After many heartbreaks and would-haves over an up-and-down year, the Villanova Wildcats returned to the Victory Column with their biggest win of the season.
The best part? The Cats looked like themselves. After working hard to recover and return to the court, Justin Moore statistically had his best performance since November 9, 2021. Moore scored on an efficient 10-of-13 Shooting a game high of 25 points with three boards. three assists and a steal.
“He’s not only our best player, he’s also our leader,” said Villanova coach Kyle Neptune. “He’s the guy everyone respects in the dressing room. He’s our smartest guy, he’s everything to our team. … A lot of credit goes to this child. He really shouldn’t have come back this year. I’m sure a lot of people said not to come back and he just wanted to help our team and be there for his brothers.
“He wasn’t 100%, I don’t think he’s 100% anymore and I don’t know if he’ll be 100% this year, but we appreciate everything he’s doing for us. He did a great job tonight.”
Villanova stormed forward after a poor start and a deficit in the first half and speeded things up in the second half. Defensively it was impressive. After surrendering a season-high 88 points to Xavier in their last clash, the Musketeers limited and held their ground, with the final seconds amounting to the good old Villanova lever, with players looking for a loose ball after a critical stop to secure that win.
The Wildcats stunned the 16th-ranked Musketeers at the Cintas Center 64-63 to claim their first Quad 1 and league win of the season.
“They definitely had to focus, they came out to play and hit us on the mouth to start,” Neptune said. “They are a really difficult team to scout. No matter what you see them do, the way they move the ball and split the ball is pretty impressive. It took us a while to get used to her speed to run her offense. I thought our guys calmed down and made some stops that would have resulted in the win.”
Despite being very good on the ball and recording just seven turnovers for the game, the ‘Cats coughed up four times in the final minutes but managed to stay tough.
A layup by Eric Dixon followed by a Jordan Longino and a one gave the ‘Cats a 61-57 lead at the 3:18 mark and the ultimate lead.
Moore capped his big night with a crucial three-pointer from the top of the arc at the 2:13 mark.
Xavier closed the gap with a basket from Adam Kunkel and two free throws from Souley Boum to make it a one-point game. The Wildcats had one last possession, but Dixon was called off for a trip while driving to the basket, giving the Musketeers one last opportunity to snap the play with possession after 11 seconds.
Standing defensively upright, Villanova forced a wild shot from Boum. The loose ball bounced off the backboard and amid the scramble that burned most of the clock, Brandon Slater was able to find it and the ‘Cats were awarded a saved ball.
“We were stopped when we had to,” Neptun said of the biggest difference between this win and previous games. “Our boys, I found their toughness incredible. We were really connected.”
Although it was a much improved second half because at first it didn’t look like the Cats would be able to win. After Xavier took his biggest lead of the game, the ‘Cats responded with a 10-0 run to close the gap to a more manageable deficit. The Musketeers led by 36:30 at half time.
After the break, Xavier traveled the first baskets together to build up a double-digit lead again. The ‘Cats called time out to calm down.
“Our boys just played harder in the second half,” said Neptun. “When we were 10 down (the second half) the guys took over the huddle and they talked to each other. I thought that was the turning point of the game when they took it as a group, as a unit. Makes me proud.”
After Justin Moore broke a nearly four-minute scoring drought, they started their rally. It also helped force 14 Xavier turnovers, 10 of which came in the second half.
“Our boys are proud because outside of the first five, six or seven minutes we played extremely hard for the rest of the game,” said Neptun. “That’s our goal, just play as hard as we can. They do that for their brothers on the pitch and when we do that, we’re happy with the results.”
Alongside Moore, Cam Whitmore had 11 points and four boards. Dixon finished with eight points, five boards and four assists. Caleb Daniels also had eight points. Mark Armstrong posted a game-high plus/minus rating of +12, followed closely by Chris Arcidiacono at +8.
For Xavier, Souley Boum led by 17 points, including four made 3-pointers. Jerome Hunter added 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Jack Nunge had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Adam Kunkel finished with 10 points. Zach Freemantle, who scored 29 points against the ‘Cats in his last meeting, remained sidelined with a foot injury.
Villanova is now 14-14 overall and 8-9 in the Big East game. The Wildcats will return to action Saturday at home for a 12 p.m. ET game against Creighton at the Wells Fargo Center.
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