No. 24/24 Georgetown at No. 7/7 Villanova

When: Saturday, 2 p.m.

Where: Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia, Pa.).

Television: Fox (Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson)

Radio: Villanova IMG Network: 610 WTELAM/Sirius 113/XM 201/villanova.com and TuneIn Radio (Ryan Fannon & Whitey Rigsby)

Series: Georgetown leads 43-31

Game Notes / Listen

VILLANOVA, Pa. - One of the BIG EAST's most historic rivalries resumes Saturday afternoon when Georgetown visits the sold out Wells Fargo Center to meet Villanova.

The Hoyas knocked off Villanova 78-58 in the first meeting between the two teams last month at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. A 29-8 run by the Hoyas over the final 12 minutes of the first half proved decisive in that clash.

"Georgetown did a lot of good things defensively against us," noted Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "The way they guarded ball screens (and) the way they packed the paint. They did a lot of good things.

"When you lose like that, it forces you to look in the mirror. It forces you to look at yourself and see where the wrinkles are. They did a good job. I think we've adjusted since then but they've probably adjusted too."

Georgetown brings a 15-7 overall mark and 7-4 record in BIG EAST action into this battle after falling at home to Providence on Wednesday night.

Villanova, meanwhile, has rebounded to win three straight since that night in the nation's capital, all by double digits. The most recent of those came on Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center when the Wildcats downed Marquette 70-52 as junior Ryan Arcidiacono dropped in 18 points for the second game in a row.

"The most important thing to us was just getting back to playing Villanova Basketball," states Wright. "I thought our defense was porous in that (Georgetown) game. I think it's gotten better. We'll see how much better it's gotten when we play them."

The Wildcats have averaged 65.8 ppg in their last five contests - four of which were victories - after averaging better than 77 points per outing in their first 17 games of 2014-15.

"We've been more solid defensively - we haven't been taking as many chances," said Wright. "We haven't been getting many turnovers and getting out in the open court. But we've been more solid.

"We haven't been scoring as much but our opponents haven't been scoring as much.'

The numbers reflect that truth. Over the last five games, Villanova's opponents are averaging 56.4 ppg. None of their last three opponents have scored as many as 60 points in a game and they have combined to connect on .378 of their field goal attempts.

The Wildcats will head out back on the road next week when they visit Providence for their first meeting with the Friars of 2014-15 on Wednesday (8 p.m./Fox Sports 1). They are scheduled to be back on campus for a bit more than 24 hours before departing Friday for Indianapolis. Villanova is at Butler on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14) at 6 p.m. (CBS Sports Network).

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