The Wildcats start off conference play with a win.
Villanova is starting off conference play on a high note. The Wildcats defeated the visiting Seton Hall Pirates on Tuesday night.
Villanova was able to handle a quick start from the Pirates and took care of business to extend their winning streak to five games, by a final score of 79-67.
Coming into this contest, Seton Hall was ranked as the 36th best defense on KenPom, while coming in at a frigid 296th offensively. Their offensive struggles continued tonight as they finished 6-17 from deep, their best offensive statistic.
“That was a tough game,” Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune said. “We have a lot of respect for those guys. We knew we were going to have to be ready for their toughness and defensive pressure. I thought our guys did a decent job of handling it and we were pretty good defensively too. When we defend that way, we always give ourselves a chance.”
Villanova was able to sneak by, but not without some flaws in their performance. In the first half, Seton Hall accumulated eight offensive rebounds, but were limited to just two second chance points. The Pirates are the 36th tallest team in the country, so rebounding against Villanova would tend to lean their way, but a flaw Villanova will look to correct either way.
On the topic of KenPom stats, Seton Hall also ranks outside of the top-300 (!) in multiple shooting categories, such as 2P%, Eff FG%, and FT%. The Wildcats are a team that tends to mix up a lot of defensive looks, but relied on a lot of zone tonight to stifle the Seton Hall attack.
Eric Dixon found himself in first half foul trouble, but the Wildcats were still able to take a nine point advantage into the halftime break, despite a questionable first half whistle.
Out of the break, Seton Hall cut Villanova’s lead to just four but that is the closest they would get the rest of the way as the Wildcats were able to hold serve at home to advance to 1-0 in conference play.
Tyler Perkins was outstanding tonight for Villanova, seemingly answering any and every attempt at a comeback for Seton Hall. Perkins finished with 17 points and five rebounds and was able to keep Villanova afloat in a game where Eric Dixon was not on his a-game (partially due to the aforementioned questionable whistle.) Perkins missed one shot all evening.
“He’s a guy who always brings it defensively,” Neptune said. “He always brings energy and we know he’s a scorer. That’s what he does. When he’s open, he can make shots. he got free a bunch of times and his teammates hit him. That’s Tyler Perkins, when you leave him open, he can make shots.”
Jordan Longino also logged what could arguably be heralded as his best outing of the season. He finished with 15 points and five rebounds and made some key plays on the defensive end as well.
Eric Dixon started slow, but finished strong. Early foul trouble prevented him from his typical gaudy stat line, but to call a 25-point performance ‘not his A-Game’ is a testament to how dominant he has been all year long.
As for Seton Hall, Dylan Addae-Wusu and Chaunce Jenkins were key contributors, finishing with 15 and 14 points respectively. Isaiah Coleman led the way for the Pirates however, finishing with 22 points and nine rebounds on the evening.
All in all a solid win for Villanova, as they pass Seton Hall roulette to the Georgetown Hoyas.
Villanova will take their win streak on the road to Omaha to face the Creighton Bluejays this Saturday in their second game of Big East action.