Villanova Men's Basketball
Villanova Reaction: Heartwarming Senior Day Win for the ‘Cats
Villanova Men’s Basketball wrapped up their 2025-26 regular season at the Finneran Pavilion on Saturday, March 7, defeating the Xavier Musketeers 91-78.
The Wildcats (24-7, 15-5 Big East) will return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022 and in their first season under head coach Kevin Willard. They’ll do so with a young team, as only three of the 12 players currently on the roster — junior guard Zion Stanford reportedly left the team and will not return — walked on senior day.
Each of those three contributed on Saturday afternoon. Forward Duke Brennan put together a 20 point, 13 rebound performance, tying the program record that Michael Bradley set during the 2000-01 season with his 14th double-double this year. Sixth man Devin Askew (18 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) did a little of everything, while former walk-on Wade Chiddick checked in with 48.4 seconds left and drew a foul, going on to make both of his free throws.
It wasn’t all seniors, however, as freshman point guard Acaden Lewis (14 points, 12 assists) added the first double-double of his career. After securing the No. 3 seed in the Big East, Villanova will begin their conference tournament run at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, playing the winner of the previous day’s game between No. 7 DePaul and No. 10 Georgetown.
Here’s the reaction from fans and media after another Wildcats’ win.
