As the Wildcats took the court at the Wells Fargo Center for the first time this season, graduate forward Eric Dixon did his usual. Dixon scored 24 points and six rebounds, marking his eighth game this season with at least 20 points.
Villanova took the lead from the jump ball and never gave it up, defeating Temple, 94-65, in the third-place Big 5 Classic game on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Dixon continued his dominance on the court, his 25.7 points per game ranks second in the country. He also is shooting 54.1% on three-pointers.
“I’ve known this kid, you know, maybe eight, nine years, so nothing he does [now] is impressive,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “I’ve just watched him do it over and over and over, when you sit back and look at the string of what he’s done, it is pretty impressive.”
The Wildcats finished the game shooting 58.5% on field goals and 63.3% on three-pointers, marking a season-high on three-point percentage.
Villanova took the early lead with a 9-2 run led by senior guard Wooga Poplar to open the game.
The Miami transfer has begun to find his game over Villanova’s recent four-game stretch. Poplar knocked down four of his seven three-pointers and tacked on seven rebounds. Against Cincinnati on Dec. 3, Poplar notched a double-double.
“[Poplar’s] defended a rebound at a high level this year,” Neptune said. “Tonight he [had] seven rebounds, and ten rebounds last game. He’s always guarding one of the team’s best players.”
It was Poplar’s first game playing in the Wells Fargo Center as a Philadelphia native.
Neptune avenged his loss to Temple back in 2022 during his first season.
Poplar capped off the first half with a one-handed slam that hyped up the Villanova crowd. Villanova led Temple, 45-29, at the half. The Wildcats looked completely different compared to the first five games of the season.
Sophomore guard Tyler Perkins was lights-out from deep, hitting 80% of his three-point attempts. He finished the night with 12 points.
“Tyler Perkins is a fiery competitor,” Neptune said. “I think that’s what he brings to our roster. He’s an animal in practice every single day. It’s great for a coach because he’s gonna play his hardest every day and it’s infectious.”
In the second half, Villanova remained in the driver’s seat. The Wildcats held Temple to 65 points. Entering the game, the Owls were averaging 79 points per game.
Graduate guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. scored a team-leading 20 points for the Owls.
Villanova tied a program record for most three-pointers made in a game, with 19. The team has improved their three-point shooting, as recently it has not been a strength for Villanova.
Outside of the box score, freshman forward Josiah Moseley defended almost every position on the court, grabbing seven rebounds.
“[Moseley’s] a guy who can guard one through five,” Neptune said. “He legitimately can guard one through five, he can keep not just keep guards in front, he can guard them and shut them down and take them out of what they want to do. Over the summer, he guarded everyone from Jhamir [Brickus] to Eric [Dixon] and arguably does the best job of it. He’s a guy we have great confidence in being out there.”
Villanova is now on a three-game win streak and will take on FDU next on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Finn. It is the final game of the non-conference schedule.
“I still think we’re a work in progress,” Neptune said. “I think we can still get a lot better, just attention to detail, spreading back a little bit more, taking guys out of their strengths a little bit more. But we are getting better.”
