Villanova was in a bit of a no-win situation on Tuesday night. A win against lowly Georgetown would do little to move the needle regarding its NCAA Tournament hopes, while a loss would have been catastrophic. But after a dominant 75-47 win, it’s hard to feel like the Wildcats didn’t manage to extract some positives from the game as they head into the most important regular season stretch the program has faced in quite some time.

‘Nova started hot from three, hitting two of its first three from beyond the arc, and never really looked back. A pair of “kill shot” runs (10-0+) in the first half helped the ‘Cats blow the game open, and by the time the first half buzzer sounded they held a comfortable 43-19 lead.

A quick glance at the stats demonstrates that the cushion was deserved. ‘Nova shot 51.9% overall and 56.3% from deep, committing just three turnovers and assisting on 10 of 14 made baskets. Defensively, the ‘Cats held the Hoyas to 28% overall and 30.8% from deep. Georgetown committed six turnovers, which ‘Nova turned into six points.

“I was really, really proud of the way our guys came out defensively,” Kyle Neptune said. “I think probably more than any game this year, came out and set the tone and kept it up for the full 40 minutes. I think when we play like that defensively it just gives us a chance each time out.”

The ‘Cats controlled the glass (20-11), and after getting punished in transition against UConn on Saturday ‘Nova outscored Georgetown 9-3 on the break in the first half.

Individually, the first-half box score looked much more like one would have expected it to at the beginning of the season than we have seen. Eric Dixon had 11 points on 3-4 shooting (2-2 from three). More encouragingly, Justin Moore led the way with 14 points, hitting 5-8 from the floor and 4-6 from three. It is perhaps not a coincidence that Villanova had a 24-point lead in a game in which that duo led the way in such a fashion.

“It’s no secret that those two guys are our leaders,” Neptune said of Dixon and Moore. “When they bring it like that defensively it gives us a chance.”

“I thought he was really good,” Neptune said of Moore’s performance. “I think Justin has been great for the last six or seven games defensively. I think he really keeps us together. He’s tough, he can guard literally anybody and I’m definitely never surprised when he makes shots.”

Perhaps the most dramatic moment of the first half came when a scuffle broke out between the teams, resulting in technical fouls for Justin Moore and Dontrez Styles. Lance Ware also got involved, with coach Neptune racing onto the floor to pull his players away.

“Our guys, they’ve been grinding together for a while, they’re a really tight-knit bunch,” Neptune said of the incident. “We wanna just keep it on the court, basketball…I think they all stand up for each other.”

Things largely stayed the same in the second half. The ‘Cats did get a bit loose on both ends of the floor for a stretch after building the lead to 26, allowing the Hoyas to pull within 18 with 13 minutes to play. But the outcome was never in doubt, and ‘Nova tightened things up and extended lead back to 31 with yet another kill shot, this time a 12-0 run. The advantage would grow as large as 33 before settling on the final margin of 28.

‘Nova shot 53.2% for the game and rained in 13 threes at a 48.1% clip. The ‘Cats held Georgetown to 27.5% overall and 26.9% from three. The Hoyas were also just 7-25 (28%) on two-point attempts. Villanova tied a season-high with 19 assists on its 25 made baskets.

“I think our guys did a great job sharing the ball,” Neptune said. “I thought the ball movement was great. I think these two guys (Dixon, Armstrong) especially making plays, him (Armstrong) on the perimeter, him (Dixon) in the post, they blitzed early, he (Dixon) made almost every right decision, same here when he (Armstrong) drove. When you got guys like this making decisions it puts you in a pretty good spot.”

Moore had a quiet second half, going scoreless, but that did little to dampen the encouraging signs of his strong first half. Dixon finished with 22 points on 7-11 shooting (3-5 from three) and six rebounds. Mark Armstrong had an efficient 12 points (4-5, 3-4 from three) along with a career-high six assists and two steals. Hakim Hart added 11 points, five assists and two steals while Tyler Burton rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points to go with eight rebounds. Brendan Hausen was held to just two points but grabbed a career-high six rebounds.

Despite not having much to gain in getting a win that they were expected to get, the Wildcats provided plenty of positive takeaways. Moore getting his shot going is quite encouraging, as is Armstrong playing one of his best all-around games in a Villanova uniform. Dixon and Moore leading the way and the resulting overall performance could prove to be a key recipe for ‘Nova moving forward. And finally, the team put together a full 40-minute performance. As a result, Villanova heads into the most important regular season stretch in recent memory with a good bit of momentum.

The season-defining three-game stretch kicks off Saturday with a trip to Providence.