VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Villanova Wildcats return to the road for the first time in two weeks Saturday when they visit Washington, D.C., to meet Georgetown at Capital One Arena just after noon.
 
The Wildcats defeated the Hoyas 66-51 on Jan. 21 at Finneran Pavilion. A 16-1 burst at the start of the second half fueled the Villanova victory that night. Tyler Perkins led VU with 16 points while Acaden Lewis contributed 15 points, seven rebounds and a pair of assists.
 
Since that point, Georgetown (13-10 overall, 5-7 BIG EAST) has won four straight games, including a 76-68 home court triumph Wednesday evening over Creighton.
 
Saturday's matinee will be televised nationally on TNT and TruTV with the tipoff coming just after noon. Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will have the audio call on the Villanova Sports Radio Network (Fox Sports Radio Philadelphia, iHeart App, SiriusXM channel 383 and the TuneIn App).
 
The Wildcats have posted consecutive BIG EAST home court victories over Providence (87-73) and Seton Hall (72-60) at Finneran Pavilion to improve to 17-5 overall, 8-3 in league play. A cornerstone of that success has been junior guard Tyler Perkins, who has averaged 17.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per outing over his last six games.
 
The Penn transfer is Villanova's leading scorer in BIG EAST games at 15.4 points per game. His 6.2 rebounds per game in league action are second only to Duke Brennan's 9.8 rpg among the Wildcats.
 
Following the win over the Pirates, Villanova head coach Kevin Willard was asked if he saw any similarities in the games of former Wildcats All-American Josh Hart and this native of Lorton, Va.
 
"I absolutely see similarities," Willard noted. "That's about as big a compliment as I can give. Three games a year, I got it from Josh for four years. One of the things I loved about Josh was that he affected the game at every level and never made a mistake. He was OK not touching the ball for eight or nine possessions.
 
"Once Perk realizes it's OK not to touch the ball a little bit, knowing that he can still affect the game at an unbelievable level, that's the next step. That's what made Josh a pro. He affected the game without having to score. But he found ways to score. He found ways to shut down the best offensive guy. Perk is starting to figure that out."
 
Saturday's matchup looms as another test, this one against a surging league foe. It is the second of eight February duels that will shape what March looks like for the Wildcats.
 
"We've got a lot of work to do," Willard stated. "February is not a time to be satisfied. You should be looking at your team now saying, 'what do I need to improve, what do I need to fix?' I have to fix our offense a little bit."
 
The Wildcats return home to Finneran Pavilion on Tuesday to host Marquette at 7:30 p.m. A limited number of tickets are available for purchase by clicking the link at the top of this page.