Villanova, though a young team, handled the prime-time stage of Madison Square Garden like a veteran, senior-heavy club.
The Wildcats blew a large lead, took advantage of a friendly call and made all the game-winning plays late after falling behind by eight points in the final two minutes of regulation.
The result was a confidence-building 89-81 overtime victory over Purdue last night in the 2K Sports Classic at the Garden.
"It shows us what we can do if we focus on the little things," said junior wing James Bell, who scored six of his 15 points in the extra session. "We preach attitude, having a positive attitude. We were down eight with two minutes to go, but it was like we were up 10."
Paul J. Bereswill
BEYOND THE 'ARC: Villanova's Ryan Arcidiacono goes up for a shot over Ronnie Johnson of Purdue in the Wildcats' 89-81 overtime victory last night at the Garden.
Villanova (3-0) will meet Alabama in the final tonight at 7:30 while Purdue (1-2) will take on Oregon State in the consolation game at 5 p.m.
Behind a furious 19-4 run, the Boilermakers seemed to be in complete control. They led the Wildcats 80-72 with two minutes remaining.
But Villanova kept on coming, trimming the lead to four on a Darrun Hilliard 3-pointer with 54 seconds left. When Purdue's D.J. Byrd was called for a flagrant foul for an intentional elbow to Hilliard's jaw while under pressure in the backcourt, the momentum had turned.
Hilliard (22 points) and freshman point guard Ryan Arcidiacono each sank two free throws to pull Villanova even with 43.8 seconds left, forcing overtime. In the extra period, Bell sank a pair of 3-pointers after making just 1-of-8 from beyond in the arc in regulation as the Wildcats quickly pulled away.
"It's great for him that he's making those shots, but it's even better for us a team because I think the guys believe in him," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "When a guy is doing that, he can miss two, three more game-winners and they're still going to believe in him because they know he's done it before."
Hilliard led Villanova with 22 points, Arcidiacono added 18 points and five assists and Brooklyn native JayVauhgn Pinkston had 16.
It was a significant win for Villanova, which is relying heavily on sophomores such as Hilliard and Pinkston and freshmen such as Arcidiacono and forward Daniel Ochefu.
The team was picked to finish 12th in the Big East after a disappointing sub-.500 finish a year ago, yet is off to a fast start.
"Real good experienced teams play a good, consistent 40 minutes," Wright said. "We're not there yet obviously, but we can see there's potential."
Alabama 65, Oregon State 62
Bronx native Devon Collier of Oregon State scored 21 points and grabbed six rebounds in his return to the area, but it wasn't enough to offset Alabama wing Rodney Cooper's 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining. Trevor Lacey scored 20 points for the Crimson Side.
zbraziller@nypost.com
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