College basketball: No. 6 Villanova beats Xavier to win first Big East title in 32 years

Published: March 6, 2014 9:33 pm
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Cincinnati • Darrun Hilliard scored 19 points and No. 6 Villanova clinched the outright Big East championship for the first time in 32 years by holding off Xavier 77-70 on Thursday night.

JayVaughn Pinkston added 15 points — eight in the last 3:20 — James Bell finished with 12 and Ryan Arcidiacono chipped in with 11 as the Wildcats (27-3, 15-2 Big East) extended their school record for regular-season wins with their fifth straight and 11th in their last 12 games.

The Wildcats went into the night with a 1 1-2 game lead over No. 13 Creighton in the Big East and two games remaining. The Bluejays have one game to play.

The Associated Press —

Thursday's scores

• No. 6 Villanova 77,Xavier 70

• No. 22 Michigan State 86, No. 24 Iowa 76

• No. 15 Cincinnati 97,No. 20 Memphis 84

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