Villanova entered Friday’s game against Providence desperately needing a win. Somehow, they got it. When the dust settled on one of the stranger, more frustrating games you’ll ever see, it was Villanova that emerged with a 75-73 win.
“I was really proud of the way our guys fought,” Kyle Neptune said. “This is the Big East. Every night you know it’s gonna be a game, and this was no different. Glad our guys pulled it out.”
Philadelphia is awaiting the arrival of an arctic blast, and to start this game Villanova and Providence looked like they were getting ready for the cold early. Both teams missed their first five shots, with the first points not coming until the 16:39 mark. At the first media timeout of the evening, the teams were a combined 2-13 and the score was tied 2-2. Nine minutes into the game they were 6-29, with ‘Nova holding a 7-6 lead.
“I thought we got great shots, I thought we were defending great, I thought we were in a great spot,” Neptune said about the early offensive struggles. “You’re not gonna make every shot. Sometimes you miss some good ones, so we weren’t worried about offense at all. I thought our defense was good to start the game.”
About halfway through the period the teams finally started to warm up. Villanova got the better of things once some actual basketball started being played, using a 14-3 run to open a nine-point lead. What happened next, however, surely gave ‘Nova fans flashbacks to Tuesday’s loss to Xavier.
Providence immediately answered with a 9-0 run to tie the game. The Friars would push that run to 20-4 over five-and-a-half minutes in a scene eerily reminiscent of the final five minutes of the Xavier game, and flip Villanova’s nine-point lead into a seven-point deficit. After starting 0-9 from three, the Friars hit nine of their next 11.
A pair of free throws by Eric Dixon helped Villanova finally stabilize things, and Dixon then hit a three ahead of the halftime buzzer to pull the ‘Cats within five at the break.
In a refreshing change of pace, Villanova came out with purpose and intensity to start the second half, scoring the first 10 points of the period and retaking a five-point lead. But once again Providence came right back, this time with six straight points, to snatch the lead back and set us up for a seesaw final 15 minutes.
Villanova broke a tie with six straight points, only to see Providence score seven straight as part of a 10-2 push that put the Friars in front by two. The Wildcats responded with an 11-4 push to go back up five with just over three minutes to go.
Providence retied the game with 1:28 to go courtesy of five straight points before Tyler Perkins gave the ‘Cats the lead back with 42 seconds left. ‘Nova got a stop on the ensuing possession and Wooga Poplar went to the line with 14 seconds to go with a chance to make it a two-possession game. He was only able to connect on 1-of-2 from the line, however, giving extra life to Providence.
Neptune elected to foul leading by three, sending Providence to the line with 10 seconds left. Bensley Jospeh made both to trim Villanova’s lead to one. Dixon was fouled following Villanova’s inbounds, and like Poplar was only able to convert 1-of-2. Providence would have a chance to tie with eight seconds left. It would end up feeling like another entire game unfolded during those eight seconds.
Providence raced up the floor only to see its ballhandler lose control as the ball careened toward the baseline. He raced toward the errant ball, grabbed it, and threw it wildly over his shoulder. A whistle sounded. The officials had called the ball out of bounds. Except it wasn’t, leading to a lengthy review and an interminable debate over how to remedy the situation. Ultimately, Providence was awarded the ball at the spot of the phantom out of bounds, which technically was the right call based on the circumstance but was wildly unfortunate for Villanova for if there hadn’t been an inadvertent whistle the Wildcats may have secured a turnover or at the very least Providence would have been rushing to get a shot off in chaotic circumstances. Instead, they got to run an inbounds play after having a significant amount of time to talk about it. It would get weirder.
Perkins stole the inbounds pass. But his momentum was carrying him towards the baseline, and instead of simply throwing the ball high in the air and to the far end of the court (likely allowing the clock to run out), he simply fell out of bounds. Providence would get another chance. The Friars missed the ensuing shot attempt and Villanova pulled down the rebound, seemingly sealing the win. But not so fast. There was a whistle with 0.2 seconds left, and nobody seemed to know why. The Providence bench went ballistic following Jabri Abdur-Rahim’s last-second miss, begging for a foul, but Jordan Longino clearly didn’t commit one. Was he about to get called for one anyway by way of an incredibly late whistle? Or was Villanova fouled following the rebound? Nobody seemed to know, and eventually we learned that was because the answer was neither. It was yet another inadvertent whistle. This one, too, hurt Villanova. Instead of the clock running out, the Wildcats were now forced to inbound the ball one last time, with no timeouts available. That’s a tough spot to be put in, especially for reason other than the official accidently blew his whistle, and anyone who has watched Villanova basketball over the years knows that’s a particularly scary proposition. Regardless, the Wildcats were able to inbound the ball safely and escaped with the win.
