Villanova likes to use the phrase “40 minutes of Villanova Basketball.” On Monday night, the Wildcats played about two minutes of Villanova basketball, and it wasn’t enough to beat Penn as the Quakers handed ‘Nova a 76-72 loss.

“I thought they did a great job, had a great game plan,” Kyle Neptune said. “Forced us into some tough shots, never got going offensively. Credit to them on that. And couldn’t get stops when we needed them.”

Eric Dixon opened the scoring with a three, but it was downhill from there. Penn ripped off eight straight points to take an 8-3 lead and was able to hold ‘Nova at bay for much of the half from that point. Villanova hit just one of its first 11 shots and three of its first 17. At the 11:51 mark, despite Penn shooting just 33% and Villanova having five more field goal attempts than the Quakers, Penn led by four.

An old fashioned three-point play from Justin Moore with 49 seconds to play in the period put Villanova in front 30-28, its first lead since the 17:18 mark. A pair of free throws for Penn tied things before a poor sequence (that was somewhat indicative of Villanova’s performance all night) provided a momentum shift heading into the break.

Penn fouled Moore in the backcourt with 28 seconds to play. Moore missed the front end of a one-and-one and Villanova allowed the Quakers to score just ahead of the halftime buzzer. Instead of ‘Nova taking a lead into the break and feeling pretty good about erasing the deficit and gaining some control, Penn went into the break feeling energized and confident.

Penn carried that confidence into the second half and essentially put on an offensive clinic. The Quakers scored 44 points while shooting 59% from the floor and 67% from three. ‘Nova tried to hang in, with Penn’s lead hovering between 2-5 for the first 10 or so minutes of the second half. But the Quakers began to inch further ahead, pushing the lead as high as nine. A 6-0 run by ‘Nova over 57 seconds pulled the ‘Cats back within three with just over six minutes to play, but Penn answered with an 8-0 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 11 with 4:02 left.

Villanova had one final run in it, and with 2:22 to play the Wildcats finally started to play Villanova basketball. Seemingly out of nowhere, the energy ratcheted up several levels. Dixon pulled down an offensive rebound (Nova was outrebounded 38-35 on the night) and scored. Then Mark Armstrong nabbed two steals in 45 seconds, the first leading to a dunk and the second a pair of free throws (Armstrong went 1-2), cutting the lead to five. After a 1-2 trip to the line for Penn, Moore hit a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left to get within four. But Penn would make its free throws down the stretch, and a pair of threes from Moore in the last 11 seconds wasn’t enough.

Penn, who entered the game shooting 48.1% on two-point attempts and 34.1% on threes hit 56.7% and 41%, respectively, on Monday night. The Quakers shot 59% in the second half, and 12 minutes into the period were shooting 69%.

While the defensive issues will (deservedly) draw much of the attention, Villanova also struggled with Penn’s zone for much of the night. There were maybe two possessions that stick out where the Wildcats picked apart the zone well, but the defensive alignment from the Quakers was largely successful at disrupting the ‘Cats and making them uncomfortable. ‘Nova shot just 35% overall and 27% from three in the loss.

To sum up how poor the performance was at both ends, Villanova lost by multiple possessions despite having 16 (!) more field goal attempts than Penn.

Perhaps the most concerning thing for ‘Nova fans is the way in which Monday’s game resembled much of what they saw last season. There were flashes of brilliance, most notably over the final two-and-a-half minutes, that proved to be too little, too late…leaving fans wondering where that intensity had been all night. The rest of the game was marred by inconsistency, miscommunication, mental lapses and generally disjointed play.

There are going to be a few clunkers over the course of a season, and Monday certainly was one. Now, we’ll see how Villanova responds. The ‘Cats are left with plenty to work on as they prepare to host Maryland on Friday night.