VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova will resume one of its longest running rivalries Wednesday night when the Wildcats (7-7 overall, 1-2 BIG EAST) visit Washington, D.C. to meet Georgetown at 6:30 p.m.
FS1 will carry the game nationally with Jeff Levering and Tarik Turner on site to describe the action. Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will handle the radio broadcast duties for the Villanova Sports Network (Sirius XM channel 381 and channel 971 on the SM app).
This series dates to a Jan. 19, 1922, matchup in Washington taken by the Hoyas, 39-34. The Wildcats swept both meetings last season, earning an 85-74 win at Capital One Arena in January behind a combined 65 points from
Collin Gillespie,
Justin Moore, and
Jermaine Samuels. The Wildcats trailed 40-37 at halftime.
Both teams are looking to rebound from home-court defeats last weekend. The Wildcats were edged 68-66 by Marquette on Saturday at Finneran Pavilion. A final seconds bid for a game-tying bucket by
Eric Dixon rolled off the rim. Georgetown (5-10 overall, 0-4 BIG EAST) lost at home on Sunday to Butler, 80-51.
"When you're going up against really good coaches, (it's tough)," said Villanova head coach
Kyle Neptune about the Wildcats' loss to the Golden Eagles Saturday afternoon. "We had a really high-scoring first half (44 points) and they made great adjustments. I thought we got some good shots. We didn't make them. I thought our defense was pretty good.
"It's the Big East. It was a one-possession game. We just didn't get it done."
The Wildcats were limited to 22 points in the second half.
"Marquette is a really good defensive team," Neptune said. "We've got to be able to execute in those moments. They forced us into taking some tough shots. Unfortunately, we didn't make them."
Villanova conducted practice Tuesday morning at Finneran Pavilion before climbing aboard a chartered bus for the ride down I-95 to the District of Columbia.
"We always say our next game is our biggest game so our mindset doesn't change at all," said Neptune of facing a longtime rival. "We always want to come out to play as hard as we can."
Neptune was also asked about the events of Monday night's National Football League matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals. Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin was administered CPR on the field in the first quarter of the game played in Cincinnati, a contest that was ultimately postponed. He remained in critical condition on Tuesday in a Cincinnati hospital.
"It's really unfortunate," Neptune stated. "We have Damar and his family in our prayers."
