Freshman redshirt forward Matt Hodge slammed down a putback dunk to put Villanova up, 30-27, over the University of Connecticut with 4 minutes and 29 seconds left in the first half on Saturday night.

The Xfinity Mobile Arena crowd of 20,261 – the most Villanova has had since 2020 – erupted after Hodge’s dunk forced UConn head coach Dan Hurley to call a timeout. A victory over the No. 5 team in the country seemed possible until it did not.

After that moment, UConn proceeded to go on a 40-16 run that stretched over the game’s next 20 minutes. Villanova’s grip on the game slipped away as UConn went on to win, 73-63, snapping the Wildcats’ six-game win streak. It was the worst performance Villanova had in conference play, and quite possibly this season.

At this point, if Villanova wants to even play in just the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Villanova head coach Kevin Willard understands that this loss to UConn needs to be a teaching moment.

“Every once in a while, you get your ass kicked,” Willard said. “I think the last one we had was Michigan, we bounced back really well [after that loss].”

Willard was quick to take accountability for the team’s second-half mistakes in the postgame press conference.

“I’m a big believer in giving credit where credit is due, and you gotta give credit to UConn for playing really good and physical and hard,” Willard said. “We went on some stretches where we had some lineups that probably were self-inflicted by me, to be honest with you.”

After taking UConn into overtime and losing, 75-67, on the road, Villanova defeating the Huskies in South Philly was a strong possible outcome. However, Villanova had 24 points in the second half until the final 1 minute and 30 seconds when it had a 7-0 run.

Duke Brennan was limited to seven points and a season-low three rebounds. It was a vast difference from his 16-point, 14-rebound double-double against UConn in the earlier meeting this season.

“He doesn’t get a lot of credit for his defense, but Tarris Reed,” Willard said when asked about Brennan being shut down. “He’s a very smart basketball player as a center. He knew four or five of our play calls and actually jumped to plays where you don’t see centers do that very much. When he’s playing the way he played tonight, they’re gonna be tough to beat.”

Brennan has become a make-or-break piece to Villanova’s success. The Wildcats are 10-2 when Brennan registers a double-double and are 4-4 when he scores single digits.

Tyler Perkins, Villanova’s most consistent scorer through conference play, scored 15 points, 10 of which came in the first half. It was his 11th consecutive game with 15-plus points.

Graduate guard Devin Askew, Villanova’s sixth man, finished the game with zero points and three turnovers, shooting 0-for-5 from the field and 0-for-3 on three-pointers. It was his first scoreless game since the season opener against Brigham Young, when he was still recovering from a knee injury.

Hodge echoed what Willard had to say about bouncing back from tough losses.

“I mean, we’ve been through it before,” Hodge said. “We played Michigan. We got our ass kicked, and we bounced back. So we’ve been through it. We just gotta stick together. We still have a long season left.”

Villanova is now 2-5 in Quad 1 wins. Quad 1 wins are made up of opponents ranked in the top 30 in the NCAA NET Rankings. It’s two Quad 1 wins: a road win against Seton Hall, which is now 19-9 overall and 9-8 in conference play, and a victory against Wisconsin on the road. 

Wisconsin is 11-4 since its loss to the Wildcats on Dec. 19. The Wildcats will finish the season with no Quad 1 home wins, with the only Quad 1 opportunity remaining being No. 17 St. John’s on the road on Feb. 28.

Villanova has been able to take care of the entire Big East conference outside of UConn and St. John’s. The Wildcats are 12-1 outside of games against the top two Big East teams.

Another struggle for Villanova this season has been free throws. Currently, Villanova is averaging 68.8% on free throws, which ranks 292nd in the country. It is second to last in the Big East, only in front of Marquette (68%).

Against UConn, Villanova shot 9-for-15 (64.3%) from the free-throw line. 

Outside of the Marquette game on Jan. 10, when Villanova went 7-for-7 from the charity stripe, it has not shot better than 77.8% in a game this season.

Teams that make it past the Sweet 16 and deep into the NCAA Tournament make free throws. For reference, all four Final Four teams last season averaged 72% or better from the free-throw line.

The loss to UConn shows that, despite Willard quickly turning around a quickly sinking program in less than 10 months, there is still a clear gap between them and the top of the Big East.