It took two games for the 2024-25 Villanova season to go off script.

Two days after a comfortable but perhaps underwhelming victory over Lafayette, the Wildcats suffered a shocking 90-80 home defeat to Columbia on Wednesday night. Villanova was widely expected to carry an undefeated record into this year’s edition of the Holy War. Instead, each remaining non-conference game will feel like an exercise in avoiding catastrophe.

“A lot of credit goes to Columbia,” Kyle Neptune said. “They came in with a game plan. They moved the ball, they shared the ball. They had counters for everything we tried to do to them defensively, just couldn’t get enough stops to get it done. Couldn’t get enough stops.”

It was a generally tight, back-and-forth first half. The first-two possession lead didn’t come until the 9:01 mark when Villanova took a six-point lead on a Jordan Longino three. The ‘Cats would push the lead out to eight at the 5:58 mark, but the Lions responded with a quick 7-0 run over the course of a minute-and-a-half to get back within one. A Dixon layup would stop the Columbia run with 3:59 left in the half, but Columbia outscored ‘Nova 12-7 over the rest of the period to take a 39-37 lead into the break.

The turnover issues from the win against Lafayette seemed to carry over, with the Wildcats committing seven first-half turnovers leading to 11 Columbia points. The Lions also had a significant advantage in points in the paint (14-6) and fast break points (8-2).

It again felt like the ‘Cats were beginning to assert themselves early in the second half as they flipped the two-point halftime deficit into a four-point lead at the 16:52 mark. But things would go steadily downhill for Villanova from there.

The game was tied by the 15:42 mark before the teams spent about three minutes trading one-point leads back and forth. Consecutive baskets from Columbia broke that spell, and that 4-0 spurt blossomed into a 15-4 run and ultimately a 17-5 run, giving the Lions their biggest lead of the game with 6:38 to play.

The ‘Cats would get back within seven with just over five minutes left, but that would be as close as they would get, with Columbia building the lead back as high as 13 before settling at the final margin of 10.

“A lot of credit goes to them,” Neptune said regarding Villanova’s inability to take advantage of a couple of opportunities to seize control of the game. “They came in and they executed their game plan. They got into us, they were scrappy, they switched their defenses. They turned us over, and then on the other end when we were making our runs they had answers.”

Columbia continued to exploit the advantages it built in the first half, scoring 10 points off Villanova turnovers (21 for the game off of 12 Villanova giveaways), winning points in the paint 22-18 (36-24 for the game) and building a commanding 19-7 advantage in fast break points (27-9) for the game. The Lions shot 58.3% in the second half (75% on two-point attempts) and 53.7% for the game.

“We gotta get more solid,” Neptune said in reference to the turnovers. “Our habits aren’t where they need to be right now. It seems like it’s just simple things: taking the ball in bounds, coming back being strong with the ball, making entry passes. We just gotta get way more solid and pay attention to detail.”

“We gotta get more in sync defensively,” Longino noted. “Transition, they got a few quick and easy ones, just not getting back, not communicating.”

The defensive issues, along with the turnovers, proved too much to overcome and spoiled a fantastic season debut for Eric Dixon, who scored 33 points on 11-16 shooting, including 5-7 from three. He added six rebounds, two assists and three steals. Dixon also passed the 1,500-point mark for his career. While the big man was pleased with his offensive showing, he still felt his performance was lacking.

“Honestly I think I could have done a better job defending and rebounding, setting a tone in that manner,” Dixon said.

A season that began with such promise, hope and excitement has quickly reverted to the questions and concerns that have plagued the program in recent years. A loss in the second game of the season isn’t going to make or break the campaign. But the shocking defeat certainly won’t help the cause, and the team didn’t look like one that has what it takes to get where this team is hoping to go, setting the stage for a lot of uneasiness among Nova Nation as the remainder of the non-conference schedule plays out.

“We’re just not where we need to be right now,” Neptune concluded. “We’ve got a lot of things we gotta get better at.”