It seems every time Kyle Neptune’s seat gets piping-hot, Villanova pulls it off the burner with an unexpected win.
Neptune’s Wildcats remain on the periphery of the NCAA Tournament bubble thanks in large part to an 81-66 upset of then-No. 16 Marquette on Friday. Villanova has three games to go before the conference tournament, starting with a must-have contest Wednesday night at Seton Hall in Newark, N.J.
Villanova (16-12, 9-8 Big East) has won four of the past six games and to become listed as one of the “Next Four Out” in ESPN’s latest bracketology update. A 3-4 start to the season had many calling for Neptune to be fired, but the team since has beaten four opponents who were ranked at the time — Cincinnati, UConn, St. John’s and Marquette.
The Wildcats ran out to a 19-point lead in the first half against Marquette. They outscored the Golden Eagles 18-8 at the foul line and 45-30 from the 3-point arc, where Villanova went 15-for-26.
“We can do that — that’s something that this team has,” Neptune said. “We have high-level 3-point shooters, guys that can really make shots. But … I thought we put ourselves in a great spot, we really held them, especially early, defensively. I thought that was key.”
Freshman Jordann Dumont, who scored 14 points all season before Friday, poured in 15 on 4-for-4 shooting from deep and a 3-for-3 showing at the line. Eric Dixon continues to lead the nation in scoring with 22.9 points per game after posting 23 against Marquette.
Villanova hopes to have that all-around effort again when facing Seton Hall (7-20, 2-14). The first meeting was back on Dec. 17, when host Villanova shot 55.3 percent overall and needed just nine 3-pointers to beat the Pirates 79-67.
Seton Hall is trying to avoid finishing last in the Big East (DePaul is 2-15). The Pirates have struggled to score all season, but they showed they still had some fight when they rallied to upset UConn 69-68 in overtime on Feb. 15.
In their most recent game, the Pirates plummeted to a 40-21 halftime deficit against visiting Xavier before charging back to make it a four-point game in the final minute. Xavier won 73-66.
Asked why it looked like two different teams between the first and second halves, Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said, “I’ve been asking myself that the whole year. That’s kind of what we’ve been doing the whole year.”
Isaiah Coleman scored 24 points and paces Seton Hall at 15.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
–Field Level Media
