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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - A rally for the memory bank helped lift No. 7 Villanova to an 82-77 overtime victory over Syracuse (6-4 overall, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) at the Wells Fargo Center Saturday. The Wildcats trailed through more than 39 minutes of regulation action before tying the contest with 4.2 seconds on a layup by senior JayVaughn Pinkston.

Villanova trailed 69-64 with 17 seconds left before getting a Josh Hart 3-pointer and a Pinkston steal to force extra time.

Pinkston ended the day with 25 points and 10 rebounds while fellow senior Darrun Hilliard added 23 points and five caroms. Hart finished with a career high 21 points.

Michael Gbinije and Rakeem Christmas each scored 18 points before fouling out for the Orange.

"It was really unusual going into this game," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "A lot of people were saying that (we) should handle them. I told people: the Syracuse and Villanova (game) has never been anything but what we just saw. They're a good team. Their losses were to good teams. They played really well.

"I think we have upperclassmen, mainly JayVaughn Pinkston and Darrun Hilliard, who carry our team. That was probably the difference today."

Syracuse found its offensive groove in the day's opening minutes, scoring four quick points and it set the stage for a powerful display of firepower. The Orange would sink 17-of-27 field goal attempts in the first half led by Michael Gbinije, Rakeem Christmas and Trevor Cooney, who were a combined 14-of-17 from the floor in the period.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats were struggling to get into a flow at the offensive end. VU connected on just five of its first 22 attempts as it looked to solve the Orange's 2-3 zone. VU was just 12-of-34 in the first period (.353) and trailed 43-31 at halftime.

The 43 points scored by Syracuse were the most the Wildcats have given up in a first half this season. The previous high had been the 30 scored by Lehigh and VCU.

A pair of 3-pointers from Hilliard early in the second half helped Villanova close to within 47-43 with 15:45 to play. The 18,369 in attendance in South Philadelphia raised the noise level but the Wildcats could never quite catch the Orange. Each time VU shaved the lead to three, Syracuse scored, or so it seemed.

The Orange seemed poised to grab the victory after Cooney sank the two free throws with 17 seconds left to push the margin to 69-64. But Hart made the triple with 11 seconds to go and then Pinkston went to work to force overtime.

"We practice those (late-game) situations," stated Wright. "Our guys did exactly what they were supposed to do."

In overtime, the Wildcats got to the free throw line and made each one count, ultimately grabbing the 82-77 triumph. The game was eerily similar to the last time Syracuse was at the Center in 2012-13, when an Arcidiacono triple in the final possession of regulation forced overtime where the Wildcats gained a 75-71 win.

"It's not a matter of coming out perfect every night," noted Wright. "It's a matter of, when you don't come our perfectly, how do you react? That's what we talked about at halftime. It's JayVaughn Pinkston and Darrun Hilliard getting the guys together. Whatever I say, they basically say, `he's right'. It's really enjoyable. It sounds simple but it's not.

"You've got to have leaders like that. Even if we lost that game, the fact that we got back into and got it into overtime was something that we were really going to be able to build on and learn from."

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