Villanova men’s basketball (1-1) opened the regular season at home with a 94-74 victory in its first-ever meeting with Queens University of Charlotte.
It was the third game of the season for Queens (1-2), a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Royals became a Division I program in 2022.
It was the first of three games in the Villanova Challenge multi-team event that also includes Sacred Heart and Duquesne.
Redshirt sophomore guard Bryce Lindsay and freshman point guard Acaden Lewis were at the forefront of the offense throughout the game. Lindsay led the team with 25 points and three rebounds. Lewis had 21 points of his own, along with four rebounds.
The Wildcats were especially dominant on the backboards, led by senior forward Duke Brennan’s double-double. Villanova out-rebounded Queens, 42-20, across the game. Brennan, a 6’10’’ transfer from Grand Canyon, recorded a career-high 20 rebounds, along with 17 points.
“Duke just plays so hard,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “If you’ve never played against him, he’s going to outwork you. That’s what I love about him.”
In his regular-season debut at the Finneran Pavilion, Brennan stole the spot for the second-most rebounds in a single game in program history, behind Daniel Ochefu’s 24 in 2015.
“My focus is just setting a tone for the team,” Brennan said. “Me being a senior and a seasoned vet, I’ve got to set a tone physically. I know I had 20, a new career high today, and I’m proud of that. It’s a mindset I try to bring every day to go out there and get boards to help my team any way I can.”
In the opening 20 minutes, Lindsay scored 17 points, while Lewis scored 14. The Wildcats shot 58.3% from the field but were just 2-7 from the three-point range in the first half.
Villanova opened the game with an 8-0 run during the first three minutes, fueled by Lewis and redshirt freshman forward Matt Hodge.
The Royals soon brought it back within one as freshman guard Jordan Watford sank a three-pointer off a Villanova shot clock turnover to make it 13-12.
The Wildcats started to break away midway through the first half.
Queens called a timeout after a three from Lindsay put Villanova ahead, 29-16, with 8:33 on the clock. But the Royals were unable to recover, as the Wildcats steadily increased the deficit to as much as 17 at one point during the first half.
Willard called a timeout as the Wildcats led by 10 with 1:53 left in the first half. Villanova came out of it stifling a Queens comeback attempt with a jump shot from graduate guard Devin Askew and back-to-back layups on the fast break from junior guard Tyler Perkins.
Villanova went into the halftime break with a comfortable 51-37 lead.
The Wildcats stretched the deficit to 20 with an offensive burst entering the second half. Lindsay and Perkins capitalized on consecutive Queens turnovers with fast-break layups. A minute later, Brennan grabbed an offensive rebound and put in a layup to surge Villanova ahead, 57-37.
Villanova maintained a double-digit lead from there. The Wildcats continued to flail from behind the arc, however, going 2-for-12 from three in the second half.
Queens struggled to keep up with the Wildcats despite some consistent shooting on its own end, shooting 57.4% from the field across the game.
A 7-0 run by the Wildcats put them back up by 20 points with just 1:33 left to play.
Next up, Villanova will host Sacred Heart at the Finneran Pavilion on Tuesday, Nov. 11 (7 p.m., ESPN+).
