Villanova MBB Learns Matchup For Big East Quarterfinals

Villanova Men’s Basketball will face No. 10 seed Georgetown in the quarterfinal round of the Big East Tournament on Wednesday, March 12, with their matchup set to begin at 9:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.

The No. 3 seeded Wildcats (24-7) swept the Hoyas during the regular season, although they needed a strong second half to win on both occasions.

During their first matchup at the Finneran Pavilion, the Hoyas tried to attack Villanova’s shaky three-point defense but made just eight of 25 shots from beyond the arc (17 of 50 overall). They exploited their size mismatch in the return game in Washington, D.C., nearly upsetting the Wildcats thanks to the change in tactics. Freshman point guard Acaden Lewis played the hero in his return to his hometown, dropping 26 points for Villanova.

Georgetown knocked off No. 7 seed DePaul in the opening round of the conference tournament, winning 63-56 behind a 17 point, 14 rebound double-double from 7-foot-1 senior Vince Iwuchukwu, who needed just 23 minutes to complete the feat.

Villanova has an NCAA Tournament at-large but all but locked up, but a strong run in the Big East Tournament could go a long way toward improving their standing entering the Big Dance. If they defeat Georgetown, they’ll advance to face the winner of Thursday’s game between No. 2 UConn and No. 11 Xavier.