Villanova Men’s Basketball Gets Small-Ball Crash Course

Forced to play without leading rebounder Duke Brennan, Villanova Men’s Basketball received a small ball crash course during their Nov. 25 win over Old Dominion. Wildcats head coach Kevin Willard started redshirt freshman center Braden Pierce, a traditional big man, in place of Brennan, but Pierce played just 13 minutes on the night. 6-foot-8 forward Matt Hodge played 23 minutes, while 6-foot-9 Tafara Gapare ate up 30 more off the bench.

The other 134 minutes went to players listed at 6-foot-6 or shorter, and even Hodge and Gapare play more like wings than they do big men. Villanova managed an 89-75 win while relying on that small ball lineup. It wasn’t pretty — the Wildcats allowed Old Dominion to sink 11 threes, a 48 percent success rate — but head coach Kevin Willard said after the game he didn’t expect it to be.

“I think that’s something [small ball] that we’re still not very good at because we just haven’t had time to practice. I think the more we practice the more we get comfortable with having five guys out there that can shoot and pass and dribble,” Willard said, emphasizing the Wildcats’ defensive struggle in the first half in particular. “When you haven’t practiced something very much and you go out there, try to do it in a game, you usually don’t do it well.”

For Villanova to succeed with a small ball lineup, they’re going to need strong two-way performances out of their guards. Willard hammered the importance of versatility during the offseason, and he got a taste of that on Wednesday night from leading scorers Tyler Perkins (21 points, seven rebounds, two assists and one steal) and true freshman Acaden Lewis (20 points, four assists, two steals), both guards.

Two-Way Guard Play

Willard said that Perkins, the only Wildcat to have played a minute for Villanova last season, is still learning how to fit into the new system and that his defensive contributions extend well beyond the stat sheet. He also spoke to the flashes of that potential he’s seen out of Perkins, who helped Villanova begin the second half on a 7-0 run.

“Tyler just gives us great energy. I think he’s still trying to figure out a little bit of what he’s doing and what we need him to do,” Willard said. “To start the second half he gets two big steals, gets a layup, good pass, so Tyler just gives us energy and some toughness and I think he’s really starting to figure out ‘how do I play in this system?’”

Lewis, veteran of just six college basketball games, said he thinks that emphasizing defensive play helps him reach new heights as a player, leaning into that hard-nosed identity.

“I think every game we’re just figuring out our roles. We haven’t really had our full team every single game, like today we had no Duke, so we’re just figuring out game by game,” Lewis said. “I think my role, as a point guard you’re kind of like the servant of the team, you kinda do what needs to be done… so far when I’ve played defense and when I’ve really gotten kind of like ‘grimy,’ I think it’s worked for me. So do that more often.”