Villanova returns to action Monday in a rare weekday afternoon game, as the squads will tip at noon in an MLK Day celebration.

We again talked to HoyaReport.com’s Ron Bailey ahead of Monday’s matchup to get caught up on the Hoyas.

It’s been a rough go for both teams since Villanova’s 73-57 win over the Hoyas on January 4. The Wildcats have lost three straight the Hoyas have lost each of their two games since, running their overall losing streak to eight.

We saw several players go down in the first meeting between the teams. Jordan Longino went down for the ‘Cats and hasn’t played since. He’s been diagnosed with a hamstring strain and is set to be reevaluated later this week. Georgetown was already without Jay Heath (13.5 pts, 4.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists) while Brandon Murray (15 pts, 3.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists) left the ‘Nova game after scoring nine points. Heath remains out, while Murray’s status is up in the air. He hasn’t played since the ‘Nova game. Primo Spears (15.3 pts, 3.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists) and Bryson Mozone (6.4 pts, 3.8 rebounds) have also been banged up, but haven’t missed time. Spears is Georgetown’s leading scorer and leads the team in assists as well. Mozone has seen his minutes fluctuate this season, but after seeing a big dip through December he has picked up more minutes in the absence of Heath.

Bailey noted that the last two games have been par for the course for the Hoyas.

“It's pretty much the same script; play fairly even, suffer an opponent's quick run, get selfish or become a hero, miss assignments/make plays for others, and they are done,” Bailey said.

Bailed noted that Spears has struggled offensively the past two games, as has freshman Denver Anglin, who has seen a boost in minutes since the calendar flipped to 2023. Hailed as a knock-down shooter, Anglin has struggled to get going, shooting just 19.2% from three for the season, including 2-17 since the start of 2023. He’s hit 25% overall.

“He was billed as a great shooter yet has struggled mightily, recently going two points, zero points and six points in nothing less than 17 minutes,” Bailey said of Anglin. “The last game, a loss to Seton Hall, Anglin went 2-9. They could use him.”

A few players have played well for Georgetown since the last meeting: Akok Akok and Jordan Riley. Riley, a sophomore, is another player who has seen a bump in minutes since Heath’s injury and he has responded reasonably well. He scored 12 against ‘Nova the first time the teams met, then had 16 against Marquette and nine against Seton Hall.

“Jordan Riley has been pressed into service, and despite still not displaying great understanding, uses his prodigious athletic ability to slash and attack,” Bailey said of the sophomore.

We briefly discussed the long-term outlook for Georgetown, and Bailey doesn’t see improvement until there is a regime change. In addition to the recent struggles of the program under Patrick Ewing, Bailey feels that the Ewing regime has become representative of other more longstanding issues between the program and the fan base. As such, he believes things can’t move forward productively (and the work can’t begin to truly start to rebuild the program) until there is a fresh start and clean slate.

As for the outcome of Monday’s game, Bailey and I have switched roles since the first meeting. Heading into that game, I noted that I could see ‘Nova winning by double digits, but being unsure how the team would respond recent tough losses, could also see the game being much closer. Bailey, meanwhile, confidently predicted a double digit ‘Nova win, which it was. This time, I think Villanova will take out recent frustrations on the Hoyas and predicted a double-figure win. Bailey, however, (and noting a bit of homerism) thinks the pressure may impact ‘Nova and has the Hoyas pulling the upset.

While results remain important (establishing the most favorable path in the Big East Tournament, playing for any kind of postseason invitation and the extra experience that comes with it, and having tangible results to pitch to recruits), at this point I’m more interested in simply seeing improvement and development. Does Neptune start to look more comfortable and in rhythm? Are the freshmen (and Trey Patterson) improving? Does the team start to play the brand of basketball we’ve become accustomed to? Is there an improvement in consistency? Does the defense get better? These are the kinds of things that will have much of my focus for the rest of the year.

Anyway, as the program likes to say, Georgetown is the most important game of the season “because its our next game.” And with that comes an opportunity to both show the kind of improvement and development we’ll be looking for and to get back in the win column.

Once again, tipoff is at noon and the game will air on Fox.