Final Score: Villanova 67, Seton Hall 55
 
Overview
 
Villanova grabbed a 14-point lead in the game's opening minutes and held the lead the rest of the way on route to a 12-point triumph over the Pirates in BIG EAST Tournament opening round action Wednesday night. The No. 6 seed Wildcats advance to meet No. 3 seed Connecticut on Thursday evening in the quarterfinals.
 
The Wildcats built a 35-17 halftime lead through a stingy defense and timely offense. They achieved that without a single point from Eric Dixon, who was saddled with two early fouls. But Dixon's offense proved critical in the second 20 minutes. He finished with 19 points, moving into second place on Villanova's all-time scoring list (2,227 points), having moved past Scottie Reynolds with second half free throws.
 
Wooga Poplar delivered a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Tyler Perkins added 11 points off the bench.
 
"I give (Seton Hall coach) Shaheen Holloway a lot of credit," said Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. "He's one of the best coaches in our league. He always has his team prepared. They're nasty, they're tough."
 
Solid Start
 
Villanova held the Pirates without a field goal for the game's first 3:30 and got four points and a pair of rebounds from senior Enoch Boakye to build an 11-4 lead at the first official timeout of the night at Madison Square Garden.
 
Tyler Perkins gave Nova a lift off the bench, supplying seven points in the first 8:38 of action, helping the Wildcats stretch their advantage to 20-6. It was part of a 12-2 burst for Villanova.
 
At the 8:50 mark of the first half, Eric Dixon, the nation's leading scorer, was whistled for his second foul and headed to the bench. Jhamir Brickus, the Wildcats' primary ballhandler, joined him there after he picked up his second foul a short while later.
 
Poplar added some firepower with a pair of 3-pointers to help the Wildcats extend the lead to 28-10 with 7:55 left in the first half.
 
Absence Felt
 
Without their All-American – Dixon was tabbed a second team All-American by The Sporting News earlier in the day – and their floor general, the Wildcats' offense stalled. It went without a field goal for more than seven minutes, but their defense held firm, allowing it to maintain a 31-14 lead with 3:43 on the first half clock.
 
It was Brickus – back to the floor with the 'Cats amid the scoring drought – who dropped in a pretty triple for the final points of the first half.
 
Villanova took a 35-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
It did so without a point from Dixon, who logged only nine minutes due to those two fouls. Poplar paced Villanova with 10 points while Brickus added eight points and Longino and Perkins seven points each.
 
The 'Cats limited Seton Hall to 8-of-26 shooting over the first 20 minutes, including 0-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc. Isaiah Coleman led the Pirates with nine points.
 
Second Act
 
The Pirates dropped in their first three pointer of the night to open the second half and added another bucket to shave the deficit to 35-22 two minutes into the period. A Longino basket off a nifty head fake gave Nova its first points of the second half. But the Hall quickly added another 3-ball as part of a 12-2 surge over the first four minutes of the period.
 
The Wildcats called for time with their lead whittled to 37-29 at the 15:38 mark of the second half.
 
"We knew that this is what they do," Neptune said of the Pirates. "If you look at their entire season, they've been down in games and somehow, they find a way to make it a one or two possession game. They just keep coming after you. I thought our guys did a good job of staying calm under pressure. We got some key baskets and were solid with the ball in stretches even though they got us for some turnovers.
 
"All in all, I thought we did a good job."
 
Villanova got a 3-pointer from Dixon, a defensive stop, and a Dixon deuce on a post move. That was followed by a Poplar drive and dunk at the rim. Dixon capped the surge with another basket at the 13:21 mark. He added a free throw and the Wildcats lead was 47-29. A jab step move and 3-pointer by Dixon made it a 50-29 lead with 12:45 left in the second half.
 
The Pirates added two more 3-pointers – they were 4-of-5 over the first 11 minutes in the second half from deep – to narrow the gap to 54-39.
 
The Hall got it to within a dozen but Dixon's work at the free throw line – he was 9-of-10 at the stripe on the night – allowed the Wildcats to maintain their cushion.
 
Up Next
 
The Wildcats meet UConn for the third time this season. Villanova knocked off the Huskies 68-66 on Jan. 8 at Finneran Pavilion before UConn earned the split with a 66-59 win on Feb. 18 in Hartford.