Erick Quezada
Senior guard Wooga Poplar put up his seventh double-double the season against Seton Hall in the first round.
Villanova is back at Madison Square Garden tonight at 9:30 p.m. to face No. 3 seed University of Connecticut in the Big East quarterfinal.
The Wildcats advanced to the Big East Tournament with a 67-55 win last night over No. 11 seed Seton Hall (2-18, 7-25 Big East).
A win tonight over UConn (22-9, 14-6 Big East) would take Villanova (19-13, 11-9 Big East) to the conference semifinals for the first time in Kyle Neptune’s career as head coach. The Wildcats have fallen in the quarterfinals in the past two seasons.
Villanova split this year’s season series with UConn. The Wildcats topped the Huskies, 68-66, on Jan. 8 at the Finneran Pavilion. In their road matchup on Feb. 18, the Huskies came out with a 66-59 win.
Defense was key to last night’s victory over Seton Hall, and a strength that Villanova will need to hinge upon against UConn. The Wildcats boast the top scoring defense in the Big East, with opponents scoring an average of 67.3 points per game.
Opening last night with a 25-6 run, the Wildcats will need to come out with a similar high energy to capitalize off turnovers.
Eric Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer, (23.6 points per game), did not make a field goal in the first half but still finished with 19 points.
Dixon is just 16 points away from breaking Villanova’s all-time scoring records, giving tonight historic potential for the six-year Wildcat. Kerry Kittles currently holds the record with 2,243 points.
Meanwhile, senior guard Wooga Poplar picked up Villanova’s offense with a double-double performance. It was his seventh double-double of the season. Poplar is the second-leading scorer on the team, averaging 14.1 points per game.
The challenge tonight for the Wildcats will be consistency, as its loss to UConn came after a second-half collapse, despite leading for 32 minutes of play.
Head coach Dan Hurley’s Huskies have the second-most potent offense in the conference, averaging 78.0 points per game.
One of UConn’s biggest scoring threats is freshman Liam McNeely. The 6-foot-7 forward averages 14.7 points per game. While he scored just four in UConn’s last win over Seton Hall, he dropped 20 points against Villanova on Feb. 18. McNeely was out with an injury in the first meeting between the two teams in the regular season.
The Huskies’ leading scorer on the stat sheet is sophomore Solo Ball, who averages 14.8 points per game.
While the Huskies were then-ranked No. 9 when they first met the Wildcats, they have sunk in national rankings since. The Huskies are now No. 31 in NET rankings, while Villanova stands at No. 53.
This season, UConn picked up Big East losses to Creighton, Xavier, St. John’s, and — in a major upset — Seton Hall.
Tonight’s game is crucial as Villanova’s only path left to the NCAA Tournament is winning the Big East title. Taking care of UConn tonight is the next step forward.