Eric Dixon jumps center in a game against Georgetown last season at the Pavilion. (Photo: Aaron Bracy)
By AARON BRACY
February 27, 2024
Big5Hoops.com
VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova will excitedly take the practice court next with a simple mindset: Get better.
It’s a cliche, yes, but it has been coach Kyle Neptune’s consistent message all season, through all of the ups and downs. And it’s working.
The Wildcats are getting better, the latest example their bounceback from Saturday’s blowout loss at then-No. 1 UConn with a rout of Georgetown, 75-47 at the Pavilion on Tuesday night.
Georgetown is not good, so the victory isn’t surprising. But the way in which the Wildcats did it, racing out to a 43-19 halftime lead and doing it without second-leading scorer TJ Bamba (facial fracture) and key reserve Jordan Longino (illness) was impressive.
Now, things get harder for Villanova. The Wildcats are right on the NCAA tournament bubble and need two wins in their final three-regular season games to put themselves in position to make the Big Dance. Then, a win in the Big East tournament likely would lock up a bid, though they might be able to sneak in even without one depending on how the final three games shake out.
Here’s what’s left: At Providence (18-9 overall, 9-7 Big East) on Saturday, at Seton Hall (18-9, 11-5) next Wednesday and home against No. 12 Creighton (20-8, 11-6) next Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center. That’s a combined 56 victories overall and 31 Big East victories from those three. It won’t be easy for the Wildcats, especially if Bamba is unavailable. (Neptune said he is day to day.)
But Neptune nor Eric Dixon (22 points, 6 rebounds on Tuesday) nor Justin Moore (14 points, 4-8 3-pointers) nor Mark Armstrong (12 points, 6 assists), heck, not even walk-on Collin O’Toole, who got garbage-time run against the Hoyas, are going to pay that last paragraph any mind.
They won’t read what I write (though they’re missing out!).
They’ll mute Joe Lunardi.
If they see “Villanova” and “NCAA bubble” on social media, they’ll scroll right past.
They are not paying attention to any of that, at least not top of mind. No, they’re focused on one thing and one thing only: getting better.
“We’re getting better,” Neptune said on Tuesday night. “In terms of all the expectations, we get it. I’d be lying, all our guys would be lying, because you guys ask us, it’s hard for (NCAA talk) not to be in your mind at times. I think this team has done a great job of canceling the noise and focusing on the task at hand. None of that (talk) is going to matter when you get in that 94 by 50 feet. All of those things and what-ifs, I know it’s cool to talk about, but for us we have to lock in to the task at hand.”
And focusing on the task at hand, they have been doing. Take out Saturday’s 78-54 defeat at UConn on Saturday night against a very motivated Huskies team coming off just their third loss of the season in their previous outing, and Villanova has been playing very good basketball for almost a month.
And they’ve been doing it under the most intense pressure and scrutiny where seemingly every game is a bubble-bursting opportunity. It makes sense, with all that is surrounding each game, for Neptune and Company to narrow their focus on getting better each day.
And that they have. Since getting booed at home in an 85-80 loss to Marquette on Jan. 30, the Wildcats have won five of seven contests and have played some of the best defense you’ll see anywhere along the way. Their offense still can be shaky, like against the Huskies when they shot 3 of 24 (12.5 percent) from the arc. But their offense has been coming around as well, and it continued against the Hoyas.
Moore, who struggled for a long stretch on the offensive end after returning from a December knee injury, continued to shoot in fine form. He hit three straight 3-pointers in the first half to help Villanova pad its cushion.
“It’s not a surprise,” Georgetown coach Ed Cooley said specifically of the play of Dixon and Moore. “Those guys have a championship pedigree.”
It’s a pedigree Villanova hopes to get back to this season after a one-year NCAA tournament hiatus. They’re not focused on that, though.
They’ll just try to get a little better tomorrow.
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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Big5Hoops.com is his second website dedicated to Philadelphia college basketball. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages.