DePaul nearly pulls off upset against Villanova in first round of Big East Tournament

NEW YORK — Justin Moore made a 3-pointer with eight seconds left in the second half and sixth-seeded Villanova escaped a huge upset by beating 24-point underdog DePaul 58-57 Wednesday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament.

The Wildcats (18-14), desperate for wins to pad their NCAA Tournament resume, face third-seeded and 10th-ranked Marquette on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

Jalen Terry’s pull-up jumper gave the Blue Demons (3-29) a 57-55 lead with 1:13 left, but DePaul could not pad its advantage. Villanova was down two with 17 seconds left and came out of a timeout with a play that got Moore a good look from 3 and he swished the shot.

“Thank God for Justin Moore,” coach Kyle Neptune said.

Moore finished with 10 points as Villanova shot just 11 for 35 from 3-point range.

“In the moment, I just wanted to win. Big time players make big time plays,” Moore said.

DePaul rushed down the court with a timeout left, but couldn’t get off a shot as Terry turned the ball over. The Blue Demons ended their season with a 20-game losing streak.

Terry finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead 11th-seeded DePaul.

“I feel like we were more connected today than any other day. I don’t know what it was,” Terry said.

The Blue Demons endured maybe the worst season in Big East history, becoming the first team to go 0-20 in the conference during the regular season. Coach Tony Stubblefield was fired in late January and replaced by assistant Matt Brady, who finished his stint as interim coach without a victory.

“Grateful for our guys for playing a 40-minute game,” Brady said.

The Wildcats went up 52-50 on Eric Dixon’s 3 with 4:43 left in the second half, but Elijah Fisher muscled his way inside for a layup to tie it with 3:25 remaining.

Dixon scored 21 points to lead the Wildcats.

Da’Sean Nelson put DePaul up 55-52 on a three-point play with 1:52 left, but Dixon responded with a straight-on 3 to tie it moments later.