CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Nobody on the current Villanova roster had even been born the last time the Wildcats stood alone atop the Big East. cheap jerseys . The 32-year drought ended Thursday night when Darrun Hilliard scored 19 points and No. 6 Villanova clinched the outright Big East championship for the first time since the 1981-82 season by holding off undermanned Xavier 77-70. The Wildcats, playing before a hostile standing-room only crowd of 10,340 in their first visit to Cintas Center, overcame a determined Musketeers team in what Villanova coach Jay Wright described as a "great, intense college basketball environment." "Youre not going to win championships unless you win on the road," Wright said. "We have great respect for this league. To win this league is a hell of an accomplishment." JayVaughn Pinkston added 15 points -- eight in the last 3:20 -- James Bell finished with 12 and Ryan Arcidiacono chipped in 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. They also clinched the top seed in the Big East tournament, which starts Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in New York. "This is a big accomplishment," Bell said. "Its a testament to how hard weve worked, but we cant stop there." 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. Villanova, which last shared the title in a co-championship with Syracuse in 2005-06, wraps up its regular season Saturday at home against Georgetown. Justin Martin had 20 points for Xavier (20-11, 10-8) while Semaj Christon added 18 points and Isaiah Philmore finished with 15. The Musketeers ended the regular season with consecutive losses. Xavier struggled from 3-point range finishing 6 of 23, while Villanova was 9 for 23. The game was Xaviers first without 6-foot-10 junior centre Matt Stainbrook, who started each of the Musketeers previous 30 before straining the medial collateral ligament in his left knee in their 71-62 loss at Seton Hall on Monday. Stainbrook watched the game from the bench wearing a tan suit and bow tie. "Us not having Matt was tough, but I think we learned more about each other," Philmore said. "It didnt turn out the way we wanted it to, obviously, but we stuck together. It just wasnt enough. Sometimes, its not always enough." Xaviers regular-season finale was its second consecutive home game against a Top 10 team and the second straight to attract a standing-room only crowd. The Wildcats never trailed after Arcidiacono made two free throws for a 29-28 lead with 5:11 left in the first half. Villanova, which beat Xavier 81-58 on Feb. 3 for the Musketeers worst loss of the season, led by as many as 12 points. The lead dwindled to three before Josh Hart and Bell made two free throws each in the final 19.4 seconds. "We knew they wouldnt go away," Wright said. "They played without one of their best players. We caught a break there." The Wildcats had no surprises, Musketeers coach Chris Mack said. "They were what we saw on film," he said. "This was our first game without Matt, so that was a little bit different, but we competed. We didnt quite have enough to beat Villanova." Hilliard, averaging 14.1 points per game, had 15 to help the Wildcats take a 41-36 halftime lead. Martin, who went into the game averaging 11.2 points, scored 12 in the first half for Xavier. wholesale nfl jerseys .C. -- Unable to get much lift off his sore right ankle, Bobcats centre Al Jefferson figured it was time to make an adjustment. nfl jerseys china . Filion, from Laval, Que., and Montreals Benfeito finished third with 326.10 points. Ruolin Chen and Hao Wang of China won gold with 360.66 points and Paola Espinosa and Alejandra Orozco of Mexico were second at 327.DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers have two of the best players in the majors in ace Justin Verlander and slugger Miguel Cabrera. The rest of the roster is holding up quite nicely, too. Wilson Betemit capped Detroits three-run eighth inning with a tiebreaking RBI double against his former team, leading the Tigers to a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday. Betemits big hit came less than 18 hours after reserve Ramon Santiago delivered a game-ending homer in the 10th inning. "People wonder why I play so many different lineups, but thats what you have to do when you want to win a division," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "You dont win unless you get contributions from everyone, and you have to play them so that they are ready to make a play when you need them." Austin Jackson went 4-for-4 and scored three times for the AL Central-leading Tigers, who have won seven of 10. Cabrera added two hits and Jose Valverde worked the ninth for his 40th save in 40 chances. "Austin had a great game for us -- thats exactly what we want from him at the top of the order," Leyland said. "When hes hitting, it is a really big tonic for our offence." Eric Hosmer had a pair of solo homers for Kansas City, which has dropped four of six. Jackson sparked the winning rally with a leadoff triple against Blake Wood (5-2). Ramon Santiago followed with a sacrifice fly that trimmed Kansas Citys lead to 4-3. With one out and Delmon Young on first, Victor Martinez hit an RBI double into left-centre. Alex Gordon made a diving attempt on the ball but couldnt haul it in. "Alex made the dive, and I couldnt tell if he got it or not until I saw Melky (Cabrera) running after the ball," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He covered a lot of ground to even get close to that." Alex Avila was intentionally walked before Betemit hit a liner into the right-field corner to drive in pinch-runner Brennan Boesch. Jeff Francoeur cut down Avila at the plate to end the inning. "I havent been swinging the bat well in the last couple games, but this was a big situation," said Betemit, who was acquired froom the Royals on July 20. cheap jerseys from china. . "I know Blake throws hard, so I was looking for something I could hit. He threw me a slider, and I put a great swing on it." Daniel Schlereth (2-1) pitched an inning to get the victory and Valverde got Alcides Escobar to fly out with runners on first and second to end the game. Hosmer connected in the second and the fourth, hitting a drive to right on a 1-2 pitch each time, and Kansas City added two more runs in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead. Gordon hit a leadoff single and scored on Melky Cabreras double. Cabrera then scored when Young couldnt handle Billy Butlers drive to left and misplayed it again when trying to pick it up. "I thought I was pitching well until the sixth -- other than the two homers, obviously," Tigers starter Rick Porcello said. "Things got away from me a little in the sixth, but I was still pleased that I kept us close enough to get the win." Jackson scored each of Detroits first two runs, on Youngs sacrifice fly in the first and Nate Ad****s wild pitch in the third. Kansas City helped itself on defence. Rookie Johnny Giavotella made four highlight-reel plays at second base, and Gordon robbed Avila of extra bases with a leaping catch as he crashed into the fence in left. "We played great defence, but every time you lose a one-run game, you hate it," Yost said. "We had a two-run lead and we couldnt hold it in the eighth." NOTES: The teams finish their four-game series with a second straight afternoon game on Thursday. The game -- a makeup of a May 15 rainout -- will feature Detroit rookie Jacob Turner (0-1) making his second career start. Danny Duffy (3-8) goes for the Royals. ... Despite Giavotellas outstanding day in the field, he was replaced by Chris Getz in the eighth inning for defensive purposes. ... Neither starter got a decision. Porcello allowed four runs in seven innings, while emergency starter Ad**** gave two in 5 2-3. Ad**** replaced Felipe Paulino, who was scratched with back spasms. ... The Royals traded backup C Matt Treanor to Texas during the game. Treanor has been sidelined with a concussion since July 30. cheap nfl jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
