Villanova in the Pros: Saddiq Bey Leads Fourth Quarter Comeback

Villanova Men’s Basketball product Saddiq Bey put up the second-best scoring performance of his career on Friday, Jan. 23, scoring 36 points and leading his New Orleans Pelicans to a fourth quarter comeback win over the Memphis Grizzlies. 19 of Bey’s points came in the final frame, helping the Pelicans erase a 13 point deficit.

The 6-foot-8, 215 pound win made six of nine three-point shots and 13 of 20 shots overall, adding four rebounds and four assists. Bey is averaging 15.7 points and 5.6 rebounds in 29.9 minutes per game this season, his fifth in the NBA. His play is starting to heat up too, as he’s cleared the 20-point barrier in four of his last eight games.

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Other notable Villanova alumni in the pros this season include Jalen Brunson, who earned his third straight All-Star Game nod (and second as a starter), and Collin Gillespie, who’s broken into the league as an everyday player with the Phoenix Suns, making 42.3 percent of his three-point shots and averaging 13.4 points per game.

Kyle Lowry, wrapping up his career with his hometown Philadelphia 76ers, earned a standing ovation in Toronto on Jan. 12. He won a championship with the Raptors in 2019, and their home fans chanted for him to enter the game in the waning minutes with a 76ers win already assured. Donte DiVincenzo has started 45 games for the Minnesota Timberwolves after coming in off the bench last season, and rumors have swirled that he might rejoin Brunson and fellow Villanova alumni Mikal Bridges (15.6 PPG, 4.2 APG) and Josh Hart (11.9 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 5.2 APG) on the New York Knicks.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is a bench forward for the Dallas Mavericks, and Cam Whitmore hasn’t played since Dec. 4 because of deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, which will cause him to miss the remainder of the season.