South Florida 56, Villanova 47: The Bulls kept their hopes alive for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, jumping out to an early lead and outlasting the upset-minded Wildcats in the second round of the Big East tournament.

Sixth-seeded South Florida (20-12) advances to the quarterfinals for the first time and will meet third-seeded Notre Dame on Thursday night.

On the NCAA bubble and needing to avoid defeat against the No. 14 seed, South Florida never trailed after opening the game with a 14-2 burst.

Villanova (12-19) never really got untracked, shooting 20 percent (5 for 25) in the first half while scoring only 17 points, though it did rally to within five, 48-43, with 1:01 remaining in the contest before the Bulls put it away at the foul line.

South Florida got 17 points from Anthony Collins and 13 from Victor Rudd Jr., and held on despite committing 18 turnovers.

Mouphtaou Yarou was the lone bright spot for the Wildcats, scoring a game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. His teammates were a combined 9 of 37 (24 percent), with top scorer Maalik Wayns suffering through a 3-for-14 evening.

GAME NOTEBOOK: South Florida has held its last nine opponents to 56 points or fewer. ... The Bulls have won four straight games against Villanova after dropping the first five meetings. ... The Wildcats finished only 3 of 16 from 3-point range, missing all seven of their shots from behind the arc in the first half.