NEW YORK – Wednesday, March 12, kicked off the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden where No. 6 Villanova defeated No. 11 Seton Hall, 67-55, with ease to move on to the quarterfinals.
“I thought we were really good defensively and withstood [Seton Hall’s] runs,” head coach Kyle Neptune said. “They have done that to everybody. They just keep coming after you. Somehow they always find a way to claw their way back.”
The Wildcats climbed out to an early 19-point lead in the first half with the help of senior guard Wooga Poplar. Poplar put up 10 points in the first half and went on to finish the game with 13 points and 10 rebounds. It is his seventh double-double of the season.
Poplar quieted down during the previous four games, averaging just 8.8 points with his high being 12 points against Seton Hall and Butler.
Even though Villanova took an early lead, the offense struggled to score in the last seven minutes of the first half. The Wildcats went on a seven-minute field goal drought. However, Villanova was able to comfortably control Seton Hall’s offense and led at the half, 35-17.
Graduate guard Eric Dixon went scoreless in the first half which is exactly what he did in Villanova’s previous game against Georgetown. He poured in 19 points in the second half which extended his streak of putting up double figures in 47 games – the longest active streak in college basketball.
Dixon is now 17 points away from setting the program’s new all-time scoring record.
The 18-point lead Villanova held at halftime quickly shrank to eight points at the start of the second half. Seton Hall went on a 7-0 run to open up the second 20 minutes of play.
However, Villanova wasted no time, responding with a 13-0 run of its own. Dixon scored 11 of the 13 points during the run.
Capitalizing off turnovers is what separated Villanova from Seton Hall. The Wildcats won the turnover battle, 16-15, and scored 19 points off turnovers compared to the Pirates’ 13 points.
An issue for the Wildcats the last time they faced the Pirates was graduate guard Dylan Addae-Wusu. Villanova was able to hold him to two points on 1-6 from the field.
Another notable Wildcat in the win was sophomore guard Tyler Perkins. With his 11-point performance, the Wildcats are now 9-0 when Perkins scores double digits.
With the help of Perkinss shooting 4-7 from the field, the Wildcats finished the game shooting 45.5% from the field and 46.7% on three-pointers.
“Lucky for us we treat every game like the Super Bowl,” Dixon said. “So the last game we played was the most important game of the season, the most important game of my career.”
Villanova will now move on to face No. 3 University of Connecticut on Thursday, March 13, in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament (9:30 p.m., FS1). The Huskies had a first round bye. During the regular season, the team’s split the season series, 1-1.
