PHILADELPHIA — There was a loose ball that led to a killer 3-pointer by Villanova’s Chris Arcidiacono. There were two offensive rebounds by the Wildcats on the next-to-last possession.

If the ball had bounced Seton Hall’s way in just one of those instances, maybe the Pirates would have beaten No. 15 Villanova for their fourth straight victory. Instead, they couldn’t come up with clutch defensive rebounds, and they headed home on the short end of a frustrating 73-67 loss in front of 17,803 at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.

“We just didn’t come up with two key rebounds,” coach Kevin Willard said. “I thought we executed pretty good, we just didn’t come up with two key rebounds.”

Brandon Slater’s layup with 1:27 left gave Villanova the lead for good at 69-67, sending Seton Hall to its fifth straight loss to the Wildcats — all by single digits.

Kadary Richmond, so good for most of the afternoon, missed a 3-pointer with just over a minute left that could’ve given Seton Hall (15-8, 6-7 Big East) the lead, and then turned the ball over in the final seconds as the Pirates tried to rally.

But the game was really lost when Seton Hall got two stops inside of a minute to go, but couldn’t get a defensive rebound. As a result, they had to send Justin Moore to the free-throw line. He hit both attempts with 16.5 seconds left to push the lead to 71-67.

Down the stretch, it was clear how much Seton Hall could’ve used Bryce Aiken, the high-scoring senior guard who has missed the past seven games due to a concussion. He had become a closer of sorts before getting hurt against Marquette on Jan. 15.

“Obviously, we miss him, but what are we going to do?” Willard said. “Kadary’s been playing great.”

It was a valiant effort by Seton Hall, which held the lead with 3:15 left following back-to-back Tray Jackson 3-pointers. The Pirates answered every run by Villanova (19-6, 12-3) with one of their own. Seton Hall looked more and more like the team that had risen to No. 15 in the national polls in December before a lengthy COVID-19 pause ravaged its roster and led to a January swoon.

“I feel like we found ourselves again and we’re in a very good spot,” senior guard Myles Cale said. “We’re not trying to have a domino effect, let this affect us throughout the whole rest of the season.”

Richmond had one of his best games of the season, notching 16 points and five assists. Jackson also had 16 points, while Alexis Yetna added six points and 15 rebounds. Moore and Jermaine Samuels each scored 16 for Villanova.

It was a typical Seton Hall-Villanova game, featuring nine lead changes and seven ties. The games are almost always close, intense and entertaining. Unfortunately for the Pirates, they tend to end the same way — in Villanova’s favor.

“I love this team, I love their effort. We had our chances, and you’ve got to give [Villanova] credit,” Willard said. “They made plays at the end, and you have to give them all the credit. They made two huge plays, two huge rebounds … and if you watch ’Nova, what I love about [Villanova coach] Jay [Wright’s] teams and I love about the kids on his teams, they make a lot of winning plays.”