NEW YORK — The last quarterfinal matchup of this year’s Big East tournament pitted two perennial titans of the conference against one another one more time in an already historic rivalry.

Thanks to torrid shooting and a rebounding clinic, history was made Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

On the heels of an upset of DePaul in the first round of the tournament Wednesday, Georgetown made lightning strike twice, using five double-figure scorers and a plus-21 advantage on the boards to shock third-seeded Villanova, 78-64, and earn itself a date opposite UConn in Friday’s semifinal round.

“We need to advance by any way and means, just continue to advance however we do it,” head coach Ed Cooley remarked as the Hoyas shot 50 percent from the floor and outrebounded Villanova by a whopping 46-25 margin. “I’m just really proud of how connected we’ve been over the last two days defensively. When you guard, offense becomes a lot easier.”

Georgetown limited Villanova, one of the premier outside shooting teams in the nation, to 24 percent shooting from long distance Thursday, something that frustrated Wildcats head coach Kevin Willard as he credited the Hoyas’ defensive scheme for having stymied his own team in his return to the Big East tournament.

“I thought we got a lot of really good looks throughout the game,” he said. “(Georgetown) was in huge drop (coverage), so you’ve gotta take advantage of that and be able to do it. And unfortunately, (Devin Askew) had a tough night.”

It was not only the struggles from the perimeter that doomed the Wildcats on this night, as Georgetown was able to attack the paint against a smaller Villanova unit. Center Julius Halaifonua followed the example set Wednesday against DePaul by his teammate, Vincent Iwuchukwu, racking up a second straight double-double for a Hoya big man with his 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting and 10 rebounds.

“Those two first baskets definitely helped, but I think the rest of the game, I just trusted my guards to make the right play,” the New Zealander assessed. “They trusted me with the ball, and I just happened to make shots.”

Villanova now awaits its fate on Selection Sunday, where the Wildcats will be one of at least three Big East teams to hear their names called as part of the NCAA Tournament bracket. Georgetown will now await UConn in its next matchup, which completes the first-ever semifinal round comprised entirely of charter members of the Big East, as St. John’s and Seton Hall will lock horns in the first contest Friday.

“I’m just grateful that I’ve had an opportunity to walk on that floor and I’m going to have another opportunity tomorrow,” Cooley said. “We’re going to play one of the best teams in America. I want our men to feel how special it is to play on a Friday night in Madison Square Garden. We’re going to give them that experience, and if we continue to do what we’ve been doing the last couple of days, we’re going to give ourselves an opportunity to advance.”