The Wildcats closed out non-conference play with a win over FDU.
The Villanova Wildcats were back in action Wednesday Night, taking on the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights at the Finneran Pavilion.
The Wildcats were nearly 29-point favorites in Las Vegas coming into this contest, but did not look like it in the early going. An Ahmed Barba-Bey layup gave Fairleigh Dickinson an early three-point advantage midway through the first ‘quarter’ of the game.
Villanova would finish the half on a 22-12 run, taking a nine point advantage into the halftime break. The Wildcats would use the momentum they gathered at the end of the first half to springboard them to their seventh win of the year, taking down the Knights, 86-72.
This game was a little sloppy one for Villanova, ridden with a few bad passes, some blown assignments on defense and mishaps of that nature, most of which came in the first half. The Wildcats finished the first half tallying seven turnovers and eight personal fouls, well beyond their season averages for a half.
Perhaps the most surprising stat of the first half was the minutes distribution between Tyler Perkins and Jordan Longino. Perkins finished the first half with 16 minutes to Longino’s five.
Tyler Perkins has been outstanding all year long for the Wildcats, placing first in total +/- for the Wildcats by a considerable margin, also good enough to place him twelfth in the entire conference. Perkins has been getting it done on both ends of the floor and is slowly separating himself as one of the conference’s best transfer fits.
On the topic of good transfer fits, Jhamir Brickus has been outstanding so far this season as well. Frankly, he was responsible for some of the sloppy play in the first half, but his leadership and IQ on the court in the “quarterback” role of the offense is palpable, as the guys seem to rally around him and go as he does. He was the catalyst of the second half cleanup.
Brickus finished with points and assists in a much cleaner second half.
Wooga Poplar also seems to be finding his stride for Villanova here as the season picks up. Poplar finished with 19 points and four assists. It was a streaky start for Wooga, but for Villanova to continue to win games, they will need this version of Poplar and Brickus.
Once again Eric Dixon paced the Wildcats in scoring, finishing with 27 points on 9-13 shooting from the field. There is only so much more to say about the fifth year senior, and he seems destined to rewrite some of the longstanding records on the Main Line.
The Knights were led by the nation’s eleventh leading scorer Terrence Brown who finished with 27 points. Brown projects to be a hot commodity in the transfer portal this summer if he chooses that route. Jo’el Emmanuel finished with 14 points and four rebounds.
Overall, any time you get a win on your home court, it should be taken as a net positive. Nothing spectacular went down tonight at The Finneran Pavilion, but it did not have to. The Wildcats took care of business and will turn their attention to the Big East slate, which starts on Tuesday when Seton Hall comes to town.