It wasn’t the prettiest performance by Villanova on Wednesday night, but the ‘Cats did enough to get the win and start Big East play 1-0. Let’s dig into the key numbers that defined the win.

16: Villanova made free throws

The charity stripe was a huge advantage for Villanova on Wednesday. The ‘Cats went 16-18 from the line while limiting DePaul to just six attempts, of which it made four. Eric Paschall was a perfect 8-8 from the line, while Phil Booth was 6-7. Villanova’s ability to get to the line and take advantage of those opportunities while limiting DePaul’s attempts proved to be a key factor in this one.

8: Steals by Villanova

The defense was up and down on Wednesday night. While ‘Nova showed flashes at that end of the floor, there were also some struggles as DePaul shot 52.8 percent from the floor and 40 percent from 3. But one area where the ‘Cats excelled was getting into the passing lanes. They also did a good job getting deflections and forcing loose balls and finding ways to come up with those loose balls. As a result, they ended up with eight steals, which played a big role in helping them overcome a double-digit second-half deficit.

6: Villanova turnovers

The Wildcats did an excellent job taking care of the ball, turning it over just six times. Eric Paschall and Jahvon Quinerly both had turnover-free games, while Phil Booth and Saddiq Bey had just one each. Turnovers have been an issue at times this season, and it was good to see them do such a good job in that area Wednesday night, especially in a game in which they found themselves playing catchup for much of the night.

In addition, ‘Nova forced 18 DePaul turnovers and for the first time this season had a truly sizeable advantage in that category.