Villanova Men’s Basketball Opens Kevin Willard Era With Gutsy Top 10 Loss

Villanova Men’s Basketball began the Kevin Willard era with a tough loss in the desert, falling 71-66 to No. 8 BYU in Las Vegas they came back from a 14 point deficit but couldn’t close the Cougars out.

Redshirt sophomore Bryce Lindsay went off in the second half, scoring 19 of his 22 points — including a trio of three-pointers that each tied the game or put the Wildcats in front. The third made it 59-57, but the Cougars responded with an 8-0 run, queuing a Villanova timeout with 2:19 to play.

Lindsay missed a three out of the break, part of a 1-for-7 streak to close the game for the Wildcats, but made two free throws to keep the Cougars within two possessions with time dwindling. Two turnovers and a blocked shot in the final six minutes helped seal Villanova’s fate.

Wildcats’ Defense Keeps Them In It

The Wildcats went blow for blow with BYU early on, but their shots stopped falling as the half went on. Malachi Palmer drained a three to tie the game 8-8 heading into the first media timeout, and the Cougars responded with an 8-0 run that saw five missed threes from the Wildcats and forced Willard to call a timeout.

Villanova closed the gap to 19-15 with the help of second chance baskets from Lindsay and Matt Hodge, but the Cougars pushed the lead back to double digits each time the Wildcats threatened to rally. Palmer racked up three fouls in three minutes, writing himself out of the picture early, while Villanova took 19 of their 35 shots in the first half from beyond the arc in an attempt to keep up with BYU. They made just five of those attempts.

The Cougars are expected to have a high powered offense this season, but Villanova limited them to just 41.2 percent shooting in the first half. The Wildcats also kept the rebounding margin at 24-22 — and went on to lead in the category 49-43, courtesy of 15 boards from Duke Brennan — but a 10-of-12 clip from the charity stripe helped BYU to a 42-32 lead at the half.

Villanova’s defense tightened further to begin the second half, allowing just three shots in the first six minutes as they cut into a 14 point lead, and an 11-3 run midway through the half closed the gap to 51-50, setting up Lindsay’s scorching run.

Villanova Men’s Basketball will next take the court in their home opener against Queens, set for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8 as part of the Villanova Challenge multi-team event (MTE).