CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Nobody on the current Villanova roster had even been born the last time the Wildcats stood alone atop the Big East. Andre Holmes Jersey . The 32-year drought ended Thursday night when Darrun Hilliard scored 19 points and No. 6 Villanova clinched the outright Big East championship for the first time since the 1981-82 season by holding off undermanned Xavier 77-70. The Wildcats, playing before a hostile standing-room only crowd of 10,340 in their first visit to Cintas Center, overcame a determined Musketeers team in what Villanova coach Jay Wright described as a "great, intense college basketball environment." "Youre not going to win championships unless you win on the road," Wright said. "We have great respect for this league. To win this league is a hell of an accomplishment." JayVaughn Pinkston added 15 points -- eight in the last 3:20 -- James Bell finished with 12 and Ryan Arcidiacono chipped in 11 as the Wildcats (27-3, 15-2 Big East) extended their school record for regular-season wins with their fifth straight and 11th in their last 12 games. They also clinched the top seed in the Big East tournament, which starts Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in New York. "This is a big accomplishment," Bell said. "Its a testament to how hard weve worked, but we cant stop there." The Wildcats went into the night with a 1 1-2 game lead over No. 13 Creighton in the Big East and two games remaining. The Bluejays have one game to play. Villanova, which last shared the title in a co-championship with Syracuse in 2005-06, wraps up its regular season Saturday at home against Georgetown. Justin Martin had 20 points for Xavier (20-11, 10-8) while Semaj Christon added 18 points and Isaiah Philmore finished with 15. The Musketeers ended the regular season with consecutive losses. Xavier struggled from 3-point range finishing 6 of 23, while Villanova was 9 for 23. The game was Xaviers first without 6-foot-10 junior centre Matt Stainbrook, who started each of the Musketeers previous 30 before straining the medial collateral ligament in his left knee in their 71-62 loss at Seton Hall on Monday. Stainbrook watched the game from the bench wearing a tan suit and bow tie. "Us not having Matt was tough, but I think we learned more about each other," Philmore said. "It didnt turn out the way we wanted it to, obviously, but we stuck together. It just wasnt enough. Sometimes, its not always enough." Xaviers regular-season finale was its second consecutive home game against a Top 10 team and the second straight to attract a standing-room only crowd. The Wildcats never trailed after Arcidiacono made two free throws for a 29-28 lead with 5:11 left in the first half. Villanova, which beat Xavier 81-58 on Feb. 3 for the Musketeers worst loss of the season, led by as many as 12 points. The lead dwindled to three before Josh Hart and Bell made two free throws each in the final 19.4 seconds. "We knew they wouldnt go away," Wright said. "They played without one of their best players. We caught a break there." The Wildcats had no surprises, Musketeers coach Chris Mack said. "They were what we saw on film," he said. "This was our first game without Matt, so that was a little bit different, but we competed. We didnt quite have enough to beat Villanova." Hilliard, averaging 14.1 points per game, had 15 to help the Wildcats take a 41-36 halftime lead. Martin, who went into the game averaging 11.2 points, scored 12 in the first half for Xavier. Nathan Peterman Jersey . The result means Atletico Madrid now tops the table, with Madrid level on points in second and Barcelona a point behind in third with nine games remaining as the title race shapes up to be the closest in years. Jordan Poyer Jersey .J. -- Omar Cummings helped the Houston Dynamo advance to the MLS Eastern Conference finals. http://www.shoptheofficialbills.com/Elite-Nick-Oleary-Bills-Jersey/ . As they are wont to do, the Spurs made things real easy. The Spurs signed Parker to a multi-year contract extension on Friday, ensuring that the six-time All-Star point guard will be in the fold whether Duncan and Ginobili are able to continue their careers or not. BALTIMORE -- Baltimore manager Buck Showalter is running out of adjectives to describe how much Steve Pearce has meant to the Orioles this season. Pearce had a career-high four hits and drove in two runs, and Wei-Yin Chen shut