Villanova gets its first crack at the new-look, but still-struggling Hoyas on Friday night.
After getting back on track with a dominant all-around performance against Seton Hall, Villanova is headed down to Washington D.C. for its first look of the season against Georgetown, who’s been stuck in neutral — maybe even reverse — for the entire season.
The Wildcats bounced back from an anticlimactic and disappointing finish at Xavier with a beatdown of the Pirates, which helped them break a recent skid. They’ll try to build on that momentum, though, and show it wasn’t a one-time deal. The recent win over Seton Hall gave Villanova its first win after losing six of its last seven to improve to 13-11 overall and 6-7 in Big East play.
As for Georgetown, the Hoyas are limping in with an 8-16 record, which includes a 1-12 mark in conference play. Their lone win in Big East competition came against DePaul, which locks them in at 10th place in the conference. Georgetown has lost each of its last nine games since.
Friday’s game is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
The names change, but the results don’t
During the offseason, when the Hoyas were able to successfully coax Ed Cooley to leave Providence and come to Georgetown, there was a brief jolt of excitement.
Cooley made some big moves immediately after his hire, getting Jayden Epps (Illinois) and Dontrez Styles (North Carolina) to transfer over.
Epps leads the Hoyas with a team-best 17.6 points and 4.3 assists per game. While he’s been up-and-down as of late on the scoring end, he has proven to be dangerous when he heats up. Epps has dropped 30 points or more in four different outings this season.
Styles is right behind him, with 13.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He’s also slightly more efficient from the perimeter than Epps, shooting 36.7% from beyond the arc.
Supreme Cook has also been another productive transfer, which he proved after a couple of standout seasons in the MAAC at Fairfield. Cook is Georgetown’s top rebounder, averaging 8.2 boards per game, while also chipping in 11.7 points per game. He is an old-school big man: one that operates well inside but can’t struggle at the free-throw line and can’t hit a three-pointer.
Cook averages 11.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 62.3% on the floor and 55.8% from the free-throw line.
Jay Heath is a holdover that plays a big part on the team and averages 8.5 points per game.
While these are the names to watch (and some of these players have found individual success since transferring over), nothing has translated to a team-wide level. The Hoyas have lost each of their last three games at home by 20 points or more. They remain in the basement of the Big East, alongside DePaul.
A look at the numbers
According to KenPom, Georgetown is ranked No. 96 in offensive efficiency, but they are a staggering 311st out of 362 Division I teams in defensive efficiency.
While Cooley has coached some tough teams and squads that have given Villanova some serious battles in recent years, it doesn’t appear that his message or style has translated right away in his first year.
The Hoyas allow teams to shoot 56.5% inside the arc (356th in the country) and 34.4% from deep (228th).
This could be another confidence-boosting performance for ‘Nova, who saw the ball go through the basket plenty of times against Seton Hall. As long as they can connect, this game could be another high-scoring outing for the ‘Cats.
Georgetown also has a low defensive rebounding rate, entering at just 31.8%, which is good for 291st in the country.
While Epps is dangerous offensively, he is a bit of a volume scorer. As a team, the Hoyas are ranked 303rd in scoring inside the arc and about average from deep. They also struggle with turnovers, coughing the ball up on 18.0% of possessions.
One positive for the Hoyas is that they are great on the offensive glass and rank No. 45 in offensive rebounding rate. The ‘Cats will need to be sure to box out.
While rivalry games can be unpredictable at times, the ‘Cats should — on paper — run away with this game.