By Harry Allison
Villanova closes out its regular season tonight at the Finn against No. 14-in-the-nation Connecticut.
A win would be swell, and a nice way to end an Kyle Neptune’s first season.
But the Cats eyes are on a bigger prize:
The Big East tournament.
Villanova (16-14, 10-9 in the Big East) has won six of seven, but its wins over Xavier and Creighton are its only two Quadrant 1 victories of the season against eight losses.
A run to the Big East tournament final probably will be needed in order to slide into the NCAA tournament, and even that might not be enough. Seton Hall’s résumé is similarly lackluster, though it has one more Quadrant 1 win than Villanova with one game remaining against Providence on Saturday.
First round (Wednesday)
Game 1: No. 8 vs. No. 9, 3 p.m. (FS1)
Game 2: No. 7 Seton Hall vs. No. 10 DePaul, 5:30 p.m. (FS1)
Game 3: No. 6 Villanova vs. No. 11 Georgetown, 8 p.m. (FS1)
Quarterfinals (Thursday)
Game 4: No. 1 Marquette vs. Game 1 winner, Noon (FS1)
Game 5: No. 4 vs. No. 5, 2:30 p.m. (FS1)
Game 6: No. 2 Xavier vs. Game 2 winner, 7 p.m. (FS1)
Game 7: No. 3 vs. Game 3 winner, 9:30 p.m. (FS1)
Semifinals (Friday)
Game 8: Game 4/5 winners, 6:30 p.m. (FS1)
Game 9: Game 6/7 winners, 9 p.m. (FS1)
Final (Saturday)
Game 10: semifinal winners, 6:30 p.m. (Fox)