down Texas again as the Orioles completed a four-game sweep of the Rangers with a 5-2 victory on Thursday night. The Rangers have lost nine consecutive road games -- their longest skid since 2005 when Showalter was Texas manager. Baltimore (46-39) completed its first four-game sweep against the Rangers since 2004 and improved to a season-high seven games over .500. The Orioles managed the feat while playing without All-Star third baseman Manny Machado, who is serving a five game suspension for throwing his bat on June 8 against Oakland. "Were relying on some people, and people are stepping up," Pearce said. "Were pitching, were hitting. Were having timely hitting. Were finding ways to get it done." Chen (8-3) allowed two runs and six hits with four strikeouts and two walks in six innings. He is 4-0 in four starts against Texas with a 1.67 ERA. Left-hander Zach Britton earned his 12th save and hasnt allowed a run in 21 consecutive relief appearances. Pearce, who was released at the end of April and then re-signed, had eight RBIs in the four-game series. Since the beginning of June, he is 31 for 81 (.383) with nine doubles and 17 RBIs. Nick Hundley had two of Baltimores six doubles and scored twice. Texas right-hander Yu Darvish, who was scheduled to pitch Thursday, was pushed back one day after rain delayed the start of the game. With the threat of more rain after a nearly one-hour delay, Rangers manager Ron Washington decided to use long reliever Scott Baker against Baltimore and save Darvish until Friday night when Texas will take on the Mets in New York. The game, however, didnt have another delay. The Orioles are scheduled to play an afternoon game in Boston on Friday. "Its so hard to win a four-game series, or three out of four, in the major leagues," Showalter said. "The guys kept a real intensity level through the rain delay, not knowing whether we were going to play or not. So many dynamics of whats going on with the 1:30 game (Friday), and weather issues there, getting in and out tonight." Baker (0-2) allowed three runs and seven hits with two strikeoutts and one intentional walk in 4 2-3 innings. Stephen Hauschka Jersey. . Shin-Soo Choo hit his eighth homer of the season for Texas (37-48), which has lost 13 of 15. "Bake was on alert (Wednesday) when we knew of the weather," Washington said. "It wasnt all of a sudden that Bake would be the guy. He knew coming into today that it was going to be a possibility so he prepared. He went out there and did a good job for us." It was the first time in the Orioles last 34 wins that they didnt hit a homer. Baltimore took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Pearce hit a one-out RBI single to left. Texas responded the next inning when Carlos Penas grounder to second scored Adrian Beltre, who led off with a single. Choo made it 2-1 with a solo shot off Chen in the fifth. "I knew it was going to be delayed from the start so I just went through my routine and waited for the notice that the game was going to start," Chen said through a translator. "So, it wasnt all that difficult. Six innings is the baseline for a starter, so I feel content but I do hope that next time I can go further, deeper in the game." Baltimore regained the lead at 3-2 in the bottom half of the inning. After Ryan Flaherty led off with a double, Hundley followed with another double, and scored on Pearces double to centre. "I probably ran out of gas at the end a little bit," Baker said. "It was pretty muggy out there. It was kind of hard to catch your breath. I would have liked to have made some better pitches, especially that fifth inning. You just cant expect to give a couple of doubles and then them not to score. I would have liked to have had a better showing." The Orioles added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Adam Jones and an RBI single by Chris Davis. NOTES: Baltimore OF Henry Urrutia (sports hernia surgery) will begin a rehab assignment next week. ... Baltimore RHP Bud Norris (strained right groin) took fielding drills, and is expected to throw a bullpen session or simulated game on Friday. Norris is eligible to come off the DL on Monday and could start that night against Washington. ... The Rangers used a new batting order for the 18th consecutive game. ... Pena went 0 for 3 and is mired in a 3 for 33 slump since being promoted from Triple-A Round Rock on June 24. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '