No. 1 Villanova shows its [Josh] Hart against Notre Dame

NEWARK, N.J. -- Notre Dame coach Mike Brey believes Josh Hart will be a great NBA player.

Brey has good reason to think that after Hart poured in a career-high 37 points to lead No. 1 Villanova to a 74-66 win over the No. 23 Fighting Irish in the Never Forget Tribute Classic at the Prudential Center on Saturday.

Hart, the Big East Conference's pre-season Player of the Year and a National Player of the Year candidate, was 10 of 14 from the floor and 14 of 14 from the line to go with 11 rebounds and four assists for the Wildcats (10-0).

He was the only Villanova player in double-digit scoring.

The New Jersey-produced backcourt of Steve Vasturia and Matt Farrell topped Notre Dame (9-1) with 18 points apiece.

Hart had 18 points in the second half when Villanova outscored Notre Dame, 38-25.

The Wildcats trailed 50-41 early in the second half and didn't grab their first lead of the game until 9:07 remained. That's when Hart took over, scoring 18 of Villanova's final 33 points.

"(Hart) has that mental and physical toughness," Brey said. "He's a winner. That's why he'll be great in the NBA, because he's going to give the same thing every day."

Hart almost opted for the NBA after his junior year last summer, but the quest of helping Villanova become the first school to win back-to-back NCAA titles since Florida in 2006-07 was a deciding factor keeping him on the Main Line.

"I came back for the potential of this team and for these guys," Hart said. "I knew there would be some growing pains this season because we lost some great players. I didn't know how or when, I just wanted to be great."

Jalen Brunson's two free throws sealed the Wildcats 16th straight victory dating to last season, giving them a 70-66 lead with 56 seconds remaining.

A conventional three-point play from Kris Jenkins with 2:27 left gave Villanova a 68-64 edge before Farrell's basket on the next possession drew Notre Dame to within 68-66.

The Irish regained the lead at 62-61 on Vasturia's 3-pointer from the top of the key, but Hart's two free throws moments later put the Wildcats on top, 63-62, at the 6:11 mark.

Brunson's layup on a feed from Hart gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game, 57-56, with 9:07 left in the game. That capped a 6-0 Villanova run over 2:15.

Two straight layups from Hart sliced the Notre Dame lead to 56-55 with 9:28 to play.

Hart's 3-pointer, his third of the game, brought the Wildcats to within 54-51 at the 10:53 mark.

"I honestly didn't know how many points I had," Hart said. "I was just trying to make plays. Give credit to my teammates for finding me a couple of times with off the ball screens."

Hart played 37 minutes, committing only one turnover.

"I wasn't fatigued," Hart said. "Tomorrow you can rest. Today we had a game to play."

Farrell's layup at the buzzer provided the Fighting Irish with a 41-36 halftime lead. He scored 12 points in the half, going 5 for 5 from the field.

The Irish went 2:53 late in the half without a basket and the Wildcats took advantage, getting five straight points from Hart, who scored 19 points before halftime, to pull to within 37-34 with 58 seconds remaining.

A 6-2 burst allowed the Irish to grab a 33-22 cushion with 4:26 left in the half.

With 7:20 left in the half, Notre Dame went ahead, 27-18, on a layup from forward Martinas Geben.

Farrell contributed eight points and four assists in the first 10 minutes of the game.

NOTES: Villanova G Josh Hart moved to No. 32 on the school's all-time scoring list, passing Alvin Williams. ... Villanova was 20 of 22 from the line. Notre Dame was 6 of 6. ... The Wildcats shot 55 percent (11 of 20) from the floor in the second half. Notre Dame was only 6 of 22 in the second half. ... Notre Dame is the only team in the nation with three players ranked in the top-30 in free throw shooting -- guards Matt Farrell and Steve Vasturia, and F Bonzie Colson. ... The Fighting Irish are first in the country in turnovers-per-game average. ... This was the 27th meeting between Notre Dame coach Mike Brey and Villanova coach Jay Wright. Brey leads, 16-11. ... Villanova was 13-6 (.684) against Notre Dame when both schools were members of the Big East Conference from 1995 to 2013. ... Notre Dame junior F Bonzie Colson earned his first ACC Player of the Week award on Dec. 5. ... The Big East has four of its 10 teams ranked in the AP Top 25 -- No.1 Villanova, No. 10 Creighton, No. 13 Xavier and No. 16 Butler.