VILLANOVA, Pa. – For the second time in recent years, Villanova hosts Seton Hall in a BIG EAST Conference appetizer on Super Bowl Sunday. Tipoff at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia is set for just after noon.
 
Tom McCarthy will be courtside to call the action alongside analyst Pete Gillen with sideline reporter Jon Rothstein for CBS Sports Network. Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will be on hand as well to describe the game on the Villanova IHeart Radio Network (head locally on 1480 AM and Sirius XM channel 381).
 
These two teams met off six years ago in similar circumstances – early afternoon on Super Bowl Sunday at the Center. Villanova knocked off the Pirates 92-76 behind the work of Omari Spellman and Jalen Brunson. Later that day, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. Seven weeks later, the Wildcats earned their second NCAA national championship in three seasons.
 
Seton Hall (15-8 overall, 8-4 BIG EAST) comes to Philadelphia in third place in the conference. Villanova, meanwhile, is 12-11 overall, 5-7 BIG EAST, after a tough 56-53 loss at Xavier on Wednesday night. Sophomore guard Brendan Hausen (Amarillo, Tex.), led the Wildcats with 15 points.
 
"Brendan is a big-time player," noted Wildcats head coach Kyle Neptune. "He does so many special things for our team. He's defending much better, can obviously make shots and make plays for other guys."
 
The Wildcats are 2-1 (.667) this season while hosting at the Center, posting victories over UCLA and Providence while also dropping a 66-65 decision to No. 1 Connecticut last month at the Center. Villanova also fell to Drexel in the Center on Dec. 2 as part of the Big Five Classic.
 
Forward Eric Dixon continues to ascend the all-time list in program history. The native of Willow Grove, Pa., now has 1,295 points in 116 career games, an 11.2 points per game average. With two points, he moves past former teammate Jermaine Samuels Jr. (1,296) into 50^th place on the list.
 
In addition, Dixon has 647 career rebounds to his credit, which ranks 30^th all-time in program history. Lance Miller stands in 29^th place (670 career caroms).
 
Dixon scored 13 points against the Musketeers and has averaged 18.6 points per game over his last four contests.
 
The Wildcats took both meetings last season with the Pirates, winning each by four points. The first took place one year ago to the day, a 58-54 VU victory with Dixon scoring 19 points and Caleb Daniels adding 18 points. Villanova then upended Seton Hall 76-72 a few weeks later in Newark, N.J.