NEW YORK — Villanova junior guard Josh Hart, the Big East tournament’s most outstanding player a year ago, scored 25 points as third-ranked and top-seeded Villanova pulled away from Georgetown in the second half and won, 81-67, in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Ryan Arcidiacono added 19 points and six assists and Kris Jenkins added 15 points for the top-seeded Wildcats (28-4), who made 13 of their 21 3-point attempts as they opened their tournament title defense.
L.J. Peak had a team-high 18 points for No. 8 seed Georgetown (15-18), whose first-round game ended about 15 hours earlier. The Hoyas led, 47-46, midway through the second half before Arcidiacono and Hart led Villanova on a game-breaking 14-1 run.
Georgetown had 16 offensive rebounds but only converted them into 12 second-chance points. Villanova, meanwhile, took full advantage of the Hoyas’ mistakes, turning 11 turnovers into 20 points.
“Between Ryan and Kris Jenkins, every time we missed a bunny, they made us pay,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said.
With Villanova down one point with just over 10 minutes left, Hart knifed through the defense for a layup that put Villanova ahead for good. Arcidiacono made two 3-pointers then dished to Hart in transition off a turnover for a three-point play that made it 60-48 with 7:32 remaining.
Villanova’s Daniel Ochefu, playing on a sprained ankle, had no points and no rebounds in 13 minutes, but the taller Hoyas weren’t able to take advantage enough inside. Center Bradley Hayes, who returned Wednesday night after missing six games with a broken left hand, wasn’t able to get many touches other than one stretch at the start of the second half.
Ochefu, who came in averaging 10.3 points and 8.1 rebounds, didn’t practice Wednesday, and Wright said he tweaked the ankle Thursday.
“He gave us everything he got,” coach Jay Wright said. “We have to try to rest him up and see if we can get him feeling better tomorrow.”
Neither team scored for nearly five minutes late in the first half before Jenkins hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds remaining to give Villanova a 28-27 lead at the break.
“We were struggling finishing at the rim,” Wright said. “And, you know, that’s why we shoot 3s. We have the balance where we can shoot them, and there’s going to be some nights you can’t finish at the rim and you have to rely on them. You can lose that way, but it gives you a hell of a chance to win. Thank God for the 3s tonight.”
Georgetown leading scorer D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera was poked in the eye late in the first half. He returned after about three minutes, with the Hoyas failing to score in his absence.
The senior finished with eight points on 4-of-11 shooting, missing all four 3-point tries, in what could be his final game.
Hayes, a fellow senior, had 13 points and nine rebounds.
Villanova will play No. 4 seed Providence in the semifinals on Friday. Thompson said he was unsure whether Georgetown would play in a postseason tournament.
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