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NEW YORK, N.Y. - As he has so often before, junior guard and BIG EAST Co-Player of the Year Ryan Arcidiacono delivered in a late game moment when his team needed him most. Arcidiacono drew a foul from Providence's Ben Bentil on a drive to the basket and then sank two free throws with 3.1 seconds to give Villanova a 63-61 victory over the Friars at Madison Square Garden Friday night.

With the win, Villanova advances to the BIG EAST Tournament final for the first time since 1997. It also established a new single season school record for wins (31-2), besting the previous high of 30 set in 2008-09.

The Wildcats had seemed to gain control of the game when they used a 10-1 run to craft a 47-34 lead with 13:40 left. But then came a Providence charge led by the BIG EAST's other Co-Player of the Year, Kris Dunn, that brought the Friars all the way back to tie the contest at 61 with 12.3 seconds left after forcing a backcourt turnover.

That set up the final sequence and Arcidiacono made perhaps the biggest play of the night.

"That was just a great college basketball game," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "It's just a thrill to be in it, here at the Garden, semifinals, Big East, Friday night. It's what you dream of, man. It was an awesome game.

"I give Providence a lot of credit. Their zone was awesome. We just really struggled with it. We've been good against zones, but we really struggled."

For the second time in as many days, sophomore Josh Hart led the Wildcats in scoring, this time contributing 18 points in a contest where Villanova struggled to find an offensive flow. The sophomore (Silver Spring, Md.) connected on 7-of-10 field goal attempts and added two assists and two steals in 29 minutes of activity.

"There is something special about (Josh)," stated Wright. "He's good enough to be a starter. We had him penciled in as a starter (in the) preseason, and Dylan Ennis just had a ridiculous summer and fall. Josh had a real good one, and Dylan Ennis was amazing. He just shocked us all. Dylan just earned it.

"We told Josh, you didn't get beat out. He just you didn't lose it. (Dylan was) just was ridiculous. You've got to accept this.

"The day (Hart) won the (Big East) Sixth Man Award, I called his mom and dad and said, `Just because of you guys, the character you built in him,' and his parents don't complain. His parents say, `Hey, you're the sixth man. Be the best sixth man.' That's what he did, and that's unusual."

Junior center Daniel Ochefu added 15 points, a game high 13 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Wildcats.

A day after using a quick start to gain the upper hand against Marquette, Villanova was able to duplicate the effort at the start of this one. Once again, senior Darrun Hilliard was in the middle of it all, scoring the Wildcats first seven points while helping to stake VU to an early 13-5 advantage.

However, behind the work of Dunn and stingy defense, the Friars cut into the gap and narrowed it to 16-15 midway through the period.

Enter Hart. The Villanova sophomore provided energy and points off the bench, and put 10 in the books before the game reached halftime. The Wildcats' lead grew to 31-21 with just over five minutes remaining in the period.

Providence, however, finished the half with a flurry capped by a Jalen Lindsey 3-pointer and the Friars were within 33-28 at intermission.

The Wildcats got some big plays down the homestretch in the second half as they attempted to keep the charging Friars at bay, including a triple by Hart with 1:51 left to expand a suddenly vulnerable lead to 59-54 and a jumper from Hilliard with 1:06 remaining. But it was Arcidiacono who came through in the final seconds when the Wildcats found themselves deadlocked with the 2014 BIG EAST Tournament champions.

Said Wright of the final offensive possession: "The play was to inbound the ball to Daniel, Daniel get it back to Ryan, and then spread the floor and set a middle ball screen.

"We had three shooters around Ryan. That's why he got to the rim because they knew we had three shooters out there, and Daniel set the back screen."

And with that and one final defensive stop, the No. 4/3 Wildcats are off to a Saturday night date in the final.

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