Villanova kicked of its holiday trip to the Bahamas on a positive note Wednesday, opening the Battle 4 Atlantis an 85-69 win over Texas Tech.

Things stayed tight through the first few minutes of the first half before Tech landed the first jab of the afternoon, a 5-0 push to take a six-point lead. ‘Nova immediately responded with a 7-0 run to retake the lead before another 5-0 spurt from Texas Tech put the Red Raiders up four. It was then that Villanova would land the first haymaker of the day.

The ‘Cats ripped off an 18-3 run over five minutes, building an 11-point lead with 4:36 to go in the half before taking an eight-point lead into the break.

The second half followed a similar trajectory. There were a few jabs each way, with Tech getting within four after scoring six the first eight points of the period, but ‘Nova quickly reestablished an 11-point margin. This time it was Tech that would land the first big blow, in the form of a 9-0 run to pull within three with 10:41 to play. Once again, ‘Nova had another immediate response, another 7-0 run to retake a double-digit lead. Texas Tech would get no closer than eight the rest of the way, with the Wildcats building the lead to as much as 17 before taking the 16-point win.

Overall, it was a good performance from the ‘Cats and arguably the most complete game they’ve played this season.

“I thought our guys came out and set the tone, played hard from the very beginning,” Kyle Neptune said. “They made some shots, they made their runs, I was proud of our guys’ resiliency.”

The offensive numbers (43% overall, 38% from three) don’t jump off the page, but look much better when taken in context with the opponent. Texas Tech entered the game ranked 8th in defensive efficiency, per KenPom, and 13th in that metric at Haslametrics. The Red Raiders had allowed an average of just 50.7 points per game, so the 85 put up by the ‘Cats is particularly impressive. Nine Wildcats scored, led by Eric Dixon with 19 and Justin Moore with 18.

Defensively, Villanova limited Tech to 41% shooting overall and 39% from three. The ‘Cats force 15 turnovers, including eight steals. ‘Nova also controlled the boards, outrebounding Tech 39-31. The Red Raiders entered as a decent offensive rebounding team, but grabbed just six on Wednesday and converted those extra opportunities into just three points.

The defensive game plan was excellent and well executed. Villanova did a great job limiting inside opportunities, forcing the Red Raiders into a fair amount of contested long-range shots. 36 of Texas Tech’s 51 field goal attempts came from behind the arc. The Red Raiders entered the game shooting just 20.6% from distance, so it was a great approach and good execution to make them try to win with the deep ball.

“I thought they made some tough shots, some guys who haven’t been making shots made shots for them,” Neptune said. “I liked the way we defended in the second half.”

Villanova will now play No. 14 North Carolina Thursday afternoon.