Wildcat Wrap
 
Final Score: Wildcats 58, DePaul 57
 
Overview: With Villanova in the crosshairs of an upset bid from No. 11 seed DePaul, Justin Moore calmly stepped into a 3-point shot that found the bottom the net with 8.8 seconds left in a BIG EAST Opening Round game Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. The shot lifted the Wildcats to a 58-57 win.
 
The Wildcats trailed by eight points midway through the second half against the Blue Demons, who were 0-20 in league play this season. But VU made enough key plays in the final five minutes capped by Moore's shot, to advance to a Thursday night quarterfinal vs. No. 3 seed Marquette.
 
"I'm proud of our guys," stated Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. "It's March and it was a tough game. DePaul made some tough shots. I was proud of our resiliency. Thank God for Justin Moore."
 
Neptune described the final play as "a two-man game (Dixon and Moore). We relied on their decisions."
 
Added Moore: "It was just a ball screen between me and E (Dixon). (The defender) gave me too much space and I just stepped into with confidence."
 
D Was The Story For Much of the Night:  Eric Dixon took Villanova's first four field goal attempts and made two, giving the Wildcats an early 4-0 lead. Mark Armstrong followed with a 3-pointer to make it a 7-0 burst to open the contest. Chico Carter Jr. gave DePaul its first points of the night on a 3-pointer. Two Jalen Terry free throws brought the Blue Demons to within 7-5 after 5:15 of the first period.
 
DePaul held the Wildcats without a field goal for 3:27, allowing it to narrow the lead to 10-9. A 7-0 spurt that included a Jordan Longino 3-pointer helped the 'Cats push their advantage to 19-12 with 5:28 left in the first half. Moore was whistled for his second foul and headed to the bench for the remainder of the period.
 
But the Blue Demons clamped down on defense, holding Nova without a bucket for 4:18, and were within 19-17 when K.T. Raimey made a 3-pointer. There was 2:51 left in the first half. When Jalen Terry sank another 3-pointer, DePaul had its first lead of the night, 20-19.
 
Longino dropped in 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give Villanova back the lead. It was on top 27-25 at halftime.
 
The Wildcats limited DePaul to 8-of-29 field goal attempts but six of those were from beyond the arc. Villanova, meanwhile, was just 4-of-15 from deep (.250) and 1-of-4 at the free throw line.
 
Second Act: DePaul sank 4-of-6 from the field in the first 3:23 of the second half to claim a 33-32 lead. They bolstered that by holding the Wildcats without a field goal for more than five minutes, crafting a 37-32 lead. When Terry sank a 3-pointer with 12:49 to play, the Blue Demons held a 40-32 margin.
 
"We had some defensive breakdowns but I thought we did some good things," Neptune said. "We just couldn't buy a basket but we hung in there, got some stops, and fought back."
 
The Wildcats also lost Longino early in the second half to a left leg injury.
 
A Dixon triple ended the spurt and shaved the deficit to 40-35. Two defensive stops and a 3-pointer from Tyler Burton cut the lead to 40-38 at the midpoint of the period. When a Dixon bid was ruled a goaltending violation, the game was deadlocked at 40.
 
When Moore drained a 3-pointer the Wildcats were back in front 43-42. Dixon then found a cutting Burton for a dunk and Villanova held a 45-42 lead before Terry tied it on a 3-pointer as the clock approached seven minutes in the second half.
 
Part of DePaul's success could be found in a 16-5 edge in points off turnovers over the Wildcats at that juncture of the game.
 
After Moore scored on a drive, Terry sank his fourth 3-pointer of the night to lift DePaul into the lead at 48-47. Two Dixon free throws put the Wildcats back on top, 49-48 before DePaul answered with a bucket. Dixon then made a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give VU a 52-50 lead with 3:41 on the clock.
 
Elijah Fisher tied it at 52 on a drive to the basket. After the Wildcats came up empty at the offensive end, Da'Sean Nelson scored on a drive and added a free throw to put DePaul on top, 55-52. Dixon responded with another 3-pointer to tie it at 55.
 
Terry then scored to give DePaul a 57-55 lead with just more than one minute left. The Blue Demons then got a defensive stop. Armstrong came up with an enormous blocked-shot with just over 23 seconds left and that led to a shot clock violation, setting up the sequence that resulted in Moore's game-winner.
 
Villanova prevented DePaul from scoring over the final eight seconds to secure the win.