Villanova Univeristy Athletics

Overview: The Villanova Wildcats held off a late charge from Rutgers to post a 77-75 victory in an exhibition contest played Sunday at Jersey Mike's Arena.
 
Devin Royal scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Wildcats. Tyler Perkins added 18 points while freshman center Luigi Suigo added 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots in his American basketball debut.
 
"There were a lot of positives," said Villanova head coach Kevin Willard. "We played a lot of guys. We played a lot of lineups we don't practice with. It was Nico's first game. The same for Adam, Carter, Luigi. We were on the road in a good environment. I thought those guys all showed good composure and did a lot of positive things."
 
For Starters: Willard opened the exhibition portion of the 2026-27 campaign with a pair of freshmen in the starting lineup: Suigo, and Adam Oumiddoch. They were joined by seniors Tyler Perkins and Devin Royal alongside junior Elijah Crawford.
 
Willard substituted liberally in the opening minutes with nine Wildcats seeing action in the first 5:23 of action. The Wildcats held a 9-7 lead at the first official timeout of the day at Jersey Mike's Arena. Freshman guard Carter Fisk became the 10^th 'Cat on the court when he entered little more than a minute later. Fisk promptly sank a corner 3-pointer to put VU up 12-11.
 
Opening Day: The Scarlet Knights forged a 26-23 lead thanks in large part to a 9-0 edge in points off turnovers.
 
Yet when Royal grabbed a rebound of his own shot, made the follow and added a free-throw on the next possession, the contest was even at 26.
 
Some nifty work on consecutive possessions by Suigo in the final minute helped the 'Cats grab a 34-31 lead at halftime.
 
Perkins, Royal, and Suigo each had six points to lead the Wildcats.
 
Villanova limited Rutgers to 10-of-31 shooting from the field in the first 20 minutes but the 'Cats were only marginally better in that department, converting 13-of-34 field goal attempts. That the Knights trailed only by three was owed to a 10-of-12 effort at the free throw line, where VU was just 2-of-3.
 
The Scarlet Knights held a 13-0 advantage in first half points off turnovers.
 
Inside Out: The Wildcats used a 9-2 spurt in the first 1:25 of the second half to expand their lead to 43-33.
 
At the root of that surge was ball movement. In both cases, Suigo, working in the low post, found an open Jake Fiegen beyond the arc. Fiegen drained both triple attempts, Perkins added another, and Villanova had itself a double-digit advantage.
 
Rutgers shaved the gap to 52-48 by continuing to draw fouls and earn attempts at the line. The margin was 60-57 when the Wildcats got a clutch 3-pointer from Buddy Simmons to push the advantage to 63-57 at the *:05 mark of the second half.
 
The lead grew to 69-61, but Rutgers never went away. When Lino Mark dropped in a 3-pointer with 26 seconds left the margin was down to 76-75. Villanova missed a 3-pointer on its next offensive possession but got a defensive stop when it needed one to preserve the lead.
 
Crawford added a free throw to account for the final margin.
 
Willard on Royal: "Dev gives us experience and toughness. He played for three years in the Big 10 so he knows the physicality. He gives us good composure. I think as he gets more settled in with everyone he will get better and better."
 
Willard on Suigo's debut: "I think he is transitioning to college basketball great. Not getting him over here until the middle of July hurt him in the weight room a little bit. But he's done a good job of studying the game. He's watching film with the assistant (coaches). He's getting used to how we play defense and how fast the American game is."