Overview
 
A career-best offensive afternoon for senior Duke Brennan and timely shot-making from sophomore Bryce Lindsay helped carry Villanova past its old BIG EAST rival Pittsburgh before another sellout crowd at Finneran Pavilion.
 
A 17-4 spurt in the final six minutes of the first half allowed the Wildcats to take a 41-32 lead at halftime. Pitt narrowed that deficit to 44-40 early in the second half, but the dynamics of Brennan on the interior – 24 points while converting all eight of his field goal attempts to go with nine rebounds – and Lindsay (24 points) often on the perimeter allowed Villanova to pull away for the win.
 
Villanova delivered 20 assists on the day with just three turnovers. Acaden Lewis, the BIG EAST assists leader, contributed seven helpers to go with his 11 points and a pair of steals.
 
A Tight Battle Early
 
Six early points from Brennan helped offset a pair of Pitt 3-pointers in the opening minutes. When Matt Hodge dropped in the Wildcats' first triple of the day, Villanova held an 11-8 lead with 15:09 to play in the first half.
 
A 5-2 advantage in second chance points helped the Panthers pull within 17-15 at the second official break of the afternoon. A basket on the next possession by Pitt tied the contest at 17 with 11:32 remaining in the first period. A transition dunk by Barry Dunning Jr. gave the Panthers a 19-17 lead.
 
Fueled by an 18-10 advantage on the glass at that point, the Panthers crafted a 28-24 lead. Pitt ultimately outrebounded the Wildcats 36-27 over 40 minutes.
 
Duke Delivered
 
From the opening tip, Villanova prioritized feeding the ball inside to Brennan as the Panthers pressed out to deny the Wildcats' potent array of 3-point marksmen. Brennan converted his first five field goal attempts and then played a central role later in the period as Nova used a 12-0 burst to re-take the lead.
 
Before picking up his second foul late in the period, Brennan had accumulated 16 points to go with four rebounds and three assists.
 
"I think Duke's biggest strength is his energy," said Willard after the game. "How hard he plays. His rebounding. When we can get him some points down low, I think it rewards him for how hard he plays."
 
Lindsay lent a hand with 11 points in the first 20 minutes. A steal and score by Lewis in the final minute helped Villanova take a 41-32 lead into the locker room at halftime. It outscored the Panthers 17-4 over the final 5:59 of the first half.
 
The Wildcats did that with Hodge and Brennan both missing a portion of those minutes after picking up their second personal fouls. Tafara Gapare stepped forward to help fill that void inside with four rebounds in eight minutes.
 
Second Act
 
A deft Lewis setup for a Lindsay 3-pointer gave Villanova a 44-32 lead on its first possession of the second half. But Pitt reeled off an 8-0 run with a pair of 3-pointers to shave the deficit to 44-40 before the period was two minutes old. Hodge then beat the shot clock with a deep two-pointer from the corner and Brennan sank two free throws to push the lead up to 48-40 after 4:10 of the second half.
 
The Wildcats stretched the lead to 61-51 but the Panthers converted six straight attempts from the field to shave the margin to 61-55 with 7:50 remaining in the second half.
 
But Devin Askew capitalized on a nifty play design to score with the shot clock winding down after an official timeout at the 7:45 mark of the period. Villanova led 63-55 and was never threatened again. The win was a bounce-back effort after a 89-61 loss at No. 2/1 Michigan on Tuesday night in Ann Arbor.
 
What They Said
 
Willard: "(The players) responded great. We took Wednesday off, came in Thursday and Friday and practiced really hard. These guys showed today that they could let a tough loss go to then come back and play well."
 
"The more we can get Duke involved in pick and rolls, it just puts pressure on the weakside defense. When you have young guards and a team that hasn't been together very long, sometimes it just takes a little time to know what works and what doesn't work. Acaden, Bryce, and Dev are doing a good job of trying to learn what we're trying to do."
 
Willard on facing his alma mater, where he played for his father Ralph Willard: "I played for my father so that impacted me more than anything. Getting to see my father coach and how much his players loved him. My father is an unbelievable coach. He had the biggest influence on me in my life.
 
"The best thing about Pitt was that I found a woman who would stick with me for 25 years. If you know me, that's really hard."