Overview
 
A young Villanova squad that faltered at times in the final 10 minutes of regulation put together a dominant five minutes of overtime to post a 76-66 win over Wisconsin Friday night at the Milwaukee Hoops Showdown. The Wildcats outscored the Badgers 20-10 in the extra time to push their non-conference record to 9-2 overall.
 
Villanova won the tip in overtime and ran a crisp play that resulted in a Bryce Lindsay 3-pointer. The Wildcats extended that margin to 60-56 on the next possession before another Lindsay triple made it 63-56. The sophomore transfer from James Madison was instrumental in this win.
 
"Greg (Gard) is one of the best coaches in college basketball," said Villanova head coach Kevin Willard of his Wisconsin counterpart. "I thought they did a really good job of extending their halfcourt defense which kind of surprised us a little bit.
 
"We had our opportunities in the second half to win the game. When you have two freshmen and a sophomore out there, sometimes you have to live through those things. That's a Wisconsin team that can score. To have them struggle and turn them over like that, to me was huge. I was proud of them."
 
Quick Start
 
The Wildcats built an 11-6 lead over the Badgers through the first 4:19 of action on the strength of 3-pointers from Tyler Perkins, Matt Hodge and Acaden Lewis. Villanova's switching defense slowed the Badgers at the other end and when Devin Askew sank a 3-pointer the VU lead was 16-8.
 
Eleven of the Wildcats' first 14 attempts came from beyond the 3-point arc.
 
The Badgers used an 8-0 run to engage the partisan crowd at Fiserv Forum in their home state to close the gap to 18-16. But another Perkins triple, this one near the end of the shot clock, snapped the run and was followed by a defensive stop. Villanova took a 21-16 lead into the under eight-minute official break.
 
D Tales
 
Wisconsin entered this contest averaging 85 points per game but over the first 16:03 Villanova effectively countered that, forcing seven turnovers in that span.
 
At halftime, the Villanova lead was 35-22. The Wildcats were fueled by a 10-0 advantage in points off turnovers and an 18-13 advantage on the backboards.
 
Perkins led the Wildcats with 11 first half points. Villanova was 8-of-18 from beyond the arc over the first 20 minutes.
 
Second Act
 
Wisconsin was able to ignite its offense after intermission. It drained 5-of-9 over the first 7:01 of the period to shave the Villanova lead to 43-36. Meanwhile, the Wildcats were just 3-of-11 from the floor in that span.
 
Villanova committed its seventh team foul at the 11:03 mark of the second half, creating more potential Wisconsin offense.
 
A Perkins triple and Brennan putback helped Villanova push the lead back to 12, 50-38 but the Badgers kept the heat on, scoring the next five points and then added another at the free throw line after a flagrant foul was called on Nova. John Blackwell and Nolan Winter did much of the damage for the Badgers as the crowd roared its approval.
 
Nick Boyd drained a 3-pointer on the next possession and the margin was 50-47.
A Duke Brennan basket made it 52-47 in the Wildcats' favor at the 6:14 mark. The Grand Canyon transfer would end the evening with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Two Perkins free throws pushed the margin to 54-49 but the Badgers defense held the 'Cats in check over the next three minutes and they scored twice to shave the lead to 54-53 with 1:46 to go. The Wildcats got the lead to 56-53 but UW sank a free throw and got a basket with 32 seconds to play in regulation to knot matters at 56. Villanova held for the last shot, but a Lewis attempt was short and an Askew bid for a game-winning 3-pointer fell after the buzzer had sounded.
 
That set up a most impressive overtime. It was the 'Cats first victory in extra time since a 68-66 win at Creighton on Dec. 20, 2023.
 
The Wildcats ended the night with a 15-3 edge in points off turnovers and a 40-35 surplus on the glass.
 
What They Said
 
Willard on Tyler Perkins' effort: "I liked that Tyler was looking to shoot the basketball. He's shooting a high percentage. He does all the little things that most people don't see but when he's aggressive out there, it gives us another scorer."
 
Villanova is 13-1 over the last two seasons when Perkins – who scored 19 in this contest – scores in double figures.
 
The Wildcats open BIG EAST play Tuesday night at Seton Hall.