Seton Hall had a chance Wednesday night to secure its first outright Big East regular-season title since 1993. All the Pirates had to do was beat Villanova inside the Prudential Center.
And they were 3.5-point favorites.
So the odds were in their favor.
But, once the game started, the odds didn't seem to matter much. Because Jay Wright's Wildcats took 32 3-pointers, made 13 of them and upset Seton Hall on the road, 79-77, to add a massive Quadrant 1 win to their resume. So now Seton Hall must win at Creighton on Saturday to get the outright Big East title.
The odds won't be in the Pirates' favor in Omaha.
"This one was rough," said Seton Hall senior Myles Powell, who missed 13 of the 18 shots he attempted in the final home game of his college career. "My last time here. I didn't go out the way we wanted to."
With the win, Villanova improved to 8-6 in Quadrant 1 opportunities and 15-7 in Q1/Q2 opportunities with just one loss outside of the first quadrant. I jumped the Wildcats to No. 9 in Thursday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings -- which pushed Louisville, Maryland and Kentucky down one spot each, no fault of their own. Villanova closes the regular season Saturday at Georgetown. If the Wildcats win, and Creighton beats Seton Hall, Villanova, Creighton and Seton Hall will finish in a three-way tie atop the Big East standings.
Thursday's Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
4
Villanova
8
Auburn
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Udoka Azubuike finished with 31 points and 14 rebounds in Wednesday's 75-66 victory over TCU. The Jayhawks will take a 15-game winning streak into Saturday's game at Texas Tech. | -- | 28-8 |
| 2 |  | Filip Petrusev finished with 27 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 86-76 victory over Saint Mary's. The Zags are 9-2 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first quadrant. | -- | 31-6 |
| 3 |  | Devonte Bandoo made four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points and four assists in Monday's 71-68 victory over Texas Tech. The Bears are 11-1 in Quadrant 1 opportunities. | -- | 23-11 |
| 4 |  | Obi Toppin finished with 20 points on 11 shots in Wednesday's 84-57 victory at Rhode Island. Both of the Flyers' losses have come in overtime to schools ranked in the top 30 at KenPom -- namely Kansas and Colorado. | -- | 22-12 |
| 5 |  | Malachi Flynn finished with 36 points, five rebounds and five assists in Saturday's 83-76 victory at Nevada. The Aztecs are the first Mountain West Conference team to win at Nevada in more than two years. | -- | 32-7 |
| 6 |  | M.J. Walker made four 3-pointers and finished with 21 points in Wednesday's 73-71 victory at Notre Dame. Florida State is 14-5 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with just two losses outside of the first quadrant. | 1 | 9-23 |
| 7 |  | Myles Powell missed 13 of the 18 shots he attempted in Wednesday's 79-77 loss to Villanova. Seton Hall can still secure an outright Big East title with a win at Creighton on Saturday. | 1 | 17-16 |
| 8 |  | Marcus Zegarowski finished with 20 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday's 91-76 victory over Georgetown. The Bluejays are 6-1 in their past seven games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at St. John's. | -- | 24-13 |
| 9 |  | Justin Moore made five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points in Wednesday's 79-77 victory at Seton Hall. The Wildcats are 6-1 in their past seven games with the lone loss in that stretch coming to Providence. | 4 | 17-17 |
| 10 |  | Jordan Nwora finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds in Sunday's 68-52 victory over Virginia Tech. The Cardinals are tied in the loss column with Florida State atop the ACC standings. | 1 | 4-28 |
| 11 |  | The Terrapins missed 26 of the 32 3-pointers they attempted in Tuesday's 78-67 loss at Rutgers. Maryland is tied for first in the Big Ten with a 13-6 league record. | 1 | 22-13 |
| 12 |  | The Wildcats allowed Tennessee to shoot 52.8% from the field in Tuesday's 81-73 loss at home to the Vols. The defeat snapped UK's eight-game winning streak. | 1 | 22-12 |
| 13 |  | Payton Pritchard made five 3-pointers and finished with 23 points in Thursday's 69-54 victory over Oregon State. The Ducks' resume features seven Quadrant 1 victories and just two losses outside of the first quadrant. | 1 | 21-15 |
| 14 |  | Xavier Tillman finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds in Tuesday's 79-71 victory at Penn State. The Spartans are tied with Maryland atop the Big Ten standings with one regular-season game remaining. | 1 | 21-13 |
| 15 |  | Cassius Stanley finished with 18 points and six rebounds in Monday's 88-69 victory over NC State. Duke is 2-3 in its past five games with multiple losses to currently unranked opponents. | 1 | 27-9 |
| 16 |  | Yoeli Childs finished with 38 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday's 81-64 victory at Pepperdine. The Cougars are 16-2 with Childs in the lineup. | 1 | 19-15 |
| 17 |  | Sean McDermott finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds in Wednesday's 77-55 victory over St. John's. The Bulldogs are 14-9 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first two quadrants. | 1 | 14-18 |
| 18 |  | Duane Washington made five 3-pointers and finished with 20 points in Sunday's 77-63 victory over Michigan. The Buckeyes are 5-1 in their past six games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Iowa. | 1 | 16-19 |
| 19 |  | The Nittany Lions blew a 15-point halftime lead in Tuesday's 79-71 loss to Michigan State. Lamar Stevens missed 16 of the 19 shots he attempted in the game. | 1 | 23-14 |
| 20 |  | The Tigers allowed Texas A&M to shoot 47.5% from the field in Wednesday's 78-75 loss at home to the Aggies. Auburn will take a two-game losing streak into Saturday's game at Tennessee. | 8 | 21-13 |
| 21 |  | Marcus Sasser made five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points in Sunday's 68-55 victory over Cincinnati. The Cougars are 9-7 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first two quadrants. | -- | 33-4 |
| 22 |  | The Wolverines missed 19 of the 26 3-pointers they attempted in Sunday's 77-63 loss at Ohio State. Michigan has only lost once outside of the first quadrant. | -- | 18-16 |
| 23 |  | The Hawkeyes missed 22 of the 30 3-pointers they attempted in Tuesday's 77-68 loss to Purdue. Iowa is 5-5 in its past 10 games with three losses in that stretch coming to unranked opponents. | -- | 19-14 |
| 24 |  | Nate Reuvers finished with 11 points and four rebounds in Wednesday's 63-48 victory over Northwestern. The Badgers will take a seven-game winning streak into Saturday's game at Indiana. | -- | 20-15 |
| 25 |  | Andres Feliz finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals in Sunday's 67-66 victory over Indiana. Illinois will take a four-game winning streak into Thursday's game at Ohio State. | -- | 20-13 |
| 26 |  | Mamadi Diakite finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 46-44 victory at Miami. The Cavaliers will take a seven-game winning streak into Saturday's game with Louisville. | -- | 25-8 |
