No. 6 Villanova 77, Xavier 70: Darrun Hilliard II scored 19 points to lead the visiting Wildcats to their first outright Big East regular-season title since 1982.

JayVaughn Pinkston added 15 points for Villanova (27-3, 15-2), which won its fifth straight game. James Bell recorded 12 points to go over 1,000 in his career despite battling foul trouble for the second straight contest and grabbed eight rebounds, while Ryan Arcidiacono contributed 11 points and seven assists for the Wildcats.

Justin Martin scored 20 points and Semaj Christon registered 18 for the Musketeers (20-11, 10-8), whose NCAA Tournament chances took a big hit after they missed 18 of their 24 shots from 3-point range and were outrebounded 38-30. Isaiah Philmore scored 15 points in his final home game for Xavier.

Xavier scored the first seven points before Villanova rebounded to take a 41-36 at the break despite Bell scoring only four points in nine minutes. The Wildcats quickly expanded the lead to 10 on Hilliard's 3-pointer 2:03 into the second half and re-established a 57-47 cushion on Kris Jenkins' trey with 10:07 remaining.

Villanova led 71-59 with 1:26 to play before Dee Davis hit consecutive 3-pointers to bring Xavier within 71-65 with 1:01 left. Justin Martin's 3-pointer with 32 seconds left made it 72-68 and Christon's bucket cut the deficit to 73-70 with 24 seconds to go before the Wildcats made their final four free throws to seal it.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Bell, who didn't score in Villanova's 73-56 victory over Marquette on Saturday, received a Flagrant 1 foul 2:05 into this one after a glancing elbow struck Philmore in the face and went to the bench with two fouls. ... Xavier was without junior C Matt Stainbrook (team-best 7.8 rebounds per game), who suffered a strained left knee ligament during a 71-62 loss at Seton Hall on Monday, but is already listed as day-to-day for next week's Big East tournament. ... Villanova shared Big East titles in 2006, 1997 and 1983, and won the Big East tournament in 1995.