high 12 rebounds. The center sank two free throws with 1:39 left to give Seton Hall a 58-51 cushion, then rebounded a Villanova miss to help Richmond get to the line for two more points.
The Wildcats never got closer than six the rest of the way, allowing Seton Hall to snap an eight-game losing streak to its rival.
Eric Dixon led Villanova (17-13, 10-9) with 14 points and six rebounds. TJ Bamba scored 11 points.
Seton Hall outrebounded Villanova 39-29 and blocked seven shots.
Justin Moore, Dixon and Hakim Hart all knocked down 3-pointers to establish a 13-6 Villanova lead early. The Wildcats shot 50 percent for the first 10 minutes of the game before hitting a scoreless rut for 4:43.
Seton Hall drew within one point on four occasions before finally jumping ahead. Al-Amir Dawes' first points of the game, a straightaway 3-pointer with 2:59 left in the first half, grabbed the Pirates their first lead at 23-22.
Dawes added another trey as Seton Hall made it a 12-1 run before taking a 30-24 lead into halftime.
The Pirates moved the ball with purpose coming out of the break, creating three corner 3-pointers that went down, two by Dylan Addae-Wusu and one from Davis to grow the lead to 12.
Villanova soon halved that lead before hitting another scoring drought, this time a span of 5:53. Richmond made a triple to give Seton Hall its largest lead at 50-37 with 9:10 left.
Jordan Longino ended that drought with a 3-pointer, and Brendan Hausen converted a four-point play soon after for a quick Villanova surge. That started an 11-2 Wildcats stretch that brought the deficit to 52-48 with 5:03 left.
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