VILLANOVA, Pa. – A double-double by Caleb Daniels (24 points, 10 rebounds) and a strong effort from Eric Dixon (20 points, four assists, zero turnovers) helped propel Villanova to an 81-68 victory over La Salle Monday night in the regular season opener for both Philadelphia Big Five teams.
 
The win was the first in the tenure of new Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. All nine Wildcats' head coaches have won their Villanova head coaching debut. In his post-game session with the media, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native was asked if he felt any nerves as the day led up to this matchup against the Explorers and their new head coach, Fran Dunphy.
 
"Not really," Neptune said. "I get all the hype that's out there – first game, Big Five game, a new coach's first game. Being a part of this program for so long, I think we have a unique resolve about playing and coaching for each other. That's truly all we think about. When you think that way, there's nothing to be nervous about."
 
Daniels and Dixon set an early tone for the 'Cats, helping spark VU to an early 17-5 lead over the Explorers before a sellout crowd of 6,501.
 
"Nothing surprised me about what Caleb and Eric did tonight," stated Neptune, who succeeded Jay Wright as head coach in April after leading Fordham to a 14-win improvement in his first season as a college head coach in 2021-22. "We recruited these guys. Eric was a freak scorer in high school. He just wasn't in this role earlier in his career. Caleb was a really good scorer in high school and then a really good scorer at Tulane.
 
"They played different roles earlier in their careers here. But we had no doubts they were capale of this."
 
A trio of triples, including a pair from Daniels and another from Jordan Longino, the Wildcats had built a 28-11 lead midway through the half. A nifty up and under move from Dixon extended the VU advantage to 35-17.
 
Both teams cooled over the final minutes. In fact, no field goals were made by either side over the final 2:59 of the half. Villanova took a 37-23 lead into the locker room at intermission.
 
Daniels was a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc in the period, finishing the first 20 minutes with 14 points and four rebounds. Dixon added 11 points to go with three assists.
 
Josh Nickelberry paced La Salle with eight first half points.
 
La Salle made its first four field goal attempts to open the second half, closing to within 43-33 less than three minutes into the session. But Villanova got a 3-pointer from freshman Mark Armstrong and a transition basket by Daniels to push the lead out to 48-33.
 
It was a pattern that continued throughout the second half. La Salle outscored the Wildcats 45-44 in the period, including 7-of-15 from beyond the 3-point arc. Villanova was on target from deep too, converting 7-of-11 from distance after intermission (.636).
 
"We knew they would make a run," Neptune stated. "They're extremely well-coached with some explosive scorers."
 
The 24 points were a Villanova career high for Daniels. His career high was 36 in his time at Tulane University.
 
"It was my teammates finding me, my teammates trusting me and staying on the attack for 40 minutes," said the New Orleans native, who wore a face mask after suffering a broken nose last month in a practice collision.
 
"I'm trying my hardest," said Daniels of the experience of playing with the mask. He added that he expects to continue donning the mask for "a few more games".
 
Villanova visits another Big Five rival, Temple, on Friday evening at 7 p.m. (ESPNU and the Villanova Radio Network).