NEWARK -- The stage was set. With a record 16,733 fans in attendance at Prudential Center and a national television audience watching Seton Hall take on No. 2 Villanova on Saturday, the Pirates had a chance for their biggest victory since beating the Wildcats in last season's Big East Tournament final.

Seton Hall's NCAA Tournament stock, which gained life after the Pirates beat No. 20 Creighton on Wednesday, would become one of the hottest commodities in the game.

There were times where it looked like Seton Hall was ready to capitalize, and the absence of Villanova big man Darryl Reynolds due to injury seemed to open the door for a huge game from Seton Hall center Angel Delgado. But a tight first half gave way to a blowout in the second, as defending national champion Villanova looked the part of a defending national champion in a 92-70 rout of the Pirates.

Seton Hall routed by No. 2 Villanova, 92-70 | Rapid reaction

"I think its a missed opportunity just because you're playing against the No. 2 RPI team and No. 2 team in the country," Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said. "It was a good chance for us, but they played well and we didn't play well. If you don't play good against them, you're going to get beat. And if you play not good, you're going to get beat bad."

Seton Hall bucked its recent trend of sluggish starts and came out the gate strong, opening up a 9-3 lead that had the Seton Hall crowd raucous and ready for a big day. But Villanova regained its footing to take control before a late Pirate run that had the Wildcat lead down to one point with 2:47 before halftime.

But Villanova flexed its championship muscles once again, closing the half on an 11-1 run that killed any Seton Hall momentum.

Seton Hall needed to stop the bleeding in the second half. Villanova only cut deeper.

A 3-pointer from Erc Paschall. A Mikal Bridges dunk. A traditional 3-point play for Paschall, and then another 3-pointer from the former Fordham guard. Suddenly Villanova's lead was 22 points a little more than three minutes into the second half. And suddenly Seton Hall's upset hopes were fading.

"I thought we were in good position, but in the last three minutes of the first half Jalen Brunson flipped a switch and hit a tough step-back three, split the pick-and-roll and hit Bridges in the corner for a three and that took a little momentum out of our sails," Willard said. "But then Paschall comes out hits a three to start the half. They are a really good basketball team."

As much as Seton Hall has missed First Team All-Big East guard Isaiah Whitehead on offense this season, they missed his defense, along with the lockdown perimeter presence of Derrick Gordon, even more against Villanova.

"They missed like four shots all game," Willard added. "Obviously, I'm not happy with our defense. But again, they have a lot to do with that."

Villanova's loaded offense shot an astounding 67 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from 3-point range. Seton Hall had no answer for Villanova's guard-heavy offense, and the Wildcats took advantage. 

"The difference was they didn't miss no shots," Delgado said. "That was the difference. They played hard, I think we played hard, we shoot more than 50 percent. I think it was great. But they didn't miss."

This game became less dire for Seton Hall after the Creighton victory last week. But this loss does put even more pressure on the Pirates when Xavier comes to town on Wednesday. If Seton Hall wants to make sure it doesn't need another Big East Tournament title to assure itself a spot in the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season, a win over the Musketeers would go a long way to securing that.

The significance of the environment was not lost on Seton Hall, which heaped praise on its fans for making Prudential Center loud even with many Villanova fans making the trip up from Philadelphia.

The Pirates, however, simply couldn't capitalize.

"It was great. Our students were phenomenal, and they've been phenomenal all year," Willard said. "I wish we just would have given them a little more to cheer about."

Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Schneider. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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