Villanova Metrics: Uninspiring Home Win Drops Wildcats

Villanova Men’s Basketball nearly suffered a crushing upset against last-place Marquette on Tuesday, Feb. 10, a late push from Tyler Perkins carrying them past the post after they blew a double digit lead.

A win is a win, as Wildcats (19-5, 10-3 Big East) head coach Kevin Willard said after the game. “It’s February basketball. You’re gonna have to grind and find ways to win,” Willard said. “Watching Marquette’s last five games, [head coach] Shaka [Smart’s] done a great job with that group, especially on the defensive end. But we found a way, so that’s all that matters.”

Win quality matters too as teams build their résumé for an at-large bid, and the Wildcats dropped in both the NET and KenPom ratings as a result of their flirt with disaster, falling to No. 33 and No. 30, respectively. Teamrankings.com gives them a 99.9 percent chance of making it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022, but Villanova needs to win convincingly in order to improve on their current place as a projected No. 8 seed: three point home wins over a 9-16 squad aren’t going to cut it.

Amidst a four game winning streak, the Wildcats will need to defeat one of No. 3 UConn (Feb. 21) and No. 17 St. John’s (Feb. 28) in order to prove their pedigree and move up in the tournament field with less than a month to play in the regular season.