NEW YORK -- The latest buzzer-beater at the Big East tournament belongs to a Seton Hall reserve with a familiar last name. Sterling Gibbs hit a step-back jumper as time expired and Seton Hall stunned No. 3 Villanova 64-63 in a thrilling quarter-final Thursday, a loss that could cost the Wildcats a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. "Were really confident, honestly, especially after you beat the No. 3 team in the country," said Gibbs, a sophomore transfer from Texas whose brother was a Pittsburgh star. "We know if we can beat them, we can beat anyone. So were just up for the challenge." Eugene Teague had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the eighth-seeded Pirates (17-16), who advanced to the tournament semifinals for the first time in 13 years. They will play Friday night against No. 4 seed Providence, which held off fifth-seeded St. Johns 79-74. Josh Hart scored 18 to lead the top-seeded Wildcats (28-4), beaten only twice in 18 regular-season conference games while winning their first outright Big East title since 1982. Both losses were blowouts by Doug McDermott and Creighton. "Youve all heard me say this before: This was not about 1 seeds, 2 seeds. This was about we wanted to come to Madison Square Garden and win the Big East tournament. Winning the Big East tournament would mean much more to us than a 1 seed," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "The NCAA tournament seedings, my belief is 1, 2, 3, it doesnt matter that much. Youre going to play great teams." Patrik Auda scored all 13 of his points in the first half for Seton Hall, a 10 1/2-point underdog. But the pesky Pirates, accustomed to playing close games, built a 15-point lead and recovered after Villanova spurted past them with a 16-0 run in the second half. It was Seton Halls first victory in five tries against top-seeded teams at the Big East tournament. "We never really got rattled," coach Kevin Willard said. "These guys have a lot of heart. They have a lot of character, and they deserve to win." Villanova took a 63-62 lead on Darrun Hilliards floater in the lane with 7.8 seconds to go. Seton Hall pushed the ball past halfcourt, then called timeout with 3.7 seconds left. With much of the crowd on its feet, Jaren Sina inbounded and Gibbs backed off Hilliard with a hard step back, draining a 17-foot jumper from the top of the key just as the horn sounded. "We usually dont like to call timeouts. We usually like just to go. But I wanted the ball, at that time, in Sterlings hands," Willard said. A fired-up Gibbs, who finished with 10 points, jumped onto the scorers table and looked up at the crowd as excited teammates ran all over the court in a wild celebration. The shot was a near carbon copy of the one Kemba Walker hit three years ago at the Garden during Connecticuts captivating run to Big East and NCAA tournament championships. That buzzer-beating jumper by Walker, also in the quarterfinals, beat a top-seeded Pittsburgh team that was led by Gibbs brother, Ashton. "It ended up being a little bit of a scramble. The plan kind of got switched up a little bit," Sterling Gibbs said before Teague interrupted. "A little bit?" said the senior centre. "Yeah, a lot of bit," Gibbs acknowledged. "In the end, it was supposed to get in my hands and I was supposed to create a shot for my teammates or create a shot for myself, and I just stepped back and hit the jumper." Hilliard scored all 11 of his points in the second half. JayVaughn Pinkston also had 11 for the Wildcats, but the 77 per cent free throw shooter was 3 of 10 at the foul line as the Wildcats went 15 for 25 (60 per cent) to Seton Halls 6-for-9 mark. The Pirates limited Villanova to 37.9 per cent shooting and 21.1 per cent from 3-point range (4 for 19), less than 18 hours after holding Butler to a 2-for-18 mark (11.1 per cent) from long distance in the opening round. "We got the shots we wanted to. We just werent making them," Villanova guard Ryan Arcidiacono said. Playing in the Big East quarterfinals for the first time since 2003, the Pirates won despite getting only seven points from leading scorer Fuquan Edwin on 3-of-15 shooting. Villanova won both regular-season meetings, by an average of 16.5 points, and figured to have an advantage again after Seton Hall had to hold off Butler 51-50 Wednesday night. Early on, though, it was the Pirates who looked fresh even though they had little time to rest. On a bitterly cold day in the Big Apple, the Wildcats took a while to warm up. They missed 13 of their first 14 attempts from 3-point range and trailed 44-31 with 14 minutes remaining. But they made a flurry of steals during a 16-0 run and took their first lead at 47-44 on Hilliards 3-pointer with 8:03 left. Edwin tied it with a 3 and Teague followed with a three-point play to put the Pirates back in front. With the score tied at 59, Arcidiaconos steal sent Villanova on a fast break that culminated in Harts layup with 40 seconds left. Undeterred, the Pirates worked the ball around and Gibbs passed to Sina for a 3 from the left corner that gave them for a 62-61 edge with 17.2 seconds remaining. "That was a great college basketball game," Wright said. "Great to be a part of it. Great atmosphere. The Garden was rocking. We had a lot of fun." Jose Altuve Jersey . The Toronto Blue Jays general manager made a series of bold moves that reshaped the club ahead of what would turn out to be a disastrous 2013 campaign. Justin Verlander Jersey . 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Were going to make officials accountable for their performance." He said those who perform the best on the field will work the most, and the evaluation wont just include the usual crop of retired officials but will also include selected groups of coaches asked to provide feedback. Johnson spent 24 years as a referee and head referee in the league before being appointed to this new position in December. The leagues board of governors will be voting May 8 on proposed new rules this season and Johnson is currently touring all CFL cities to meet with teams and discuss those as well as other issues, such as a move to codify infractions more clearly in simple language. He said officials, players and coaches will know with more certainty what is and what isnt going to draw a flag. The proposed rule change that has drawn the most attention so far is a plan to make defensive pass interference subject to challenge and review by video replay but Johnson says there are many more. "Theres player-safety related ones where were eliminating some illegal low blocks. I think thats going to have a really positive impact on the game. Keeping players safe and healthy and having them play more is a good thing." Others are designed to improve game flow, such as not stopping to allow defensive substitutions if theere are no offensive substitutions.dddddddddddd. "I think youre going to see a higher tempo," says Johnson. "Youre going to see more offensive output and more plays in a game, which I think just continues to add to our exciting game." Many quarterbacks in the league also may be happy with a proposal to allow them to use their own teams balls. "Were going to allow quarterbacks to condition and use their own footballs. . . Theyll be league-supplied footballs that they can condition, practice with during the week then they can bring them to the game and, as long as they meet a new ball standard, that quarterback can use his own balls during the game." As an example, he said some like to remove the new-ball finish while others may like to use a tack cloth on their ball. They must still be inspected by the referee to ensure they havent been doctored beyond league standards, but both teams will have their balls stamped so they remain separate during the game. The host team will supply balls for kicks that both teams will use. There will also be stricter curbs on taunting and objectionable conduct, including the verbal abuse of officials. Besides making pass interference subject to coaches challenge and review, there will be automatic reviews of all turnovers. The leagues board of governors must vote on all the proposed changes but Johnson says, historically, they have usually given their approval. But the one that did not get approved unanimously by the rules committee was the change regarding pass interference. Johnson says its one of the hardest calls for an official to make, given that theyre often far away from the spot where the play is being made and their view is sometimes blocked. ' ' '