PHILADELPHIA -- Donte DiVincenzo saw his tip-in go through the basket and heard the sellout crowd going wild.
But he was unsure if his shot landed in time.
Following a brief replay review from the officiating crew, the shot was indeed deemed good and the Villanova players erupted in jubilation. There was plenty to cheer about on this day.
DiVincenzo tipped in a shot at the buzzer, lifting top-ranked Villanova past No. 12 Virginia 61-59 on Sunday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.
"I had no idea," DiVincenzo said. "I wasn't concerned about that. If it didn't go in, we had overtime."
DiVincenzo, a redshirt freshman, has played very well in stretches for the Wildcats this year.
While his tip-in came at a clutch time, it was far from surprising to the Villanova coaching staff.
"He's a great offensive rebounder," Villanova coach Jay Wright said of DiVincenzo. "And we use him that way. He's a great player with a high basketball IQ."
Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson scored 15 points each, Josh Hart added 12 and Kris Jenkins had eight as the Wildcats (20-2) rallied from a 13-point deficit for a heart-throbbing nonconference victory.
Villanova fell 74-72 last Tuesday at Marquette and came back in a major way against a surging team such as Virginia.
"We're going to learn so much from this game," Wright said.
Ty Jerome scored 15 points, Marial Shayok added 14 and Isaiah Wilkins had 12 for the Cavaliers, who dropped to 16-4 and had their five-game winning streak snapped. Virginia is now 1-29 all-time against the top-ranked team in the country.
"It was a great atmosphere," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. "We had our chances and we'll grow from it."
Virginia leading scorer London Perrantes was held to four points on 2-of 11-shooting. But the Cavaliers received plenty extra from Jerome, a freshman who scored those 15 points in 24 minutes.
"Ty stepped up and played beyond his freshman status," Bennett said.
Villanova hit its first three shots in the second half, but still trailed by eight, 40-32, with 14:51 remaining.
Wilkins connected on his first five shots and threw down a dunk on the Cavaliers' next possession, extending their lead back to 10.
Devon Hall drained a 3-pointer from the baseline for a 45-32 lead with 13:43 left as the large throng of Virginia fans chanted in unison.
Hart's first field goal came with 7:50 left and the 3-pointer cut the Cavaliers' lead to 49-42 while bringing the sellout crowd to a much higher decibel level.
Jenkins responded with a 3-pointer of his own on the next possession and that shot sliced the lead to 49-45. Going back to Tuesday's two-point loss at Marquette, Jenkins had missed 12 straight 3-pointers. But after hitting the first one, Jenkins came right back and made another triple, getting within 49-48.
A pair of free throws by Brunson gave Villanova its first lead of the game at 50-49, capping a 15-2 run.
Jerome's short jumper in the lane gave the Cavaliers a 57-55 advantage, but Bridges responded with an offensive rebound and layup to equalize at 57 with 2:19 remaining.
After Brunson drove the lane for a late go-ahead basket, Jerome connected on Virginia's next possession to tie the game once again at 59, this time with 15.1 seconds left.
Following a timeout, Hart attacked the basket and missed the shot only to have DiVincenzo there to tip in the winner. It was DiVincenzo's only field goal.
"Donte made an unbelievable play," Wright said. "It was not drawn up."
Villanova struggled with its shooting in the first half, going 4 of 22.
Jenkins, the hero of last year's national championship with a game-winning 3-pointer, went 0 of 8 in the first half and misfired on all six 3-pointers. Hart, a preseason National Player of the Year candidate, went 0 of 5 in the first half.
NOTES:
-- Villanova G Phil Booth was out once again with left knee tendinitis. Booth, who scored 20 points to lead the team in last year's NCAA Tournament title game win over North Carolina, has been out since Nov. 17.
-- Villanova honored its 2017 Hall of Fame inductees at halftime, which included former men's basketball coach Steve Lappas.
-- Both coaching staffs wore sneakers as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Week promoting the importance of nutrition and physical activity in reducing cancer risk.
-- Virginia completed back-to-back road games against top 25 opponents for the first time since 2009.
-- The Cavaliers have been ranked in the top 15 in 55 of the last 57 Associated Press polls.
-- The sellout crowd of 20,907 is the largest ever in the history of Villanova's home games at the Wells Fargo Center, dating to the 1996-97 season.
