The Lions hang 90 points on an opponent for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
The big storyline entering this game was two-time All-Big East selection Eric Dixon making his debut after missing opening night due to a one-game suspesion.
Dixon dropped 33 points on 11-of-16 shooting, with six rebounds and three steals in his anticipated return, but it was all for naught, as Villanova lost to visiting Columbia, 90-80, on Wednesday night.
“A lot of credit goes to Columbia, they came in with a game plan,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “They moved the ball, they shared the ball. They had counters for everything we tried to do to them defensively. We just couldn’t get enough stops to get it done.
“… They got into us. They were scrappy. They switched their defenses, a lot of credit goes to them. They turned us over, and on the other end, when we were making our runs — they had answers.”
Dixon started the game off hot and made his presence immediately felt, personally matching Columbia’s first 12 points of the contest. He also became the 35th Wildcat to eclipse the 1,500 point mark in his career with his first bucket tonight. He passed recent legends Darrun Hilliard and Phil Booth to move to 32nd all-time.
As good as Dixon was, the Wildcats were never able to pull away or take control of the game, seemingly always having to answer back in a back-and-forth battle with the Lions.
“It’s a great honor, it’s just all my coaches and teammates all through my four — really, six, years here — all contributed to it, but it’s obviously not the main focus tonight,” Dixon said of his milestone. “But, that’s something I’ll look back at down the line and think about.”
Jordan Longino made a layup to give Villanova a 53-52 lead, with 13:23 left in the game.
Columbia went on a 17-5 run that stretched for nearly seven minutes after Longino’s basket. Kenny Noland hit a second-chance basket off of a Villanova turnover to spark the run, before it was topped off by a pair of Noah Robledo free throws to give the Lions a 69-58 lead, with 6:38 remaining.
The Wildcats were unable to chip away at the deficit, and the Lions were able to hover in double figures and led by as many as 13 points in the closing minutes of the game.
The calling card of this Villanova team last year was defense and rebounding. Uncharacteristically, Villanova did not look sharp on either of those fronts tonight. Villanova gave up 39 first-half points, a mark they have not conceded since their Jan. 30 matchup versus Marquette.
Villanova was trailing at halftime, by way of another familiar detriment from last season, a three-point buzzer beater. Rubio De La Rosa sank the shot at the buzzer to give the Lions a 39-37 halftime lead.
For as much as the Wildcats struggled in the first half, the second half did not inspire any confidence. Turnovers, lackluster transition defense and poor communication on both ends is what eventually spelled doom for this Villanova team on Wednesday night.
The Wildcats gave up 12 turnovers, which led into 21 Columbia points off turnovers.
“Yeah, if we had won that game, we would still have to get a lot better,” Neptune said of his takeaways after two games into the season. “We’re just not where we need to be right now. We have to go back, watch this film and get better. We have a lot of things that we got to get a lot better at.”
This was not a fluke win for Columbia either. The Lions hardly looked back after taking the lead for good.
Columbia came into this contest after narrowly avoiding defeat at the hands of KenPom’s 347th ranked team, Loyola Maryland. Selected at the bottom half of the Ivy League coaches poll, Columbia returned 12 student-athletes this season and were clearly the more cohesive unit on Wednesday night.
Aside from Dixon, Wooga Poplar had 16 points, seven boards, a block and a steal. Jordan Longino finished with 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting, with three boards, three assists and a steal.
Villanova shot 27-of-60 overall (45.0%) and 11-for-32 (34.4%) from deep.
For Columbia, Rubio De La Rosa had 22 points, four assists and three steals. He played a turnover-free game and went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. Avery Brown added 18 points, three assists and two steals. Kenny Noland had 14 points, five boards and three steals. Noah Rubledo chipped in 12 points off the bench.
“We’ve got to be more in tune defensively,” Longino said. “Transition — they got a few quick and easy ones — just not getting back, just not communicating, so when we go back, watch film, we’ll figure that out for the next one.”
Columbia shot 29-of-54 (53.7%) overall and 8-for-24 (33.3%) from long range. The Lions shot the ball better in the second half and got to the line more frequently. Columbia was 14-of-24 (58.3%) in the second half and 21-for-22 (95.5%) in foul shots.
It was the first time Columbia scored 90 points on an opponent since a 98-96 triple-overtime loss to Harvard on Feb. 8, 2019. It was also the first time the Lions dropped 90 points in regulation since beating Bryant, 90-68, on Dec. 7, 2018.
Villanova drops to 1-1 overall and will return to action on Friday, at 7:30 p.m. ET, against visiting NJIT. When the Wildcats last played Columbia at the Pavilion in 2012, the Lions also emerged victorious in a 75-57 result.
“It is what it is; we’re human beings — you don’t want to come in and lose,” Neptune said. “Everybody wants to win. We have to think about that, accept the fact that it happened, and now we gotta move on from it, and we have to get ready for the next game and get better.”