Villanova Men's Basketball
Villanova Reaction: Hurley Praises ‘Cats After Loss to UConn
Villanova Men’s Basketball looked lost for extended stretches of their Saturday, Feb. 21 loss to No. 5 UConn, the gap far greater than the 73-63 final score suggests. They allowed 28 of the Huskies’ 51 shots to fall and began the second half on an 0-for stretch that buried them entirely.
That loss only tells part of the story, however. The Wildcats played in front of a sellout crowd of 20,261 in South Philadelphia, where they averaged just 10,675 fans per game during the 2024-25 campaign, their last under former head coach Kyle Neptune. They hold the No. 3 seed in the Big East with two weeks remaining in the regular season, a clear cut above teams like Seton Hall and Creighton… and a clear cut below UConn and St. John’s, currently vying for the conference crown.
Picked to finish seventh in the 11-team conference in the preseason, it’s a remarkable start to the Kevin Willard era on the Main Line, but also a reminder of the work remaining as the Wildcats (21-6, 12-4 Big East) try to make it back to their championship-winning expectations. Gracious in victory, Huskies’ head coach Dan Hurley described Willard as a Big East Coach of the Year frontrunner and praised the environment at Xfinity Mobile Arena — although he did take a jab at the Villanova fans who came to chirp him.
Here’s the reaction from fans and media as the first year honeymoon under Kevin Willard continues.
