Villanova’s maddening 2024-25 season has come to an end (barring a potential trip to the Crown). And it ended in the most fitting way possible, as the Wildcats turned a game in which they once lead by nine, and which they led by five with just over 12 minutes to play, and which they still led by one with just under 10 minutes to play, into a 73-56 loss.

“My credit goes to UConn,” Kyle Neptune said. “I was proud of the way our guys came out and competed, especially in that first half. They turned their intensity up, made it really hard for us to score and then started to get loose offensively. They made it tough for us. Especially I thought midway through that second half and went on a run and we just couldn't recover.”

Villanova landed the first big blow of the game, a 10-0 run to open a nine-point lead with 11:33 to play in the half. Of course, Villanova had to get one of its patented scoring droughts in, this one lasting three-and-a-half minutes and allowing UConn to get back into the game an eventually tie it at 31 with 2:05 left in the half. The Wildcats wasted some opportunities to extend the lead, missing the front end of a one-and-one as well as several layups (‘Cats were just 1-5 on layups in the half), which contributed to UConn’s comeback effort. Villanova was able to respond, however, and scored the last five points of the period to take a five-point lead into the break.

UConn shot 52 percent in the period to Villanova’s 43 percent, but the ‘Cats made up the difference from beyond the arc and at the free throw line. ‘Nova 57 percent from deep to UConn’s 25 percent and outscored the Huskies by 10 from the line. The ‘Cats also committed just three turnovers (two in their first two possessions of the game) to UConn’s six.

It’s hard not to lament the missed opportunities in the middle part of the half to extend the lead, but the ‘Cats still found themselves in a pretty good spot at halftime.

Wooga Poplar was fantastic, scoring 15 points on 7-9 shooting while making big plays when ‘Nova needed them, including a tough fadeaway bucket right before the halftime buzzer.

Villanova was able to keep UConn at arm’s length through the early part of the second half, maintaining a five-point lead with 12:46 to play. Then, a team that had more or less trademarked “the wheels fell off” this season managed to take the phrase to yet another level, producing one last spectacular flameout to cap a season full of them.

Where do we even start?

How about at that 12:46 mark? From that point on, Villanova was outscored 32-10.

The collapse started innocently enough: a 5-0 UConn push that flipped a two-point ‘Nova lead into a three-point deficit. But a Dixon three-point play re-tied the game and temporarily quelled any sense of panic. But UConn followed it up with another 7-0 run to extend the overall run to 12-3 and establish a seven-point UConn lead. Nova Nation could feel the dread creeping in.

And then, well, the wheels fell off. A Longino three with 5:53 to play briefly stabilized things and pulled ‘Nova within four. It would be Villanova’s last made FG of the night. The ‘Cats went scoreless for over five minutes and UConn scored 15 straight points to take a 19-point lead before two meaningless Poplar free throws with 29 seconds to go ended the drought. In addition to the 32-10 margin over the final 12:46, Villanova was outscored 22-5 over the final 7:58, when the game was tied at 51. Just to be clear, the Wildcats turned a tie game with just under eight minutes to go into a 73-56 loss.

Let’s note one more shocking tidbit on the implosion. Villanova led this game for 24:29. That is to say the Wildcats were ahead for more than half the game and somehow managed to lose by 17 points.

“They were just intense,” Neptune said of UConn’s second half defense and Villanova’s inability to score down the stretch. “They made it hard for us to catch, made it hard for us to get to our sets. They just came after us.”

The final statistics, especially when compared to the first half statistics, illustrate what a true disaster the second half was. Villanova ended up shooting just 32 percent for the game (20.8 percent in the second half) and 33 percent from three (21.4 percent in the second half). UConn, on the other hand, ended up shooting 58 percent for the game (65 percent in the second half) and 40 percent from three (62.5 percent in the second half). The Wildcats were outscored 42-20 in the second half. Despite having fewer turnovers (seven to UConn’s 10), ‘Nova had fewer points off turnovers. And despite having more offensive rebounds than UConn (7-3), the ‘Cats managed to win second chance points by just one (5-4, and were losing in the category late in the game). The Wildcats were demolished in the paint (34-10) and also managed to get outscored from three (24-21).

Outside of Poplar (25 points on 10-15 shooting), the offense was atrocious. Dixon, who has had a undeniably great career at Villanova, had just eight points on 2-15 shooting. Longino was the only other Wildcat in double figures, scoring 10 on 2-6. Brickus was just 1-6 (eight points), while Enoch Boakye and Tyler Perkins were each 0-2 from the field.

Again, it was a very on-brand way for the 2024-25 season to come to an end. While the Crown is a possibility for more games this season, the focus will be on the looming decision the administration has to make regarding the future of the program following a third straight disappointing season.