NEW YORK CITY — Villanova made the impossible possible on Thursday at Madison Square Garden… NEW YORK CITY — Villanova made the impossible possible on Thursday at Madison Square Garden in the second round of the Big East tournament. They shut down Chevon Troutman.

“We didn’t think that was possible,” said Wildcat head coach Jay Wright, who did not game plan against the 6-foot-7-inch forward.

To their surprise, it was, as Troutman managed only eight points before fouling out with less than five minutes to go in Pitt’s 67-58 setback in the Garden.

Villanova guard Randy Foye scored a game-high 23 points, including two consecutive 3-pointers in the first half to give the Wildcats an early 13-6 lead.

Pitt (20-8) came back to cut the Villanova (22-7) lead to three points at 19-16, but the Wildcats rode a 21-7 run stretching into the early minutes of the first half to take a 40-23 lead. At that point, it was all but over.

The Panthers’ offense could not get anything going whatsoever.

“We just never got into a rhythm,” head coach Jamie Dixon said. “We missed some shots early that I thought were good shots. We never quite got what we needed.”

In the first half alone, Pitt made only five field goals, shooting a miserable 20 percent (five of 25) from the field.

“That’s not going to put you in a good spot,” Dixon said of the 20 percent shooting.

Taft missed a dunk at one point, layups fell everywhere but through the hoop and airballs were frequent. As a team, Pitt was not in sync thanks in part to a tough Wildcat defense that played a game that Wright compared to the old-school Big East style. He also renounced the early-season notion that his team was soft.

Allan Ray and Curtis Sumpter also reached double figures for Villanova, scoring 18 and 17 points, respectively.

Sumpter single-handedly squashed an attempted comeback by Pitt in the final 10 minutes of the game. With Pitt narrowing the lead to eight, 44-36, Sumpter turned around and knocked down two free throws, a 3-pointer and a long two-point jumper to give Villanova a 51-39 lead.

It was defense from there on out.

Wright especially praised Foye for his defensive play, noting that he did a great job covering Pitt point guard Carl Krauser, who did manage 18 points, but turned the ball over six times and showed frustration all throughout the second half.

Also frustrated was Taft, who scored only 10 points to follow the career-high 26 he posted on Saturday at Notre Dame. Defensively he allowed Villanova’s big men, Sumpter and Jason Fraser, to get to the basket too easily. Jeers from his “hometown” crowd quickly surrounded him as the clock neared zero.

Because of the loss, Pitt will not partake in the Big East tournament championship game for the first time in five years.

It also marked the second time Villanova has taken down the Panthers this season.

“They caught us off guard again,” Troutman said, referring to Pitt’s 80-72 loss to the Wildcats on Feb. 20.

Pitt will now sit back and wait for the selection committee to announce its seeding in the NCAA tournament. Additionally, the team needs some work if it plans on making it back to the Sweet 16 like it has the past three years, and Dixon understands that.

“We need to shoot it better,” Dixon said.

Turnovers, free throws and just overall offensive rhythm are among the things Pitt needs to work on, otherwise it could be another quick exit, this time from the NCAA tournament.

“We need to a lot of things better,” Dixon added.