VILLANOVA, Pa. – It's the final week of the BIG EAST regular season and another critical matchup looms Wednesday night for Villanova. The Wildcats (17-12 overall, 10-8 BIG EAST) visit Seton Hall (18-11 overall, 11-7 BIG EAST) at 6:30 p.m. at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
The Pirates currently hold down fourth place in the BIG EAST standings, one spot ahead of the Wildcats. The BIG EAST Tournament begins next Wednesday, March 13 at Madison Square Garden.
Villanova can finish anywhere from fourth to seventh place in the conference, depending on what happens over the rest of the week.
FS1 will have the national broadcast of this matchup with Alex Faust and Donny Marshall on site to describe the action. The Villanova IHeart Radio network will also air the game with Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby at the microphone from courtside in Newark.
The Wildcats rallied from a 37-34 halftime deficit last Saturday at Providence to knock off the Friars, 71-60. After notching their 10
th league win, the 'Cats have now won 10 or more games in every season since the BIG EAST reconfigured as a basketball driven conference ahead of the 2013-14 season.
Villanova has won six of its last eight games.
Tyler Burton, in his first season as a Wildcat, is relishing the experience of competing in high stakes matchups such as this one.
"Being a part of this is great," stated Burton, a University of Richmond graduate transfer. "Every single day we come in to work. We've got to get better. We keep tapping that rock and hopefully get some wins to be the best team we can be by the end of the year."
Sophomore
Mark Armstrong has played especially well of late, averaging 11.5 points and 5.5 assists per outing in the 'Cats wins last week over Georgetown and Providence. In those two games, Nova was +47 when the guard was on the court. He'll play not far from his South Orange, N.J., home Wednesday night against the Pirates.
"I thought Mark was great (Saturday)," noted Neptune. "I thought his defense was unbelievable, his energy level was unbelievable. He made some timely plays. Providence puts a lot of pressure on you. He handled it well."
Villanova picked up an 80-54 victory over the Pirates when the squads met on Feb. 11 at the Wells Fargo Center.
Eric Dixon led VU with 18 points while
Brendan Hausen added 17 points. The Wildcats relied upon a stifling defense to pull away in that one but the challenge this time, away from home, may be more daunting.
"Teams make adjustments when you meet multiple times in a season," Neptune stated. "Seton Hall is extremely well-coached, plays hard and has had a lot of success, especially at home. It's going to be a great test for us.
"We look at every game as our Super Bowl – this is no different. This is a huge game because we're playing in it. We're excited."
