Noah and Horford were too tough for the Wildcats to use much of the flashy, four-guard attack for which they are known. Foul trouble made it impossible in the second half, as Foye drew his third at the 18-minute mark, Kyle Lowry picked up his fourth with 14 minutes left and Ray’s third came soon after.

A smooth, sweeping layup across the lane by Ray cut the Gators’ lead to 54-47 with 7½ minutes to go. But after a foul by Will Sheridan, a timeout, and two more free throws by Noah, it was a nine-point edge for Florida.

The cap came when Horford, slowly backing down with the ball in the post, spun and dropped an easy pass on the baseline to a streaking Noah — who powered up and threw down a rim-bending dunk for a 66-54 lead with less than 3½ minutes left.

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” said Gators reserve forward Chris Richard. “We’ve been playing together a while and impressed a lot of people in the summer. I’m not going to pinch myself. You know, I’m not cocky, but I knew we had a great team.”

Before that, every time the Gators opened up a healthy lead the Wildcats came right back.

Ray picked up an early technical foul during a brief tiff for holding the ball in the face of Florida’s Walter Hodge, and the Wildcats lost some energy after that — falling behind by as many as 12.

A foul by Ray a little later in the half sent him to the bench, and put Green on the line for three shots. Green made two of them to give the Gators a 31-21 lead with 5:46 left before halftime.

Despite shooting 21 percent from the field (8-for-38), Villanova refused to limp into the locker room with a double-digit deficit — as it did two days before in a third-round win over Boston College.

Florida became a bit careless, started getting frustrated with the officials and struggled when the Wildcats used their full-court zone press with Mike Nardi pestering Lee Humphrey at the top.

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The Gators had 10 first-half turnovers, failed to make a field goal in the final 4:39, had given up 16 offensive rebounds — and all of a sudden the lead was down to 35-30 at the break.

“That’s generally a recipe for disaster, but because we defended the 3-point line that gave us an opportunity,” Donovan said.

Since their national championship in 1985 as a No. 8 seed, the Wildcats have been trying to get back to the Final Four. With seniors Foye and Ray leading the way, this Villanova squad was no underdog.

Ranked near the top of the AP poll all season, these Wildcats were favorites to get to the Final Four.

“Everybody was crushed,” Wright said. “I told them to just cry. Everybody let it out. It’s supposed to hurt. I’m so proud of them. I know it hurts for everybody, but I really want to make sure this group feels great about itself.”