VILLANOVA, Pa. – Saturday brings the arrival of March and with it comes the final regular season Men's Basketball home game. The Wildcats (17-12 overall, 10-8 BIG EAST) host Butler (13-15 overall, 6-11 BIG EAST) at Finneran Pavilion at noon.
Tim Brando and Donny Marshall will have the call for the national television audience on Fox (Fox 29 in Philadelphia). Ryan Fannon and
Whitey Rigsby will be in their seats to describe the action on the Villanova Sports Network on IHeart (Fox Sports Philadelphia and Sirius XM channel 386).
Prior to the game, Villanova will celebrate a group of senior student-athletes and managers that includes three members of the Wildcats' most utilized starting lineup:
Enoch Boakye,
Wooga Poplar and co-captain
Jordan Longino. The ceremony is expected to get underway at approximately 11:35 a.m. and ticket holders are encouraged to be in their seats to salute the honorees.
"it's always a great day when you get to honor your guys who have been in college for a long time," said Villanova head coach
Kyle Neptune.
The Wildcats will then get on to the business at hand, which is to keep chasing late season wins in their quest to improve their seed at the BIG EAST Tournament and to enhance their case for the postseason.
Poplar hopes to add to what was an impressive February. The Philadelphia native, who arrived at Nova last summer after playing three seasons at the University of Miami, averaged 19.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per outing across eight games. His 6.8 rebounds per game on the season leads Villanova and ranks seventh in the BIG EAST.
In its Wednesday night win at Seton Hall – which included a rally from a 16-point deficit early in the second half – the Wildcats received another strong effort from the nation's leading scorer,
Eric Dixon (23.3 ppg). The Willow Grove native poured in 32 points and collected 10 rebounds, lifting Villanova after a first half made difficult by Seton Hall's defense.
"The staff does a great job of letting us know what's there," he said of a final 20 minutes that saw Villanova outscore the Pirates 38-21. "I saw a little bit more space and a little bit less help and I was able to attack that."
Dixon has appeared in 155 career games as a Wildcat, one shy of his former teammate all-time leader Collin Gillespie (156). He enters Saturday's contest with 2,150 points since he made his debut in 2020-21 as he continues to climb the program's all-time points record. He currently stands fourth on that list, trailing only Kerry Kittles (2,243), Scottie Reynolds (2,222) and Keith Herron (2,170).
Saturday brings the first of the final two regular season games left on the 2024-25 schedule. Villanova then travels to Washington, D.C., for a Tuesday night clash with Georgetown at Capital One Arena (8 p.m./Peacock and the Villanova Sports Network on IHeart).
