On Wednesday night, Villanova will look for the season sweep of Providence when they host the Friars. The ‘Cats took care of Providence 65-59 in early January in a bizarre game.
Villanova played excellent basketball for 32 minutes in the last meeting, building a 20-point lead. Then, the offense suddenly deserted the Wildcats and a seven-minute scoring drought allowed Providence to cut the lead to four. Fortunately, the ‘Cats were able to hold on for the victory.
Since the last meeting, the Friars have struggled to a 4-5 record, leaving them at 14-10 overall and 4-7 in the Big East. Their KenPom ranking has dropped from 66 to 79. Their offensive ranking has tanked, falling from 81 to 174.
Providence’s 3-point shooting has fallen from 38.4 percent to 33.3 percent
Second-leading scorer A.J. Reeves has returned to the lineup following a foot injury but has struggled to regain his form in five games back on the court. Averaging 14.2 points on 45.3 percent shooting from 3 before the injury, he has averaged just 4.8 points on 28.5 percent from 3 and 26.6 percent overall.
In addition to consistency and balance, rebounding and turnovers should be key on Wednesday night.
Providence punished ‘Nova on the offensive glass in the last meeting, piling up 17 offensive rebounds. The ‘Cats will have to be better limiting the Friars to one opportunity per trip.
The Wildcats had 16 turnovers against Providence in the first meeting to only 12 for the Friars. Seven of those 16 turnovers game during the seven-minute drought. The ‘Cats have been much better taking care of the ball of late, and hopefully that continues Wednesday night.
In the last meeting, it was Makai Ashton-Langford who did much of the damage for the Friars, finishing with 20 points on 6-9 shooting and a perfect 4-4 from 3. Isaiah Jackson had 11 points but was just 3-15 from the field and 0-6 from 3. ‘Nova did a good job on leading scored Alpha Diallo, limiting him to 10 points.
The biggest concern for Villanova outside of taking care of things on the defensive glass is the shooting woes that have plagued the ‘Cats the last few games. That concern is amplified by the scoring drought that the Friars forced ‘Nova into during the last meeting. If those issues continue, this game could end up a lot closer than it looks on paper. Providence has been pretty good defensively, so we’ll be keeping an eye on the offense early.
With the Providence offense going the wrong direction, it would be nice to see a strong defensive effort from the ‘Cats. Outside of Ashton-Langford, they did an excellent job in the last meeting, and hopefully they can replicate that effort and force the Providence offensive struggles to continue.
The timing of the matchup adds some intrigue. ‘Nova is coming off it’s first Big East loss and will be looking to rebound, while the Friars have virtually no margin for error as they need to win out to have even an inkling of hope for an at-large bid. Providence is basically playing in tournament mode the rest of the season.
On paper, Villanova should win the game. After Saturday’s result, we would expect a focused and determined effort. But Providence seems to always play the ‘Cats tight, and the Friars are backed into a corner. It will be up to Villanova to have the response.
