NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Villanova Wildcats are headed into another Saturday night showdown with a BIG EAST Tournament championship at stake. This time, the Seton Hall Pirates (20-12 overall) are the foe, courtesy of a 81-79 victory over No. 2 seed Marquette that ended early Saturday morning.
 
Villanova (24-9 overall) earned its fifth consecutive appearance in a BIG EAST Tournament title game with its own hard-earned win, a 71-67 overtime triumph over Xavier.
 
The Wildcats have won three BIG EAST Tournament titles since 2015. The only defeat in that stretch was a loss in the 2016 title game to Seton Hall (69-67). Senior Phil Booth – who put together a fabulous night with 28 points, seven boards and five assists against Xavier – is the only current Villanova player to have seen action in that game (three points in 17 minutes played).
 
Seton Hall edged Villanova 79-75 last Saturday at Prudential Center to earn a split of the season series. The Wildcats posted an 80-52 win over the Pirates on Jan. 27 at the Wells Fargo Center.
 
Saturday night's battle will air on Fox (Fox 29 in Philadephia) nationally. Gus Johnson, Jim Jackson and Lisa Byington will describe the action. The Villanova radio broadcast featuring Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby can be found on 610 ESPN Radio in the Delaware Valley and the TuneIn app everywhere.
 
Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.
 
One key to the win over Xavier was sophomore forward Jermaine Samuels. The Franklin, Mass., native has averaged 37 minutes, 14.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game over the Wildcats' last five outings. He finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in Friday night's marathon win over the Musketeers.
 
"Jermaine's got a great attitude," noted Wildcats head coach Jay Wright. "He really doesn't need encouragement. He is kind of a young basketball player, kind of just got to give him -- we all just give him little thoughts, like he was open. He was driving the ball. We said to him, 'Take your shot.' It's simple.

"He does not fear failure. He stays aggressive. It's a special characteristic he has, and it was big tonight."
 
Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard was asked about the matchup early on Saturday morning, after his team's semifinal win.
 
"(Saturday) is just all on emotion," he said. "Nova had a tough overtime game. Right now it's just getting back, getting these kids something to eat, get them off their phones, to be honest with you. That's going to be the hard part. And tomorrow we'll do the same thing we did today. We'll wake up and prepare for a really, really good Villanova team.

"I think one reason this game was so chippy is the fact we just played Marquette. So everybody kind of knew everybody what they were doing, and I think it's the same thing. Nova's -- we kind of know what we have to do, and they know what they have to do against us. So I'm looking forward to it."