Las Vegas, NV — Two Wildcats added their name to program history after Tuesday night’s win over Colorado.
On April 1, graduate guard Eric Dixon surpassed Kerry Kittles as the program’s all-time leading scorer, and Mike Nardi won his first game as interim head coach.
The Wildcats dominated Colorado, 85-66, in the first round of the inaugural College Basketball Crown to move on to the quarterfinals on Thursday night.
“This is a very special place that means a lot to a lot of people and for myself,” Nardi said. “I’ve grown up here as a student, as a man and as a player. Having the opportunity just to coach guys like this who understand that and actually appreciate it means a lot.”
After sinking a deep three-pointer to tie the all-time record, Dixon drove to the basket and knocked down a pullup jumper with 3:56 left in the first half to solidify himself as the program’s leading scorer.
Dixon went on to finish the night with 22 points on 8-13 shooting from the field.
“There’s a lot of people that along the way have helped Eric, but he’s a guy that puts in the work,” Nardi said. “He comes in every day and he gets up extra shots. He’s a great teammate. He’s great to the Villanova community. It’s very special just seeing his progression and his development. And now you see he’s not a finished product yet because he’s still working.”
The first half began as an offensive back-and-forth between the two teams. That was until the Wildcats kicked off an 11-1 run to pull away from the Buffaloes. Villanova had three double-digit runs in the first half alone. Part of that was senior guard Wooga Poplar.
Wooga also had a double-figure game, leading the Wildcats with 24 points. In Villanova’s previous game, a loss to the University of Connecticut in the Big East Tournament, Poplar also had a team high 25 points.
Tonight, Poplar returned right back to form after a two-week break. He is averaging 14.7 points and 6.9 rebounds this season, making him one of the three Wildcats to average double-digits this season.
Villanova held a 15-point lead over Colorado at halftime and led 45-30.
In the second half, Villanova entirely controlled the game.
The Wildcats Colorado lost, going on a 16-2 run with 8:52 left in the second half.
Colorado sloppy play was also costly. The Buffaloes committed 13 turnovers which allowed Villanova to capitalize, as the Wildcats scored 16 points off of those turnovers and only committed eight turnovers of their own.
“We talked about it coming into this game,” Nardi said. “We had to have ball pressure, right? We had to pressure them a little bit individually, and then as a team. And our guys came out and set the tone with that, and then really if we can get stops and we can get steals and turnovers, now we can get out and push the ball.”
On offense, Villanova attempted 62 shots from the field and finished 53.2% on field goals and 35.5% from beyond the arc as a team.
With the win, Villanova now faces the University of Southern California in the quarterfinals on Thursday, April 3 (FS1, 9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT). USC defeated Tulane, 89-60, in the first round.
