Wildcat Wrap
 
Final Score: Wildcats 68, Providence 50
 
Overview: It was a story of suffocating defense as the Wildcats clamped down on the Friars early and rode a 13-0 surge in the opening minutes of the second half to take full control of this one.
 
Nine Wildcats saw at least 14:50 of action as Villanova enjoyed a 28-0 advantage in bench points. Eric Dixon led the way with 12 points while Brendan Hausen added 11 points.
 
Providence connected on just 15-of-51 field goal attempts on the night (.294), including 7-of-33 (.212) from beyond the 3-point arc.
 
"I was really proud of the way our guys came out defensively," stated Wildcats head coach Kyle Neptune. "I thought we played extremely hard. We were really locked in. It was a great defensive effort. Because of our defensive effort, we ended up making some shots as well."
 
D Set the Tone In Opening Minutes: Both teams clamped down with vice like defense over the first nine minutes of this contest. Each team was held to 2-of-13 shooting from the field as Providence maintained a 6-5 edge. But back-to-back 3-pointers from TJ Bamba and Hakim Hart gave VU an 11-6 lead at the 10:24 mark of the period.
 
Devin Carter sank a corner 3-pointer for the Friars to snap an 0-of-9 stretch from deep to open the game. Brendan Hausen answered with a triple for the Wildcats, who held a 14-9 lead with 7:31 to play in the first half.
 
The Wildcats kept up the defensive heat and got buckets from Bamba and Eric Dixon – on his first field goal attempt of the night – to grab a 26-16 lead at halftime.
 
Villanova limited Providence to 4-of-24 shooting in the first 20 minutes and it got nine points from Bamba and seven from Hart to provide some offensive production. It was the third time in 2023-24 the 'Cats held a team to less than 20 points in the first half.
 
After Intermission: The Wildcats got a series of stops and a pair of 3-pointers from Tyler Burton in the first 2:48 of the half as part of an 8-0 burst that expanded the lead to 34-16.
 
The margin grew to 50-24 at the midpoint of the period before Carter (17 points) and Josh Oduro (16 points) got Providence closer over the final minutes. But Dixon added a couple of timely buckets and Hausen did as well, making the final count 68-50.
 
Ware's Was Impactful: Forward Lance Ware provided a terrific spark in his 14:50 of time on the court. The transfer from Kentucky two points, two assists, three blocked shots and six rebounds.
 
"Eric Dixon does so many things for us. When he comes out, Lance really complements him. The way he can guard multiple positions, rebound the ball and then really get the ball moving offensively and he's a great finisher at the rim."
 
Bamba added that he thought his team fed off Ware's first half block too.
 
"That was an exciting play," Bamba stated. "We feed off of that. He inspired us."
 
What They Said: Neptune on the first half-defense: "We were really excited about where we were at halftime. That's what we talk about every day. Our guys were in stances, there wasn't a lot of space out there for them. We were locked into the scouting report. I thought they did an unbelievable job."
 
Bamba: "Every single game is the biggest game of our lives. That's what we preach in the locker room. Every day we go in with one goal in mind – to play as hard as we can."
 
Neptune on his team's 17 assists against only five turnovers: "I thought our guys really shared the ball. They blitzed us in the post, they tried to take away Eric Dixon. To his credit he got rid of it and found the open man. A lot of our baskets started with him getting rid of the ball. And when you're getting stops you can get out in transition and got some easy baskets.
 
"They're a tough team to score on. I thought we were physical driving the ball and shared it inside and out."