The ‘Holy War’ took place on Hawk Hill and Saint Joe’s defeated Villanova basketball, 83-76.
Villanova (2-2) held on until it could not, losing its second-straight game to St. Joe’s (2-1).
The Wildcats held senior guard Erik Reynolds II to just nine points and zero in the first half. It was not enough to walk away with a Big 5 win and boost their odds of a shot at March Madness.
Takeaway #1: Turnovers
The Wildcats could not keep the ball in their possession.
Villanova gave up 16 points off of 16 turnovers. It means the Saint Joe’s missed a lot of opportunities to score off turnovers.
Senior guards Jordan Longino and Jhamir Brickus, the primary ball handlers, contributed three turnovers each.
When a team loses the turnover battle, most of the time it is not the winning team.
Takeaway #2: Lack of assists
It was hard for any Wildcat to find shot opportunities for other Wildcats.
Villanova only had nine assists. Longino and Brickus led the team with three assists each, contributing six of Villanova’s nine assists.
Through the game, many Wildcats were left on their own to fend for themselves offensively.
Graduate forward Eric Dixon had a team-high 24 points and nine rebounds. For much of the game, Dixon was stranded in the paint trying to create points on his own.
Many times Villanova players stood around the three-point line not reacting to anything on the court.
If Villanova basketball could have created open-shot opportunities, the game might have had a different outcome.
Takeaway #3: Bench scoring
The bench has been an inconsistency, scoring just five points in the loss.
There is a lot of talent on the bench including freshman forward Josiah Moseley, redshirt freshman forward Kris Parker, and sophomore guard Tyler Perkins. The bench just cannot find a way to consistently score.
In Villanova’s 91-54 win over NJIT on Friday, Nov. 8, the bench scored a massive 29 points. Leading the bench in scoring was Perkins with 12 points on 57% from three-point range.
March Madness hopes hang in the balance as Villanova basketball now has lost two winnable games.
What’s ahead?
The NCAA’s final decision on freshman Matthew Hodge’s eligibility comes on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
If Hodge, who was expected to contribute at the start of the season, is deemed academically ineligible, he will be forced to redshirt for the entire season.
Up next for Villanova (2-2): vs. Virginia (2-0) – Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. in Baltimore
Up next for St. Joe’s (2-1): at Penn (2-1) – Nov. 15 at 8 p.m.