Big East Championship Game 2018: Providence vs. Villanova Schedule, Preview

Upsets have been prominent at the 2018 Big East tournament, as two of the top-three seeds fell in back-to-back days at Madison Square Garden.

Fifth-seeded Providence became the latest surprise winner in New York City, as it downed No. 1 seed Xavier in the semifinals Friday night.

The victory earned the Friars a showdown with No. 2 seed Villanova, who avoided upset-minded Marquette and Butler during its first two games in the Big Apple.

Providence enters Saturday's Big East final in search of its third tournament championship and first since 2014.

Villanova is the defending champion, and it's won two of the last three Big East tournament titles over Xavier and Creighton, respectively.

Date: Saturday, March 10

Time: 6:30 p.m. ET

TV: Fox

Live Stream: Fox Sports Go

Providence In Search Of 3rd Upset at Big East Tournament

No matter which teams reside in the Big East, the conference tournament is always good to produce one Cinderella story.

While the Big East tournament may not be as treacherous as it was before Syracuse, Notre Dame, UConn and others left during the last conference realignment, it's still a difficult league to maneuver through.

Ed Cooley's Friars defeated Creighton and Xavier in overtime on back-to-back nights to earn their date with Villanova, a team it split with in the regular season.

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Providence entered the Big East tournament on the NCAA men's basketball tournament bubble, but it's played its way in with the pair of quality victories at Madison Square Garden.

The Friars' resume is weighed down by three bad losses to Minnesota, UMass and DePaul, but they have six victories over top-50 teams in the RPI and seven more against teams in the top 100 of the RPI.

Even if they lose Saturday, it's hard to count Providence out of the tournament given its recent play and trio of wins over Xavier and Villanova.

Friday's victory over Xavier handed the Friars their first season with three wins over Top Five teams in program history, per the team's official Twitter account:

In order to upset Villanova and earn the Big East's automatic berth into the Big Dance, the Friars need the trio of Rodney Bullock, Alpha Diallo and Kyron Cartwright to step up once again.

The three players combined for 49 points against Xavier, one night after totaling 45 points in the victory over Creighton.

Bullock, Diallo and Cartwright achieved similar success in Providence's February 14 win over Villanova, as Cartwright led the team with 17 points and the other two added 14 each.

If the three players match the same level of production from the last few nights, the Friars should challenge the Wildcats over the course of 40 minutes.

Conversely, if one of the three players struggle, and Villanova leaps out to a hot start, it could be a long night for the Friars.

Villanova In The Hunt For Back-to-Back Big East Titles

Since 2000, three teams have won the Big East tournament in consecutive years.

Villanova is looking to become the first team to accomplish the feat in the revamped Big East, and the first since Louisville to do it in 2012 and 2013.

The Wildcats have been a consistent figure in the Big East tournament final, as they've reached the championship contest in each of the last four years.

However, the last three seasons have produced mixed results, as the team won in 2015 and 2017 but fell to Seton Hall in 2016.

When they are at their best, like the first half of Friday's semifinal against Butler, the Wildcats are unstoppable.

The team that scored the first 19 points against Butler with a barrage of jump shots can beat any program in the nation, but the concern surrounding Villanova is the consistency to put together results like that over a span of six games in the Big Dance.

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Villanova slipped up down the stretch run of the regular season, as it lost to St. John's, Providence and Creighton in February.

The Wildcats appeared to put those results behind them during their current four-game winning streak, and a Big East tournament championship would be the perfect momentum boost for them.

However, it must be noted the Wildcats didn't make it out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament after winning its last two Big East titles.

Before it worries about the Big Dance, the Wildcats have to limit the scoring threats of Providence's top-three players while knocking down open shots in a fashion few teams in the country can.

All five of Villanova's starters hit two or more three-pointers in Friday's semifinal win over Butler, and they all found their way into double digits in the scoring column. 

In total, eight different players scored Friday for Jay Wright's team, and if those numbers continue into Saturday, it won't matter how well Providence is playing.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.