Overview
 
Villanova used a 31-16 spurt over the game's final 10:54 to rally past DePaul (8-6 overall, 0-3 BIG EAST) 71-66 on New Year's Eve at Finneran Pavilion. The Wildcats trailed the Blue Demons for most of the contest's first 30 minutes, falling into a 50-40 hole with just under 11 minutes left.
 
Tyler Perkins and Bryce Lindsay helped kick start an offense that struggled to find its way for the first 29 minutes. Each ended the evening with 19 points.
 
The Wildcats earned the win despite connecting on .345 of their field goal attempts. Yet they used a 19-8 edge in points off turnovers – they forced DePaul into 14 on the night – to improve to 11-2 overall, 2-0 BIG EAST.
 
"I thought we did a good job of battling and still playing hard while not playing well," said Villanova head coach Kevin Willard. "When you have a young team, that can be a little frustrating when you're not playing well offensively. It kind of affects your defense.
 
"I thought we hung in there while not playing overly well offensively."
 
Demons Did Damage
 
Villanova connected on 4-of-5 field goal attempts to build a quick 12-6 lead over the Blue Demons. But DePaul responded with a 9-0 run over a stretch of 1:42 as it capitalized on transition offense to grab a 15-12 lead at the first official break of the evening after 5:42 of game action.
 
DePaul was 6-of-9 from the field in that span (.667).
 
The Blue Demons were also creating trouble for the Wildcats at the other end. Villanova endured a stretch where it went 1-of-9 before a steal and score by Acaden Lewis snapped the skid.
 
Villanova, though, had a hard time building momentum at either end. The Blue Demons expanded the margin to 23-16 at the 7:20 mark. After the hot start, the Wildcats only had Lewis' basket as a field goal over an eight-minute chunk of the period.
 
CJ Gunn did much of the damage for DePaul, scoring 13 points over the game's first 16:19 to go with four rebounds and a pair of assists. The Blue Demons led 30-21.
 
Part of the dilemma was that Nova missed its next eight attempts from beyond the arc after the early triples by Perkins and Lindsay.
 
Late Spurt Shaves Deficit
 
A 7-0 spurt keyed by two turnovers created by defensive pressure allowed the 'Cats to climb to within 30-28 before an RJ Smith short jumper pushed the DePaul margin to 32-28.
 
That's where things stood after 20 minutes.
 
The Blue Demons owed their lead to a defense that handcuffed Villanova. The Wildcats were 9-of-33 from the field in the first half (.273), including 3-of-13 from beyond the 3-point arc (.233). Lindsay's 10 points paced VU while Perkins chipped in with eight points.
 
Villanova climbed back with its ability to force turnovers. It generated 10 DePaul miscues in the first that led to an 8-4 edge in fast break points.
 
"They're very good defensively," noted Willard. "Their length was going to bother us. The two times we've played against long teams we've struggled a little bit offensively. But we stayed with it, made some big plays. I thought defense was what kept us in the game."
 
Demons Stretch Lead
 
The Blue Demons were able to re-ignite their offense in the early part of the second half in a similar fashion to how they had built their lead in the first half. DePaul sank 5-of-6 to open the period, relying on dribble penetration followed by lobs to its forwards to craft a 42-34 lead in the first three plus minutes of the second half.
 
When RJ Smith sank a wing 3-pointer at the 10:54 mark of the second half, DePaul had its biggest lead at that point of the game, 50-40.
 
"We had been really good on pick and roll defense," Willard stated. "Sometimes coming out of Christmas break, you're just not as sharp. You've got to give (DePaul coach) Chris (Holtmann) and their staff credit – they kept running the same play. They were just getting too many easy layups. We had to take that away. We switched into a zone."
 
'Cats Kept Clawing
 
The zone bought the Wildcats the handful of stops they needed at one end. That allowed their offense to find a flow at the other, with Lindsay and Perkins stepping forward in a significant way.
 
An 8-0 surge shaved the margin to 50-48 after Lindsay sank a 3-pointer. DePaul, though got a pair of clutch triples sandwiched around a Perkins' deep shot, to push its advantage to 56-51 with 7:35 left on the second half clock.
 
When Perkins drained a 3-pointer with just more than six minutes to play, the game was tied at 56.
 
A Devin Askew triple gave Nova its first lead since the opening minutes, 59-58. The Wildcats then stretched the margin to 71-62 before the Blue Demons recorded the final four points of the night.
 
What They Said
 
Perkins on the rally: "For me, I would say it started on defense. We got out, we ran. We got stops. That just leads to offense."
 
Willard: "Every time you win in this league it's important. No matter how you win. The other night (at Seton Hall) we got up 20 on the road and won. Tonight, we got down 10. Finding ways to win is all that really matters."