VILLANOVA, Pa. – After three consecutive homecourt victories, Villanova heads back on the road Saturday to face the No. 24 Providence Friars (19-7 overall, 11-4 BIG EAST) at Amica Mutual Pavilion, previously known as the Dunkin Donuts Center. Jason Benetti and Donny Marshall will have the call on the Fox television network (Fox 29 in Philadelphia) while Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will be courtside to describe the action on the Villanova Sports Network (channel 381 on Sirius XM).
Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. The national broadcast on Fox will immediately follow the Connecticut at Villanova women's game which will emanate from a sold-out Finneran Pavilion at 2:30 p.m.
Providence is 14-0 on its home court in 2022-23. It defeated Creighton Tuesday night in a double overtime thriller, 94-86. It owns a 35-1 record at home over the last two seasons.
Villanova (13-13 overall, 7-8 BIG EAST), in fact, is the only team to have defeated the Friars on their home floor in that span. The Wildcats got 33 points from Collin Gilespie to down Providence 89-84 last February. The Friars took the meeting between the two teams last month (Jan. 29), as Jared Bynum converted seven of eight field goal attempts to rally past Nova, 70-65.
This contest kicks off what looms as a grueling stretch for the Wildcats in the final weeks of BIG EAST regular season play. Four of the five remaining games are against teams ranked in this week's Associated Press Top 25. The Wildcats visit No. 16 Xavier on Tuesday night; host No. 18 Creighton on Feb. 25; travel to Seton Hall on Feb. 28; and close out the regular season on March 4 against No. 20 Connecticut at the Wells Fargo Center.
The BIG EAST Tournament begins on Wednesday, March 8.
On Tuesday night, the Wildcats pulled away from Butler in the final minutes to post a 62-50 win at Finneran Pavilion. Villanova used a stout defensive effort to overcome a night when it had to work for every point it picked up at the offensive end of the court.
"We got some good shots," stated Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. "We talk to our guys all the time to say, 'you're not going to make every shot.' I think the mark of a good team is when you can get it done and win a game when you're not making shots. If you want to compete towards the end of the season, that's the kind of team you've got to be."
Senior guard Justin Moore returned to game action in the first meeting with the Friars. The native of Fort Washington, Md., has made steady progress since, re-acclimating himself to game speed after a 309-day absence owed to surgery to repair a tear in his right Achilles tendon. Moore led VU with 15 points against the Bulldogs.
"We take pride in defense," Moore says. "Defense and rebounding are what are going to carry us. We can continue to take our shots (on offense) and be aggressive. The shots are going to fall. We try to get in the paint to get some foul calls. Those are the things that can get us wins."
The Wildcats connected on 16-of-19 free throws in the win over Butler. After leading the nation in Free Throw Percentage last season, Villanova has again been atop that leader board most of this season. It currently leads Division I at .820.
With a national television audience and packed building on Saturday, the hype meter figures to be quite high. There are obvious postseason implications in every remaining game. But to a man, the Wildcats prefer to keep their gaze affixed on only what is directly in front of them.
"We don't really look at it as pressure, or trying to get seeing or anything," noted Moore. "To us, it's next game, get better, and play a full 40 minutes of Villanova Basketball. Our goal is to be the best team we can be at the end of the year."
