PITTSBURGH, Pa. – With points hard to come by and the Villanova Wildcats dealing with a surge from Ohio State, Eric Dixon stepped into the void. The redshirt sophomore took a feed from Collin Gillespie and swished a dagger 3-pointer with the clock ticking below two minutes to help propel the Wildcats to a 71-61 victory over the No. 7 seed Buckeyes Sunday afternoon.
 
With the victory, Villanova advances to face Michigan in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Thursday night in San Antonio. This is the 'Cats second straight trip to the Sweet 16 and fourth since 2016. It will bring them back to the city where they claimed the 2018 NCAA national championship at the Final Four.
 
Villanova (28-7 overall) saw Ohio State shave a 15-point lead to two, 60-58, with 5:04 to play at PPG Paints Arena. But the Wildcats held the Buckeyes to one field goal over the final stretch and outscored them 10-3 to secure the win.
 
Gillespie led the Wildcats with 20 points. Jermaine Samuels added 17 points for the winners.
 
"We really respect Ohio State and what a tough intelligent team they are," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wrigth, who improved to 32-13 in NCAA Tournament play as the VU head coach. "We watch a lot of film and they're really good. They are intelligent in how they defended us.
 
"The leadership of Collin and Jermaine was huge for us. Eric did a great job inside and obviously made a huge three there late."
 
The Wildcats grabbed a 7-3 lead over the Buckeyes over the first 4:43 of the contest, limiting Ohio State to one made field goal in that span. Gillespie then heated up, sparking a 7-0 burst that ended with a 3-pointer, to help Nova move out to a 17-7 lead at the 12:21 mark of the first half.
 
Consecutive jumpers by Caleb Daniels helped Villanova craft a 21-11 advantage. Justin Moore, however, was whistled for his second foul midway through the period and the Buckeyes cut their deficit to 21-15 when E.J. Lidell dropped in two free throws.
 
The Wildcats had answers for each mini-surge from Ohio State. When the Buckeyes narrowed the lead to 25-19, Chris Arcidiacono came up with a steal and was fouled on fast break layup attempt. He drained the two free throws to make it 27-19.
 
A pair of free throws by Daniels with 1.4 seconds on the first half clock, allowed Villanova to take a 39-28 into its locker room at halftime. The Wildcats were 13-of-25 from the field (.520) and owned a 19-11 edge on the glass.
 
Gillespie's 12 points led Villanova over the first 20 minutes. Samuels and Daniels each chipped in nine points as the 'Cats more than held their own with Moore sitting out the final 10:15 of the period. Arcidiacono and Bryan Antoine each gave VU quality bench minutes in the absence of Moore and Brandon Slater – who also had two fouls – for a considerable chunk of the first half.
 
Liddell paced Ohio State with 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
 
The Wildcats got a 3-pointer from Dixon and built a 48-33 advantage four minutes into the second half. Malaki Branham, however, scored four straight points and Kyle Young added a running drive to create a 6-0 run that cut the Wildcats' lead to 48-39 with 13:36 left in the second period.
 
Villanova answered with four straight points from Gillespie and a deep 3-pointer from Moore to establish a 55-43 lead. The Buckeyes offense was heating up as it sank 7-of-11 field goal attempts over the first 8:17 of the period.
 
Ohio State's work on the glass began to make an impact. The Buckeyes collected 15 of the first 16 caroms in the second half. When Eugene Brown III dropped in a a 3-pointer with 9:20 on the clock, the Villanova lead was at 55-49.
 
A Moore 3-pointer got the lead up to 60-53 but Ohio State scored the next five points, the last on 3-pointer from the wing by Jamari Wheeler to shave the lead to 60-58. There was 5:04 to play in the second half.
 
Jermaine Samuels scored on a drive to create a 62-58 lead. One Ohio State free throw brought the Buckeyes to within 62-59 before Gillespie drained a short jumper to make it 64-59 as the clock ticked below the four minute mark.
 
Both teams missed subsequent 3-point attempts before Dixon drained his second of the afternoon to push the Wildcats' lead to 67-59 with 1:27 on the clock.
 
"We take thousands of those in practice," noted Dixon. "My teammates expect me to take that shot. I got myself in position and was ready when Collin found me open."
 
"I think we continued to do what we do," said Gillespie of the comeback bid. "They were in a stretch where they were making shot after shot. We just said 'attitude' to one another and came together at the defensive end. We just tried to get stops and make the right play."