Villanova and Seton Hall played one of the stranger, uglier games you'll ever see on Wednesday night. When the dust settled, the Wildcats had escaped with a 59-54 win, avoiding what could only have been described as a disastrous loss.
Villanova was simply a mess in the first half. The 'Cats shot just 31.8 percent overall and 30.8 percent from three. Meanwhile, they allowed the Pirates to connect on 50 percent overall and 38.5 percent from three, well over their season averages. 'Nova managed just 21 points in the period, and were nearly outscored by a single Pirate, Dylan Addae-Wusu, who had 16 points in the half.
The result was a 33-21 Seton Hall lead.
The Pirates scored the first four points of the second half to push their lead to 16, and things were looking bleak for the 'Cats. But a 7-0 run pulled 'Nova back within single digits, and after Hall briefly settled itself, the Wildcats delivered what proved to be the decisive blow.
It came in the form of a 17-0 run that flipped a 13-point deficit into a four-point lead. After a Hall bucket briefly stopped the bleeding, 'Nova would extend the run to 22-2, taking a seven-point lead with just under five minutes to play.
Despite having all the momentum and being in a relatively comfortable position, Nova fans have seen this scenario before, so no one was chalking one up in the win column just yet. That was wise.
The lead remained at seven as the clock ticked under two minutes, and then Villanova produced one of the worst sequences you could imagine. Following two Seton Hall free throws to cut the lead to five, Jhamir Brickus had his pocket picked near half court, leading to a fast break layup. He then turned over the ensuing inbounds pass directly under the basket, eventually resulting in a second chance layup for the Pirates. Seton Hall had just scored six straight points in 35 seconds, including four in just 11 seconds, and suddenly Villanova's lead was just a single point. The 'Cats would have to sweat another one out.
'Nova was able to come up big at the line over the final minute, however, and escaped with the five-point win.
Eric Dixon was fantastic in the second half. After Addae-Wusu nearly outscored Villanova in the first half, Dixon did singlehandedly outscored the Pirates in the second half (25-21). He finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and two assists.
“Eric Dixon is a big-time player," Kyle Neptune said.
The second half shooting splits were a complete 180 from the first half and much more in line with what you would have expected in this matchup looking at the stats heading into the game. 'Nova shot 50 percent overall and 42.9 percent from three, while Seton Hall was just 24.1 percent overall and 14.3 percent from three.
“I thought our guys did a great job just locking in," Neptune said. "Again, weathered some pretty big storms, I think we were down 15-16 points in the second half and just kept grinding, got stops. It wasn’t pretty, but on the road in the Big East sometimes that’s what it is.”
Again, it was an ugly came and Villanova's performance left a lot to be desired. That said, the team also showed some impressive resiliency and ultimately found a way to grind out the win despite playing nowhere near its best basketball.
“This is a good defensive team," Neptune said. "They make it tough for you in the halfcourt, they make it tough for you the entire game. We weathered some pretty big storms, and if you’re gonna be successful you gotta have games like that where you figure out a way when things aren’t going the way you drew it up.”
