VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Villanova Wildcats host their first home game in nearly three weeks Saturday afternoon as part of the BIG EAST/Big 12 Battle against Oklahoma (6-1 overall). The Sooners will be at the Wells Fargo Center for a contest that tips off at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
 
CBS will carry the game nationally with Tom McCarthy, Bill Raftery and Jon Rothstein at the microphone. The radio call will be heard on the Villanova Sports Network (Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby). That broadcast can also be heard on Sirius XM channels 135 or 203 or on the app at channel 966. Villanova will celebrate its annual "Alumni Day" with a halftime ceremony honoring many of the program's legendary performers.
 
The Wildcats (2-5 overall) will look for a bounce back effort after dropping three straight close contests at the PK Invitational over Thanksgiving weekend to Iowa State, Portland, and Oregon. On Sunday, Nova rallied to take a 67-64 lead over the Ducks with just over two minutes left before Oregon scored the game's final 10 points to earn the win.
 
"All we have to think about Is that we have to get better today," stated Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune after the Wildcats practiced Friday morning at Finneran Pavilion. "If we were undefeated right now, that would be our mindset as well.
 
"We've been trying to get better in practice this week on every little thing. We've been working on our rebounding, better ball pressure, our defensive concepts in what we're looking to take away. Offensively we've been looking at playing with a little bit more pace and sharing the ball better. It's every little thing."
 
Freshman forward Cam Whitmore returned to practice this week on a limited basis after missing the prior seven weeks following October surgery on his right (shooting) thumb. He is listed officially as a game-time decision for Saturday's game.
 
"Cam is a talent," stated Neptune. "But if you think about it, he's up against a lot. He's a freshman. For any freshman learning a new system, it's tough. Adapting to playing hard consistently is tough for a freshman. Playing against bigger, stronger, and faster players than you ever have before is hard.
 
"And then you factor in that he hasn't played basketball in seven weeks. I don't care if you are Michael Jordan or LeBron. If you haven't played basketball in seven weeks, you're not going to be tip top. He's up against a lot and we're just trying to ease him back in as he recovers from a serious injury on his shooting hand."
 
Neptune indicated that he expects there to be a minutes limit on the product of Maryland when he does see game action.
 
"The first time he comes back," noted Neptune, "he will probably not be full go."
 
This week Villanova has leaned on veteran stalwarts Caleb Daniels, Eric Dion and Brandon Slater as it looks to extricate itself from this early hole.
 
"We played a lot of close games recently against a lot of good teams," stated Neptune of a daunting stretch that included a visit to nationally ranked Michigan State on Nov. 18. "Obviously as competitors, you want to win every game you play. Sometimes, it takes adversity to get you where you need to go.
 
"Hopefully we can use those experiences as we go through the season."
 
This is the first of two straight on home courts for the Wildcats, who host Philadelphia Big Five rival Penn Wednesday night at Finneran Pavilion (7 p.m./CBS Sports Network and Villanova Sports Radio Network).