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PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Neptune knew it wasn’t going to be easy succeeding Jay Wright, immortalized at Villanova for winning two NCAA Tournament basketball championships.
But playing must-win games two years in a row with six weeks left in the regular season in front of a demanding fanbase is downright unnerving. Certainly, it doesn’t do much for the ego to get booed during the introductions as was the case at the Wildcats’ previous home game.
All that said, Neptune and the Wildcats stayed the course Sunday, playing one of their best defensive games of the season to secure a 68-50 Big East victory over Providence at the Wells Fargo Center.
Whatever Neptune said to his players during their slow start in the first half was gold, for the Wildcats (12-10, 5-6) snapped a five-game losing skid to remain in the hunt for an NCAA bid.
“I was really proud of the way our guys came out defensively just in terms of our effort,” Neptune said. “I thought we played extremely hard and were really locked in. I thought it was a great defensive effort and because of how hard we came out, we made some shots as well.”
Eric Dixon scored 12 points, Brendan Hausen and TJ Bamba nine each to lead the Wildcats against a Friars squad missing Bryce Hopkins, who had a first-round draft pick grade before tearing an ACL.
The Wildcats finally got comfortable at the offensive end late in the first half, Hausen dropping in two of his three treys on the evening to stretch out the Friars’ defense.
Mark Armstrong made just 3 of 14 shots from the field for the Wildcats, who shot 42.2 percent on the day, but he grabbed a team-high six boards to go with three assists and three of the team’s 10 steals. Lance Ware came off the bench to give the Cats five rebounds and two big blocked shots in the first half, one of which he celebrated with a howl.
“I was just trying to give my teammates energy so we could keep playing this style of basketball,” Ware said. “We played Villanova basketball.”
The Friars (14-8, 5-6) made just 15 of 51 shots against the Villanova defense, Josh Oduro scoring 18 points to go with a dozen boards, Devin Carter 17 points.
The first half was a train wreck. Collectively there were 42 points and 55 missed field goals, the Wildcats taking a 26-15 lead into the intermission.
Bamba led the way with nine points, two rebounds and three steals in 13 minutes.
“Attacking, getting a rebound, every single guy has bought in because that’s what sets the tone,” Bamba said. “That was the difference in today’s game. We set the tone early on with defense.”
The biggest ovation of the first half erupted when the scoreboard flashed Villanova alum Jalen Brunson as a 2024 NBA All-Star. Those were the good days, the Cats winning one of their national titles.
The current group has its work cut out.
The first half featured some of the most hideous shooting in the history of the Center, the teams combining to miss 21 of their first 26 shots, including all 13 of their three-point attempts.
Moments later Bamba and Haikim Hart hit back-to-back threes to stake the Wildcats to an 11-6 lead.
The Wildcats’ lead grew to 23 points in the first six minutes of the second half, the Friars continuing to throw up bricks.
The Wildcats led by 26 points at one point before Neptune played the remainder of his bench.
Unofficially the victory keeps the Wildcats within a few spots of one of the at-large bids in the field, according to a source. If Nova wins at least five of its remaining regular season games and picks up a victory in the Big East tournament, it should be in good shape NCAA wise. Anything short of that and the Wildcats likely would have to win the Big East tourney and receive the automatic qualifying bid.
Though Bamba insisted the losing streak didn’t wear on his teammates, citing the team’s rugged practices, getting back into the win column after the lengthy slump was huge for Neptune. In good times and bad, his message to the Wildcat fan base has remained the same.
“I appreciate you guys coming out and supporting us,” Neptune said. “And we hope you continue to do so.”
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