Final Score: Saint Joseph's 83, Villanova 76
 
Hawks Scored Early: Derek Simmons hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, which helped Saint Joseph's grab a 9-6 lead after 4:10 of action in this one. Enoch Boakye was whistled for two quick fouls in that span and headed to the bench at the 16:09 mark of the half.
 
Meanwhile, the Wildcats had a tough time finding an offensive groove, connecting on 2-of-10 attempts from the field over the first five plus minutes. But nine points from Eric Dixon – including VU's first triple of the day – brought the 'Cats to within 14-13 at the 11:40 mark of the period. A pair of Wooga Poplar free throws after the media break gave Villanova the lead, 15-14.
 
Brickus Burst: The Wildcats were trailing Saint Joseph's 21-19 midway through the period when graduate transfer guard Jhamir Brickus ignited a 13-5 run, scoring 11 of those points himself to put Villanova on top 29-21,
 
But Saint Joseph's used the deep ball to narrow the gap to 37-36 at halftime. The Hawks got a final triple from Xzayvier Brown just before the horn sounded, their seventh of the period that answered an Eric Dixon triple at the other end.
 
Dixon's 12 points paced the Wildcats while Brickus added 11 points.
 
Villanova was 11-of-30 from the floor in the first 20 minutes (.367).
 
After Intermission: Villanova pushed out to a 42-38 but Saint Joseph's came right back to reel off eight straight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, to re-take the lead at 46-42, which led to a Wildcats timeout at the 15:47 mark.
 
The Wildcats were unable to score until a Jordan Longino mid-range jumper with 13:38 to play. But when Erik Reynolds II dropped in a backet, the deficit was 55-44.
 
A Poplar corner 3-pointer capped a 12-2 burst that got the Wildcats back to within 57-56 with 8:41 to play in regulation.
 
But it was Saint Joseph's that had the final surge, building a 67-62 lead with 3:57 left. A Kris Parker 3-pointer closed the gap to 67-65 but untimely turnovers allowed the Hawks to push the margin to 73-65 with just more than two minutes remaining.
 
Five straight Nova points brought the 'Cats to within 73-70 with 1:27 on the clock.
 
Saint Joseph's, however, drained its free throws over the final 87 seconds to secure the 83-76 win.
 
What They Said:
Head Coach Kyle Neptune: "They put together a lot of stops. At the other end, we couldn't get enough stops in the second half. Hats off to them. They earned that victory."
 
"I thought they got into us. The pressure affected us. Defensively they came after us. We've got to shore that up. We've got to get the ball moving a little bit more. We've got to share the ball more.
 
"We have to do what we do. That's what a team like that is trying to get you to do is not be able to make those extra passes. They did what they did better than what we did offensively, unfortunately. We've just got to get better."
 
Eric Dixon: "Obviously our goal every single game is to play hard and play together. We play hard. We don't quit. We believe in everybody who is in our locker room. We didn't get the result we wanted. But there were plenty of chances to lay down and fold. We came back and we fought."
 
Up Next: Villanova is back on the road later this week, headed to Maryland to face Virginia in the Baltimore Hall of Fame series event. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. (TNT/Villanova IHeart Radio Network).