Villanova Cracks Seton Hall’s Defense, Wins Big East Opener

Villanova Men’s Basketball picked up their first Quadrant 1 win of the season on Tuesday, Dec. 23, defeating the Seton Hall Pirates 64-56 in their Big East road opener. The win marked head coach Kevin Willard’s return to Seton Hall, where he coached for 12 seasons.

The Wildcats (10-2, 1-0 Big East) pushed their lead as high as 20 before Seton Hall closed on a 10-0 run that made the final score more respectable. True freshman point guard Acaden Lewis led the field with 16 points, including the Wildcats’ first six. While the Pirates managed to go back and forth with Villanova early, the Wildcats made four three-point shots in the first 11 minutes, tying the game or taking the lead with each.

While Seton Hall entered play with the nation’s No. 7 scoring defense, Villanova made 22 of 45 shots on the night, including 10 of 23 from beyond the arc. The Pirates’ offense fared much worse, making just 33 percent of their shots and, despite turning the Wildcats over 18 times, they couldn’t take a substantial chunk out of the lead.

Seton Hall bookended the half with a 6-0 run that cut Villanova’s lead to 31-29, but the Wildcats responded with a 16-0 span that took the air out of the building. Pirates head coach Shaheen Holloway called a timeout seven points into that span, trying to quash the momentum, but the gambit failed.

With Seton Hall’s 6-foot-10 Najai Hines out of the game due to injury, Villanova managed to win 38-35 on the glass; guard Tyler Perkins led the team with 10 rebounds and Duke Brennan finished one short of a double-double.

Villanova will return to action at home against DePaul at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 31.