Before we dig in here, we have to mention the officiating in the final five seconds. First, you can often go an entire season without encountering an inadvertent whistle. To have two of them occur in a mere five seconds of game time is almost unfathomable and frankly inexcusable. Beyond the fact that one team was disproportionately impacted by the mistakes, each one also led to a lengthy video review which served to do a few things: essentially give teams timeouts they don’t have, completely disrupt the flow of the game and greatly diminish the aesthetic, enjoyment and entertainment value of the game. Truly, Friday night’s game was one of the least enjoyable two-point games you’ll ever see, and the circus of the last five seconds is a big reason why.
Anyway, back to the actual basketball stuff.
There were some legitimate concerns regarding Villanova’s performance. Most glaring was the three-point defense. Providence shot 38.9 percent from three, nearly five percentage points higher than its season average. Far too often Villanova completely lost shooters, including several instances where two Villanova players stuck with one Providence player, leaving another wide-open, while standing and staring at each other. It wasn’t good enough, and it nearly cost the ‘Cats as they were outscored by a whopping 21 points from beyond the arc.
Also concerning was the similarity to the Xavier game in a couple ways. One we already mentioned: the atrocious six-minute stretch that allowed Providence to flip the game. You simply can’t have extended stretches like that. The other was an inability to take control of the game when the opportunity presents itself. Yes, basketball is a game of runs. It happens. But several times over the last two games Villanova has had opportunities to put a stranglehold on games and failed to do so, and that’s a dangerous game to play, especially against opponents you are supposed to beat. Villanova has to find a way to avoid long stretches where it appears it forgot how to play basketball and needs to put opponents away or keep them at arm’s length when opportunities to do so present themselves.
Now it wasn’t all bad. Villanova shot 55.9 percent on two-point attempts despite Providence holding opponents to 46.9 percent on such attempts on the season. The Wildcats also had advantages in points off turnovers (7-5), second chance points (8-2) and points in the paint (24-14). ‘Nova won the rebounding battle 37-31 and pulled down nine offensive rebounds to Providence’s five. That’s encouraging for two reasons. One, Providence entered the game pulling down 35.2 percent of its offensive rebound opportunities. The Friars managed just 15.6% on Friday. Two, rebounding was a serious issue in the loss to St. John’s, and while the difference in opponent must be accounted for, it was an area of relative strength for Providence and ‘Nova managed to win the related categories.
“We knew they were gonna go to the glass,” Neptune said. “I give our guys a lot of credit, they made sure they were physical on the glass and came up with them.”
Individually, Poplar was fantastic. He finished with a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds and was all over the court, converting several highlight baskets, including two dunks, and skying for rebounds all night long. Dixon was his usual self, chipping in 23 points and eight boards. And in what is starting to emerge as a key indicator, Villanova got significant contributions from two of the “other” three (Longino, Perkins, Jhamir Brickus). On Friday, it was Brickus and Longino. Brickus was much more aggressive than he was against Xavier on Tuesday, taking 14 shots on the way to 18 points. He added four rebounds and four assists. Longino rounded out the double figure scorers with 13.
“He’s stealing all of Eric’s rebounds (laughs),” Neptune said of Poplar. “Wooga is a big-time player. As we’ve gone here we’ve seen how good of a person this dude is. He came from a completely different situation, came here and has done nothing but try to fit in. Had to change a lot of things and we’ve asked him to change a lot of things and he’s done nothing but try to respond. Really proud of that dude.”
“We’ve seen him do all this stuff, it’s still crazy every time,” Neptune added about Poplar’s dunking. “His leaping ability is pretty unique. And he gets up there quick. Glad he’s on our side.”
It was ugly at times. It was bizarre. But it was a win, and one Villanova badly needed.
“I told the guys at the end ‘if you’re a good team these are the type of games you’re gonna have to get,’” Neptune said. “You gotta find a way and our guys found a way.”
The ‘Cats will look to build on the win when they host Georgetown on Monday.
