Villanova Preview: Quarterfinals Begin Against Hulking Hoyas

Villanova Men’s Basketball will begin their Big East Tournament run in the quarterfinals against Georgetown on Thursday, March 12. Piggybacking off the 7 p.m. Xavier/UConn game, it might start even later than the 9:30 p.m. listing.

Villanova (24-7) swept the Hoyas during the regular season and wins in 75.4 percent of ESPN Analytics simulations for this matchup, but they had plenty of trouble with Georgetown despite the wins.

The Hoyas attempted to poke holes in the Wildcats’ shaky three-point defense during the first game — despite their status as a poor shooting team — helping Villanova overcome their own slow start. During the return game in Washington, Georgetown dominated the paint early but inexplicably got away from their fundamentals as the game went on. Even so, the Wildcats needed a 43-point second half in order to emerge victorious.

Villanova enters this game as a -320 money line favorite. FanDuel Sportsbook sets the over/under at 140.5 and the point spread at -7.5. The Wildcats have an NCAA Tournament at-large bid locked up, so they don’t need to run the table in order to make the Big Dance.

FS1 holds the telecast rights for this matchup.

Scouting the Hoyas

Georgetown will play without starting guard and lead scorer KJ Lewis, out for the season with an ankle injury. During their opening round upset win over DePaul, head coach Ed Cooley went with a starting lineup of forwards Isaiah Abraham and Caleb Williams, each 6-foot-7; seven foot tall center Julius Halaifonua, who was banged up when Villanova played in Washington, and guards Malik Mack and Jeremiah Williams.

The Hoyas also got a major contribution from 7-foot-1 senior center Vince Iwuchukwu, who went off for 17 points — he even made both three-point attempts — and 14 rebounds in just 23 minutes off the bench. Their size and depth could prove a major issue for the Wildcats: during the game in Washington, Georgetown dominated when they focused on the paint, and that was before Villanova forward Matt Hodge went down with a season-ending ACL tear.

Lewis provided the most consistent scoring for the Hoyas during the first two games these teams played, although Iwuchukwu, the shifty Mack (13.8 PPG. 4.2 APG) and even bench guard Kayvon Mulready managed to step up as well.

Mack and Caleb Williams both play more than thirty minutes per night; after that, Cooley has half a dozen players in the 20 minute range who he can plug-and-play, making for a dangerous if inconsistent lineup.

Scouting Villanova

The Wildcats need to continue to adjust to life without Matt Hodge. Sophomore wing Malachi Palmer filled into Hodge’s starting position and although he’s a strong athlete who head coach Kevin Willard can ask to play the four, he’s only 6-foot-6, exacerbating Villanova’s size disadvantage.

Forward Duke Brennan and guards Acaden Lewis, Bryce Lindsay and Tyler Perkins round out the starting lineup. Lewis, a Washington, D.C. native, went off in his return to his hometown, scoring 26 points against the Hoyas on Feb. 7 and putting them away with a late hot streak.

Lindsay dealt with a massive shooting slump during the first two matchups but has since returned to form, while Perkins provides steady contributions on both ends of the court and brought down eight rebounds at Georgetown, helping to even out the size discrepancy.

Brennan, who stands 6-foot-10, managed a double-double in both games against the Hoyas and is one away from breaking the single season program record for double-doubles. 7-foot-1 center Braden Pierce (6.5 minutes per game) could see an increased role as the Wildcats try to bolster their defense down low, while Big East Sixth Man of the Year Devin Askew is another steady two-way option.