Caleb Daniels scored 16 points, Brandon Slater added 15 and had a key steal in the final 30 seconds to lift host Villanova past Georgetown 77-73 on Monday.
Mark Armstrong contributed 14 points, Cam Whitmore had 13 and Eric Dixon 12 for the Wildcats (9-10, 3-5 Big East), who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Whitmore's dunk with 12 seconds remaining came after Slater's steal.
Villanova continued to play without Justin Moore (Achilles) and Jordan Longino (left leg).
Primo Spears led Georgetown with 19 points, Jordan Riley added 18 and Brandon Murray had 10.
Murray's potential game-tying 3-pointer clanged off the rim with 2.4 seconds remaining.
The Hoyas (5-14, 0-8) lost their ninth in a row as well as a record 28th straight in conference play.
Dixon dropped in 1-of-2 free throws with 10:20 left in the first half and Villanova went ahead 20-13.
Bryson Mozone responded with consecutive 3-pointers as Georgetown cut the deficit to one.
Whitmore and Daniels each responded with a trey. Whitmore then followed with steal at midcourt and a thunderous one-handed dunk for a 28-19 lead.
Georgetown struggled through a 3:32 stretch without scoring and Daniels soon hit two free throws for a 30-19 Wildcats lead.
The Hoyas went on a quick 8-0 run to close within three when Akok Akok completed an alley-oop dunk with 3:51 left.
The Wildcats held a 37-33 lead at halftime.
Riley knocked down a jumper with 17:44 to go in the second half and the Hoyas battled back to tie the game at 42.
Akok hit a jumper from the wing to extend the Georgetown run to 9-0 and a two-point advantage. The Hoyas pulled ahead 50-44 when Mozone hit a trey with 13:05 left.
Villanova rallied to equalize at 63 when Armstrong drove into the lane and made a tough shot with 6:17 remining. Armstrong's layup with 4:19 left capped a 12-1 run and gave the Wildcats a 68-63 advantage.
Georgetown came back with a 6-0 spurt to go back ahead by one.
Dixon's three-point play gave Villanova a 74-71 lead with 1:01 to go.
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