After suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of the Columbia Lions earlier in the week, the Villanova Wildcats were able to take care of business at home and defeat NJIT, 91-54.
Despite the final score, Villanova did not get off to a roaring start. The Wildcats allowed NJIT to connect on their first three attempts from beyond the arc in defiance of their abysmal shooting performance in their season debut. The Highlanders took a quick 11-6 lead over the Wildcats, as boos rained down from the anxious student section.
From there, the Wildcats would use a 17-2 run to propel them into the halftime break up by 16. They would start the second half in similar fashion, using another kill-shot run to extend their lead past the thirty point mark. Villanova would never look back. This performance today was a night and day difference for the Wildcats as opposed to their outing on Wednesday night.
Villanova held the Highlanders to just 54 points on 42% shooting from the field, which were both significantly better numbers than their outing on Wednesday night. A large part of that was due to the play of freshman Josiah Moseley.
Moseley finished with STATS, but impacted winning far beyond the box score. His defensive IQ, switching to multiple positions and always seeming to be in the right spot paid dividends for the Wildcats tonight on that end of the floor.
On the other end of the floor Kris Parker provided 18 valuable minutes off the bench, adding eleven points, two rebounds and one assist.
The Villanova trio of leaders, Eric Dixon, Wooga Poplar and Jhamir Brickus once again led the way for Villanova on and off the stat sheet.
Dixon paced the Wildcats with 22 points, ten rebounds and two assists, while Poplar contributed 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Jhamir Brickus finished with nine points and three assists, but his impact on the game also went well beyond the stat sheet. He also finished shooting 4-8 from the field.
Enoch Boakye had another solid outing, contributing 12 points and four rebounds.
As for NJIT, Tariq Francis and Tim Moore both finished with 12 points.
Villanova will open up Big 5 play on Monday when they travel to Hagan Arena to take on the St. Joe’s Hawks.