The Wildcats won in wire-to-wire fashion over the Blue Demons.
Are the ‘Cats turning a corner?
After an impressive comeback New Year’s Day win at Butler, Villanova returned home and got its first win of 2025 at Finneran Pavilion, demolishing visiting DePaul in wire-to-wire fashion to win 100-56.
It is the first time the ‘Cats have dropped 100 against an opponent since defeating Howard, 100-81, on Nov. 16, 2021. It is also the first time the ‘Cats reached the century mark in a Big East game since beating Marquette at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 7, 2018.
“Our team has had a pretty good run offensively,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “We have a lot of guys who have multifaceted games. Maybe 1-9 we’ve got guys that can score the ball. But when we defend like that, we give ourselves a chance each time out.
Eric Dixon led the way with 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting, with a 4-of-10 clip from beyond the arc. He also had five boards and four assists. Jordan Longino finished with a career-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting. He was a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range.
“I got hot today but I try to come into every game with a confident mentality,” Longino said. “My teammates and coaches have been trying to instill that confident mentality in me. Obviously, it feels good to see the ball go in a little bit, but the big thing is coming in with the confidence mentality in every game.”
Wooga Poplar had 17 points and three steals. Jhamir Brickus added an 11-point, 11-assist double-double. Kris Parker also had 11 points in the win. Enoch Boakye had six points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and a steal.
Villanova raced out to an 18-3 lead, a hot start that included the Wildcats scoring the first 13 points of the game.
While Dixon jump-started the ‘Cats and played a big role in that early lead, the hot shooting was soon to be contagious throughout the entire rotation.
They pushed their lead into the twenties, before a late 9-0 push by DePaul helped the Blue Demons chip away at the deficit. Dixon nailed a three-pointer just before the break to give Villanova a 48-32 halftime lead.
The onslaught continued into the second half. Villanova came out of the break by rattling off a 29-6 run.
The ‘Cats were unrelenting on both ends of the court. They led by as much as 45 points during the contest. Parker made a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left to help the ‘Cats hit the 100-point mark.
Villanova shot 37-of-62 (59.7%) overall and 16-for-27 (59.3%) from three-point range. The Wildcats edged the Blue Demons in every team statistical category except for bench points, where the Blue Demons outscored the Wildcat bench, 26-22.
DePaul couldn’t gain any offensive traction. The Blue Demons shot 20-of-60 (33.3%) and 7-of-27 (25.9%) overall.
“Our guys were really locked in defensively,” Neptune said. “There were some stretches where we were flying around. I really thought we followed the game plan to a T. I am really impressed and proud with how we defended today.”
Jacob Meyer led DePaul with 13 points on 3-of-14 shooting. Isaiah Rivera had 11 points, while Layden Blocker and N.J. Benson each had 10 points.
The Wildcats have now won seven of their last eight games since losing by one point to Maryland on Nov. 24. They’ll have their biggest test yet, when they welcome two-time reigning national champion UConn to the Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.
“We’re not even officially halfway through the season so there’s a long way to go,” Neptune said. “Teams are going to get better. Other coaches are talking about the same things we’re talking about. Everyone wants to be the best they can be at the end of the season. Right now, we really haven’t done much. I do think we’ve gotten to the point where our guys are confident in what we do. We’ve just got to keep going.”