Scottie Reynolds scored all of his 17 points in the second half, and No.9 Villanova let most of its late 16-point lead slip away before holding on for a 77-73 victory over Cincinnati last night.
The Wildcats (24-5, 13-4 Big East) got their second win in their past five games.
Trailing by 16 points with six minutes left, the Bearcats (16-13, 7-10) regrouped for a 14-point run that cut it to 66-65 with 2:17 to go. Reggie Redding hit two free throws and a three-pointer that blunted the comeback. Reynolds finished it off with two free throws with 3.2 seconds left.
Reynolds led six Villanova players in double figures.
The Bearcats set a goal of making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. They have faded down the stretch, bringing criticism for coach Mick Cronin, who publicly set the goal.
Other Top 25 highlights No. 1 Syracuse 85, St. John's 66 - Fifth-year seniors Andy Rautins and Arinze Onuaku made their final home game one to remember, combining for 35 points to lead Syracuse (28-2, 15-2) over St. John's (15-14, 5-12) in the Big East.
Onuaku posted a season-high 21 points, and Rautins had 14 points and seven assists.
No. 13 Vanderbilt 64, Florida 60 - John Jenkins scored 18 points and A.J. Ogilvy added 16 to help Vanderbilt (23-6, 12-3) beat Florida (20-10, 9-6) in the Southeastern Conference.
Jermaine Beal chipped in 13 points for the Commodores, including two key free throws with 6.2 seconds remaining in dealing a blow to the Gators' NCAA Tournament hopes.
No. 21 Baylor 86, Texas Tech 68 - Tweety Carter had 18 points, and Baylor (23-6, 10-5) rallied from an 11-point first-half deficit and beat Texas Tech (16-13, 4-11) in the Big 12.
No. 24 UTEP 80, Marshall 76 - Randy Culpepper scored 32 points to help Texas-El Paso (23-5, 14-1) hold off Marshall (22-8, 10-5) and clinch the Conference USA title.
Big Ten highlight
Michigan 83, Minnesota 55 - DeShawn Sims scored 23 points, and Michigan (14-15, 7-10) shot 60.4 percent from the field in beating Minnesota (17-12, 8-9) in the Big Ten.
Manny Harris added 22 points for the Wolverines, who ended a three-game losing streak after taking control with a 14-2 run midway through the first half.
Minnesota, on the bubble for an NCAA Tournament bid, never got closer than 12 points in the second half.
Other highlights North Carolina 69, Miami 62 - North Carolina (16-14, 5-10) held off the University of Miami (18-11, 4-11) in the Atlantic Coast Conference to become the second team in NCAA history with 2,000 victories.
Kentucky reached the milestone in December, and Kansas has 1,997 victories.
Cleveland State 80, Loyola 66 - Norris Cole had 15 points, 11 assists and four steals to lead Cleveland State (16-16) over Loyola of Chicago (14-16) in the first round of the Horizon League tournament.
Wisconsin-Green Bay 81, Youngstown State 67 - Wisconsin-Green Bay (21-11) went on a 10-0 run midway through the second half and beat Youngstown State (8-22) in the Horizon League tournament.