The Wildcats dismantled the Hoyas on both ends of the court on Senior Night.
There’s been some ups and downs throughout the year, but the ‘Cats made their final performance of the season at Finneran Pavilion a special one.
Thanks to a balanced attack and a hard-nosed defensive effort, Villanova completed the season series sweep of rival Georgetown on Tuesday night with a dominant 75-47 win to top off senior night festivities.
“I was really proud of how our guys came out defensively,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “We probably, more than any game this year, we came out and set the tone. We kept it up for a full 40 minutes. That’s what we gotta continue to do.”
The Wildcats had issues with slow offensive starts throughout the season, including their previous matchup with Georgetown, but they had no problem putting the ball through the net in the rematch.
After giving up a three to Georgetown to start the game, Villanova responded with a 10-0 run to take the lead and it hardly looked back from there.
The Wildcats closed the first half on an 18-3 run over the final 6:45 to take a 43-19 halftime lead. Justin Moore ignited the scoring spurt with three straight baskets, including back-to-back 3-pointers.
All five Villanova starters scored in double figures. Dixon led with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, with six rebounds. Moore had 14 points and shot 4 of 8 from long range. Mark Armstrong had 12 points and six assists. Hakim Hart chipped in 11 points, five assists, two steals and a block.
Tyler Burton finished with 10 points and eight rebounds in his return to the starting lineup, after playing off the bench in Saturday’s loss to UConn due to a non-COVID illness.
T.J. Bamba (facial fracture) and Jordan Longino (non-COVID illness) did not play in the victory.
“Every player we put in the game, we have the utmost confidence in,” Neptune said. “You look up and down the roster, every player has started and contributed to big time basketball, and that’s our entire roster.”
The ‘Cats shot 25 of 47 (53.2 percent) overall and 13 of 27 (48.1 percent) from long range.
Villanova was tenacious defensively throughout the lopsided win.
It led by as much as 33 points in the rout, capitalizing on a stretch where Georgetown went nearly 10 minutes without a single made shot in the second half.
The ‘Cats have now won four of their last five games, while the Hoyas have lost 12 of their last 13.
Georgetown was limited to shooting just 14 of 51 (27.5 percent) overall and 7 of 26 (26.9 percent) from beyond the arc.
“We played a totally different Villanova team today than we played a couple weeks ago,” Hoyas coach Ed Cooley said. “We played a different team that played Connecticut. It’s their last game out (at the Finn), they had a purpose. They’re trying to become an NCAA Tournament team. We had a team that had more focus, more purpose and more attention to detail, and that’s what happens. I’m a little disappointed in the way we played today.”
Hoyas leading scorer Jayden Epps didn’t hit a single shot from the field and scored his six points solely off free throws.
“Jayden’s a great player, we just wanted to come out and make him feel us,” Armstrong said. “We had to come out, set the tone, play hard and play together.”
Dontrez Styles paced the Hoyas with 16 points and seven rebounds. Jay Heath added nine points in the loss.
Villanova improves to 16-12 overall and 9-8 in the Big East. The Wildcats return to action against Providence on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET from the Amica Mutual Pavilion.
“This last game, I think we’re getting better,” Neptune said. “In terms of all the expectations, we all get it. I’d be lying, we’d all be lying if we say we don’t hear it, because you guys always ask us, so it’s hard to have it not be in your mind at times. This team has done a great job of canceling the noise and focusing on the task at hand.
“None of that stuff is going to matter once you’re in that 94×50 feet that we talk about, and that’s going to be true for the rest of the season. All those things, what ifs, etc. I know it’s cool to talk about, and people continue to talk about it, but for us, we continue to lock in.”