Villanova entered the Finneran Pavilion Tuesday night presented with a huge opportunity. Awaiting the Wildcats was No. 14 Cincinnati (No. 9 in KenPom) and a shot to get the kind of signature win that can make or break the non-conference schedule. It’s safe to say the ‘Cats took advantage, as they emerged with a near wire-to-wire 68-60 win over the Bearcats.

“They’re a tough, disciplined, really good defensive team,” Kyle Neptune said. “I thought our guys came out and really played hard, intense throughout the entire 40 minutes. I think that was our best performance throughout 40 minutes.”

Villanova played perhaps its best half of the season. Against an elite Cincy defense that ranked first in opponent’s effective field goal percentage, second in opponent’s two-point percentage (38.8%) and 11th in opponent’s three-point percentage (25.2%), the Wildcats shot 54.2% overall, including 53.3% on twos and 55.6% on threes. The Bearcats have been equally strong on offense, matching their No. 1 ranking in effective field goal percentage and ranking 13th in two-point percentage (60.9%) and ninth in three-point percentage (41.5%). But they managed just 41.9% overall in the first half (50% on twos, 22.2% from three). ‘Nova built a nine-point advantage from beyond the arc and a six-point edge from the free throw line.

Jhamir Brickus was fantastic for ‘Nova in the period, scoring 11 points on 4-6 shooting (3-3 from three) and dishing out four assists while not committing a turnover.

The Wildcats took their largest lead of the game early in the second half (13), only to see an 8-0 run from the Bearcats trim the advantage to five minutes later. The push from Cincy extended to 13-2, pulling the Bearcats to within two just under 14 minutes to go.

‘Nova was able to respond, pushing the advantage back to 11 at the six-minute mark, only to see Cincinnati respond once again and pull within two possessions at 55-49 with just under four minutes to play. It was then that Eric Dixon took matters into his own hands, draining back-to-back threes to push the lead back to 12 with 2:53 to go and sending the Finn into a frenzy. The pair of treys proved to be the end of any true threat from Cincy.

Dixon, who was once again fantastic for the ‘Cats with 31 points and seven rebounds, had been just 1-5 from deep before the two huge makes.

“I shoot those shots every single day in the gym by myself and my teammates trust me to get those shots off and knock them down,” Dixon said of the big shots.

The ‘Cats showed some impressive resiliency in holding off Cincinnati’s multiple pushes to steal the win.

“You knew they were gonna make a run,” Neptune said. “They’re a tough, talented, well-coached, disciplined team. You gotta be able to take punches at this level. To our guys’ credit, I thought that we weathered the storm, and really buckled down defensively and got some rebounds that we had to get to kind of squash those runs and then had some timely, tough plays offensively as well.”

While Dixon’s scoring and late heroics grabbed the headlines, Brickus’ steady play was just as essential in securing the big win. He finished with 13 points and nine assists while not committing a single turnover, and was a team-high +13 on the night.

“Jig is just a great basketball player,” Neptune said of his point guard. “He sees the game at such an elevated level. He sees the plays before they happen. Makes great decisions, can shoot it, can make plays for other guys. When you have someone like that and you can put him in pick and roll, can put him in iso, he can break the press, he just does so many different things offensively for our team. Dangerous, dangerous player for the opposition.”

There was also another unheralded star for the ‘Cats on Tuesday night: Wooga Poplar. Poplar’s box score looks solid, if not spectacular. He had 12 points, 10 rebounds and an assist. But the box score doesn’t necessarily indicate the importance of some of those rebounds, nor does it show the full picture of Poplar’s impact, particularly at the defensive end. The guard on several occasions found himself switched onto Cincy’s seven-footer, Aziz Bandaogo, and battled admirably to prevent baskets in such situations. Further, he was all over the court on that side of the ball, providing Villanova with intensity and versatility that was vital to the win.

“I thought he was amazing,” Neptune said of Poplar. “The box score really doesn’t do it service. I thought he was amazing switching onto whoever he was on. He’s a guy that can really cover ground with his speed and his athleticism. He’s stronger than you think, he’s faster than you think. He just really changes the complexity of your defense when he’s playing like that. Plays at the top of the press, almost got his hands on a couple balls. Just continued to put game pressure on those guys. He was big time tonight.”

Big time indeed. As were several of his teammates, and it all added up to a big time win, one which immediately joins the short list of the best wins in the Neptune era.