The Wildcats are ready to usher in the 2024-25 season with their opener against Lafayette.
The Villanova Wildcats are ready to usher in the new season on Monday night, when they take on Lafayette.
The Wildcats are scheduled to host the visiting Leopards for an 8 p.m. ET tip-off from Finneran Pavilion.
The game will also be available on Fox Sports 1 and the Fox Sports App. Since it is the season-opener for most Big East teams, Fox Sports 1 is bringing back its wraparound coverage with live look-ins, similar to NFL Red Zone for opening night.
If you want to watch only the Villanova-Lafayette game, with no interruptions or cuts to other Big East teams, you must download the Fox Sports app on your phone, computer or smart TV to watch the game in its entirety.
In the meantime, here are three things to watch on Monday night:
Lafayette’s one-two punch
The Leopards went 11-21 last season in coach Mike McGarvey’s first season with the team. Despite their struggles, they were able to retain a majority of their core from last year.
Lafayette likes to go deep into the bench, and it deployed a 10-man rotation last season. The Leopards have seven of those players back, and with a year of familiarity in McGarvey’s system, they’re hoping for a better year.
Guard Devin Hines and 7-foot center Justin Vander Baan are back. They were the Leopards’ top two producers last season and they’re set to reprise their roles as the leading one-two punch.
Hines averaged 9.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, while shooting 37.2% overall. Vander Baan was a solid rim protector and rebounder, plus a solid passer out of the low block. He had 9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.2 blocks per game.
Also keep an eye on Chris Rubayo, the 6-foot-10 forward is primed for a bigger role after the departure of Kyle Jenkins, who transferred out to Fairfield after being one of Lafayette’s top options last year.
Last year, Lafayette was more of a defensive-minded team and with Vander Baan anchoring the middle, the Leopards held opponents to shooting 46.6% inside in the arc, which was good for 34th in the country.
They struggled offensively, ranking 347th in offensive efficiency according to KenPom. They also placed 300th or worse in various shooting categories. It’ll be interesting to see if Lafayette improves in its second year under McGarvey, with a good chunk of returners back, or if it’ll be more of the same.
Villanova’s three-point shooting
The jury is still out on Villanova’s ability to shoot the three, but based on the Robert Morris exhibition, it felt reminiscent of last year — Eric Dixon and/or one other player gets it going from long range, and the rest of the team struggles to cash in on open looks.
That was just one game and it is very early on, so hopefully, we can see some of those open threes drop.
Villanova shot 33.8% as a team last year, a percentage boosted by Brendan Hausen (38.1%), Eric Dixon (34.6%) and T.J. Bamba (36.9%). Only Dixon remains, and he already dictates plenty of attention from opposing teams.
The Wildcats are at their best when they can threaten with multiple shooters at the perimeter, but if Dixon and only one other player are the only threats that opponents have to respect from long range, it definitely restricts what Villanova can do offensively.
Against Robert Morris, Dixon was 5-for-9 from deep and seemed to pick up from where he left off last year, leading the ‘Cats with 28 points. Jordan Longino had a great offensive showing, scoring 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including a 3-for-4 clip from deep.
The rest of the team shot 0-for-19 from long range. It’s hard to imagine another type of game like that in back-to-back outings.
Hopefully those looks will start to drop, especially now that it’s for real this time and the start of the regular season.
With Dixon out for one-game suspension, opportunities for all
Dixon has to serve a one-game suspension, but you already know what to expect from Dixon and how he’s capable of carrying the ‘Cats. I remain more curious in how all the new pieces carve their role and fit in together.
Is this the year where Longino can be healthy and finally show his true potential?
Jhamir Brickus can definitely facilitate after logging 10 assists and just one turnover against Robert Morris, but will he show more of his finishing and scoring side?
How will Wooga Poplar bounce back after a rough shooting night in the exhibition?
Can Enoch Boakye build off of his double-double against bigs that are closer to his size? (Robert Morris’ tallest player was 6-foot-8, while Lafayette has the 7-foot Vander Baan and 6-10 Rubayo.)
Kyle Neptune said Nnanna Njoku will play in the season-opener. How will that shake up the starting lineup and the rotation? How will he look in his first appearance since undergoing knee surgery? Does this mean fewer minutes for Josiah Moseley?
In the Robert Morris exhibition, Kris Parker, Tyler Perkins and Moseley were the main go-to guys off the bench. Freshmen Malcolm Thomas and Aleksandar ‘Sasha’ Gavalyugov were deeper on the depth chart and only played a couple minutes. Will this change in any way on Monday night?
Plenty to keep an eye on in this first game, albeit being Lafayette, especially as we slowly begin to learn more about the new-look ‘Cats.
Oh, and how can we forget — will the Wildcats avoid the dreaded slow start from opening tip?