NEWARK, N.J.  – The Villanova Wildcats have been atop the nation's Free Throw Percentage rankings for most of 2022-23. On Tuesday night, at the Prudential Center their proficiency at the stripe helped lift them past Seton Hall 76-72.
 
In the final 20 minutes, the Wildcats (16-14 overall, 10-9 BIG EAST) dropped in 21-of-22 from the line to help secure their sixth win in seven outings. Senior Justin Moore led the way with 23 points, including a 9-of-9 effort from the line. Freshman Cam Whitmore added 19 points while redshirt junior Eric Dixon added 18 points and eight rebounds.
 
Seton Hall fell to 16-14 overall, 9-10 BIG EAST.
 
"We've got a lot of confidence in our guys at the line," stated Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. "Justin Moore made six in a row there at the end and he's a big time player. Eric made some  clutch free throws too."
 
"It's something we practice every day," Moore noted. "We just step to the line with confidence."
 
After a score by Whitmore on Villanova' first offensive possession, the Pirates got consecutive 3-pointers from Jamir Harris and Al-Amir Dawes to grab an early 6-2 advantage over the Wildcats. It was an 8-4 Seton Hall lead at the first official timeout.
 
A trio of 3-pointers – by Moore, Dixon, and Brendan Hausen – helped the 'Cats take a 13-11 lead before a Tyrese Samuel interior bucket tied the contest at 13. When Dixon dropped in a short hook shot, Villanova had an 18-15 lead midway through the first half. Three straight Pirates' defensive stops and a Dawes jumper closed the gap to 18-17 with 7:46 remaining in the period.
 
Seton Hall used its starting five for all of the first 12:14 of this contest.
 
The Pirates got two more triples as part of a 6-0 surge to regain the upper hand, 29-25 with 3:21 on the first half clock. At that juncture, Seton Hall was connecting at a 50 percent clip from the field (12-of-24, including 5-of-9 from beyond the 3-point arc).
 
Whitmore's third 3-pointer of the first half put Villanova back on top, 34-32 but the Pirates scored the last five points of the period to take a 37-34 lead into its locker room at halftime.
 
Whitmore (11 points), Dixon (nine points) and Moore (nine points) accounted for 29 of Nova's 34 points. But the Pirates' sizzling shooting from beyond the arc – they were 7-of-12 from distance over the first 20 minutes – allowed them to have the edge at intermission. Dawes led the Pirates with 11 points.
 
"Seton Hall is very well-coached and they got it going there in the first half," said Neptune. "I thought we did a better job containing them in the second half but then they really hurt us on the offensive glass."
 
After committing a season-low three turnovers in its win Saturday over Creighton, Seton Hall forced Nova into 10 miscues in the first 24:25 of this one. That led to a 40-39 Hall lead with 15 minutes on the second half clock. When Caleb Daniels connected on his second 3-pointer of the period, VU was in front 44-42. The Pirates tied the game at 44 on a pair of Dawes free throws with 11:55 on the clock.
 
"They're very good at turning teams over," noted Neptune.
 
A traditional and one 3-point play gave the Hall a 49-46 lead with 10:15 on the second half clock. A Daniels 3-pointer tied the game at 53 but Femi Odukale sank a short jumper to push the Pirates on top, 55-53 as the contest dipped below the eight minute mark.
 
The Wildcats used a 4-0 spurt to grab a 63-59 lead with 4:51 to play in the period fueled by the offense of Whitmore. The Pirates, however, got a free throw and a jumper from Odukale to close to within 63-62 and then came a Tyrese Samuel to put the Hall up, 65-63. A Moore basket tied the game at 65 with just more than a minute to play.
 
Four free throws – two from Dixon and two from Moore – gave VU a 69-65 lead with 29.5 seconds left. But the Pirates got a basket and free throw from KC Ndefo with 12.1 seconds to play to shave the lead to 69-68.
 
It became a battle of free throws from there, and Villanova was perfect in that aspect of late game execution. Dixon intercepted a Hall inbounds pass near midcourt with the Wildcats holding a 75-72 lead and 4.8 seconds remaining. He sank the first, missed the second and a final long-range bid from the Pirates was off the mark.
 
Villanova will close out the regular season campaign at Wells Fargo Center, hosting Connecticut on Saturday, March 4 (7:30 p.m.)