Villanova Suffers Another Crushing Letdown in 75-62 Loss to Providence

Back on the NCAA Tournament bubble for the first time in a month, Villanova Men’s Basketball had a chance to clean up the scraps when they traveled to Providence on Saturday, Feb. 15, facing a Friars team in the midst of a four game losing streak.

Instead, the Wildcats (15-11, 8-7 Big East) suffered a 75-62 loss, their three game winning streak coming to an end as they fell apart midway through the game without enough time to recover from the swoon.

Providence poured it on from beyond the arc faster than the Wildcats could fight back. Villanova allowed the Friars to convert 13 of 27 three-point attempts on the day, including a red-hot 9-of-16 clip in the first half.

With Eric Dixon limited to an uncharacteristic 15 points, Jordan Longino and Wooga Poplar picked up the slack with 18 points apiece, but it wasn’t enough to survive the onslaught.

A Jhamir Brickus step back jumper cut the deficit to 17-14 with 12:47 to go until the half. From there, the flood gates opened, with Providence closing out the half on a 19-10 run, leading by as much as 14 behind the torrent of triples.

A slow start to the second half compounded Villanova’s misfortune. The Wildcats didn’t score their first bucket until the 15 minute mark. At that point, Providence led 46-26. Villanova managed to put together a 10-0 run from there, but every time the Wildcats managed to get their heads above water, another well-timed shot or foul (Providence made 28 trips to the line, coming away with 16 points) made it that much harder for them to breathe.

Up next, Villanova will take on UConn in Hartford, with the opening tipoff set for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 18.