Villanova basketball took down No. 14 Cincinnati, 68-60. It marks the Wildcats’ first win over the Bearcats since Jan. 9, 2011.
An easy takeaway would just be Eric Dixon, but that is too obvious.
Graduate forward Eric Dixon finished the night with 31 points and 7 rebounds. It was part of a team effort to collect a win against a good team after a rough start to the season.
“I think they’ve done a great job (at responding to the start of the season),” Neptune said. We have some great leadership on the team. I think our guys don’t get too high or low, game-to-game. We had the result we wanted, but we’re not satisfied.”
Takeaway #1: Defense and physicality
Villanova is infamous for its tough, physical play on defense. Diving for loose balls, forcing shot-clock violations and contesting bad shots are all a part of that.
Cincinnati entering the game was averaging 85 points per game. Villanova held them to just 60 points through 40 minutes. It was the best defense the Wildcats have played in the early nine games of the season.
Senior forward Enoch Boakye had four blocks, all of them coming in the first half. His size and athleticism are rare for someone his size. Boakye is six-foot-11 and 255 pounds, but he moves like a medium-size forward. It creates opportunities for Villanova it otherwise would not have with a slower big man.
“I thought (Boakye) was amazing,” Neptune said. “The box score doesn’t do [him] service. He’s a guy that can really cover ground with his speed and athleticism. He’s stronger than you think. He just really changes the complexity of your defense when he’s playing like that.”
Takeaway #2: Jhamir Brickus
When senior guard Jhamir Brickus transferred in from La Salle he was coming off his best season of college basketball. At the start of the season, he was not the same as he was at La Salle. That might have just been a part of Brickus adjusting to a new offense.
Over the last three games, Brickus has averaged 14 points and 5 assists. He began to look like the player he was known for, an explosive point guard with the ability to move the ball around the court.
Against Cincinnati, Brickus was a perfect three-for-three on three-pointers in the first half. He ended the night with 13 points and 9 assists, hitting 60% of his three-point attempts. Along with his nine assists, Brickus had no turnovers.
“[Brickus] is just a great basketball player,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “He happens to be our point guard, but he just sees the game at such an elevated level. He sees the plays before they happen.”
Brickus himself wants to be more aggressive on the court. He shook his head when Neptune was asked if he wanted Brickus to be more aggressive shooting the ball.
Takeaway #3: Confidence
Neptune has been strong on Villanova basketball needing to be a more cohesive unit. Through the early season, much of the disconnect has caused the Wildcats to not unlock their full potential.
The team has improved consistently since the Virginia game even though they fell short a few times.
More players are taking shots they were not taking a month ago. Senior guard Wooga Poplar has played a physical game as the season progresses. He took three trips to the charity stripe, hitting all six of his free throws. It represents his ability to draw fouls under the basket.
Amongst the great takeaways from the win, Poplar silently contributed a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double. A sign Poplar is definitely more than just a guard and is easily Villanova’s best swingman, not counting Dixon.
“I think that was our best performance throughout a 40-minute game,” Neptune said. “I thought we had times throughout the season where we played good in spurts, but this is the first time we put together a full 40 minutes.”
Up next for Villanova (5-4): vs. Temple (Big 5 Classic) – Dec. 7 at 4:30 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center.
Up next for Cincinnati (6-1): vs. Howard (3-3) – Nov. 30 at 2 p.m.