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PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- The No. 5 ranked Villanova Wildcats dug themselves out of 12 point halftime hole, and went on to down Tennessee 85-76 on Thanksgiving Day in a semifinal at the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Wildcats (5-0) advanced to the final to meet either UNI, which defeated N.C. State in the other semifinal here, at noon Friday.

Junior Jalen Brunson scored 25 points and moved past the 1,000 point total in his college career to lead the Wildcats, who trailed by as many as 15 first half points before staging a furious second half comeback that began with a 23-2 flurry to open the second 20 minutes. Redshirt junior Mikal Bridges added 21 points despite foul trouble.

Grant Williams led the Volunteers (3-1) with 20 points.

"That was a great college basketball game," noted VU head coach Jay Wright. "I told (UT coach) Rick Barnes before the game that his team reminds me of some of his teams at Providence and Clemson. They're tough, scrappy and disciplined. I thought we were ready to play and got off to a good start. We got into foul trouble in the first half, though, and when we did, they took it to us.

"We were kind of fresh to start the second half because everyone was rested with the foul trouble. We got great leadership and played a great second half."

From the outset this was a gritty affair with plenty of deflections and defensive pressure. The strong work of Bridges, with nine early points helped push VU out to an 11-5 lead over the Volunteers at the first official timeout of the day. But Tennessee slowly stifled the Wildcats' attack as the fouls began to mount and used a surge midway through the period to grab a 17-16 lead.

Tennessee's ability to force the Wildcats into miscues helped it grab a 30-20 lead with just over five minutes to play in the first half. Villanova committed eight turnovers in the game's first 15 minutes which helped the Volunteers craft the double digit margin.

Nine first half offensive rebounds helped Tennessee keep its margin at 10 (36-26) with 3:29 to play in the first half. A total of five Wildcats -- Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Omari Spellman and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree were each playing with two personal fouls apiece as the period neared a close. (Spellman would be whistled for his third foul just before halftime)

The Volunteers took a 46-34 advantage at the halftime break thanks partly to an offense that connected on 50 percent of its field goal attempts. The Wildcats, meanwhile, struggled to create consistent offense, connecting on just 9-of-23 first half attempts (.361).

A 16-2 spurt by over the first five minutes of the second half transformed the contest, taking the Wildcats from a 12 point halftime deficit to a two point lead. By the time Spellman sank a 3-pointer, VU was in front 55-48.

"I wish I could tell you I had some great words at halftime, but I didn't," Wright stated. Brunson played a huge role in the reversal and Villanova's ability to add to its advantage. When he sank a pair of free throws with just over eight minutes left, it took him over the 1,000 mark for career points. He wound up with 25 points, two shy of his career high set during his sophomore season at Creighton.

"I definitely feel comfortable," Brunson stated. "That just comes with how I was brought up. It was never putting pressure on myself but just trying to be the best player I could be. It also comes from my teammates and Coach (Wright). They have confidence in me and that gives me confidence. I put the work in, I should have confidence in myself."

The Wildcats pushed their edge to 77-62 with a bit more than five minutes left but the Volunteers responded with an 11-2 burst of their own to cut the deficit to 79-73 with 1:26 on the second half clock. An Admiral Schofield deep 3-pointer with 51.6 seconds on the clock brought UT to within 79-76. But the Volunteers would never score again as the Wildcats scored the final six points of the day to close with an 85-76 win.

"I'm proud of the guys," stated Wright. "We hung in there through the foul trouble and the challenges of being behind an outstanding team. Our young guys helped keep us in the game late in the first half and the older guys came back with a great second half effort."

The 2017-18 Villanova Basketball season is presented by KeyBank.