VILLANOVA, Pa. – After seeing Georgetown score 36 first half points while connecting on a shade below 50 percent of its attempts from the field Saturday, Villanova's on-court leaders saw the need for an adjustment.
 
"We wanted to have a good start to the second half," said Villanova junior guard Collin Gillespie. "We knew we were lacking a little bit in the first half on the defensive end, so we wanted to get stops right away. It turned into easy buckets for us. We got out into transition.
 
"We wanted to focus on defending and rebounding to take it to another level."
 
Villanova used a 5-0 spurt over the first 30 seconds to set a tone for the second twenty minutes. They would go on to post an 80-66 victory over the Hoyas after holding a 39-36 lead at intermission.
 
"I think we did a pretty good job of communicating in the second half," Gillespie stated. "I think we were getting a little confused with our switching in the first half. We figured it out and guys started to communicate more so we could be better at the defensive end."
 
That tenacity will be called upon again on Tuesday night when the potent DePaul Blue Demons come to Finneran Pavilion. DePaul (12-4 overall, 0-3 BIGEAST) features a gifted group of scorers that features four players with double-digit averages including guard Charlie Moore (15.8 points per game, 6.8 assists per game); forward Paul Reed (15.4 points per game to go with 118 blocked shots); Jalen Coleman-Lands (11.4 ppg) and Jaylen Butz (11.0 ppg). Fifth starter Romeo Weems is a two-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week.
 
Moore, in fact, logged 17 minutes facing the Wildcats last season while playing at Kansas.
 
"I think they're playing a lot better defensively," noted Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "They're 0-3 but they've been in every game. Two of them were on the road. They've almost beaten us in here a number of times. That does not get past us.
 
"Every time we watch one of our DePaul games – especially the ones at home – we know that we just squeezed that out. We know how well they play us and we know how good they are this year."
 
Tuesday night's game airs on FS1. Brian Custer and Bill Raftery will be behind the microphone for this telecast. Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will do the honors on the radio side in a broadcast that can be heard on 610 ESPN Radio in the Delaware Valley and on the TuneIn app everywhere.
 
On Monday, the Wildcats learned that they had climbed two spots in this week's Associated Press Top 25, from No. 16 to No. 14. Meanwhile, they moved up a single place in the USA Today Coaches poll, from No. 16 to No. 15.
 
The 2019-20 season – Villanova's 100^th college basketball campaign – is presented by Hartford Funds and Coca-Cola.