In a game that featured 17 lead changes, including 12 in the second half, the unseeded Rams pulled away and knocked out No. 1 seed Villanova.
The Villanova Wildcats played host to the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams on a very late Wednesday evening on The Main Line for the opening round of the NIT.
This is the second all-time meeting between VCU and Villanova, with the Wildcats taking the first game just about a decade ago.
This was by far the smallest crowd of the season, and understandably so. A late night weeknight start on the east coast never plays out well, not even on $2 concessions night.
The energy in the building matched the play, as Villanova’s season ended in the final hours of Wednesday night, 70-61.
“A lot of credit to VCU,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “They came out with a great game plan. Their length was formidable. They’re one of the longest teams we’ve played against ‘1’ through ‘4.’ Their length really affected us. I give them a lot of credit.”
This game featured two of the slowest teams in the country, and it certainly appeared like that was the case. The start to this one featured six combined points in the first three minutes.
After the feeling out process was over, Villanova took advantage of some sloppy VCU turnovers and went on a 9-0 run. Eric Dixon was all over the glass in that stretch snatching nine rebounds.
VCU would have an answer however, giving Villanova a very familiar kill-shot, by way of an 11-0 run. Alphonso Billups hot shooting netted him three triples in that stretch and that would be good to lead all players at halftime.
Villanova would crawl back and knock down a three at the halftime buzzer to cut the VCU lead to 31-30. Eric Dixon had an impressive first half, while VCU deployed ten different players in a balanced effort.
“We were off-balanced by their length,” Neptune said. “They clogged the paint, made it hard for us to get the ball moving. Kept us off the offensive glass and stayed with us in transition.”
TJ Bamba would open the second half with authority, scoring Villanova’s first eight points, two of which came by way of this thunderous slam. Things started to heat up in the second half, with 12 of 17 lead changes occurring after the break.
TJ Bamba PUNCHED that
My goodness. pic.twitter.com/3lMFctCeGO
— Tommy Godin (@tommygodinjr) March 21, 2024
Villanova’s lead was short lived however, as VCU would reclaim the lead by way of their second kill shot of the game, this time a 10-0 run. Villanova trailed by seven with 7:51 left in regulation.
Eric Dixon absolutely took over when things looked grim, going on a personal 8-0 run to give Villanova an advantage with five and change to go, once again carrying the offense for extended stretches. It is time to start talking about Eric Dixon as an all-time Villanova great big man.
Max Shulga hit the dagger with 2:56 left on the clock to give VCU a six-point edge, and they never looked back.
There needs to be questions answered on The Main Line.
Back-to-back first round NIT exits for a team as prestigious as Villanova is unacceptable. Credit to the players for never giving up or checking out on the court, when it could have been very easy to.
The Wildcats lost four of their last five games to end the season.
“Every game is different,” Neptune said. “There were a lot of games in there where you’re going against high-level teams and the margin of error is very small. I thought we battled in a lot of those games down the stretch.
“Obviously, we’re not happy with these results. We’re going to go back and work our behinds as a staff. The guys that are back next year, we’ll work our tails off to be the best Villanova basketball team we could be. … I get the frustration. We’re all frustrated. Me, included, I’m frustrated as well. Definitely not the end of the season that I wanted, we wanted or the fans wanted, so definitely frustrated.”
Eric Dixon paced the Wildcats in what we could have been his last game in a Villanova uniform. Dixon finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds. TJ Bamba and Mark Armstrong were the only other double-digit scorers, finishing with 12 and 10 respectively.
The Wildcats end the season 18-15 overall.
“End of the season, this is an elite program,” Dixon said. “There’s elite people in this program and that makes you elite at the end of the day. Proud of this group and proud of my guys.
“Elite guys who came in and gave up a lot to be a part of something bigger than themselves. To end like this is very difficult. Glad I had the opportunity to suit up with them.”
VCU was led by Joe Bamisile, who finished with 17 points and four rebounds. Max Shulga added 10 points.
VCU will advance to play South Florida this weekend in the second round.
Villanova will turn it’s attention to the transfer portal and offseason recruiting.
“I think we have a bright future,” Neptune said. “We have a great staff here. The guys that come back, we’ll get them better in the offseason. We’re a great staff and we have people who support our program, so we’ll have a bright future.
“Obviously, we didn’t have the results we wanted towards the end of the season. I get it. I get the frustration. All we can do as a staff is go back and put our heads together. We’re going to come up with a great plan, push our guys as hard as possible during the offseason, recruit some great guys here and come back better than ever next year.”