Surging Villanova will try to end the regular season on a four-game winning streak when it faces Georgetown on Tuesday night in Washington.
The Wildcats (18-12, 11-8 Big East) once again relied heavily on Eric Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer at 23.6 ppg, in going 2-0 last week. For his efforts, Dixon was named the Big East Player of the Week on Monday.
The fifth-year senior scored 32 in a 59-54 comeback victory at Seton Hall on Feb. 26 and followed that up with 34 in an 80-70 victory over Butler on Saturday in his final home game.
With their latest victory, Villanova clinched its first winning Big East record since 2022 when Jay Wright led the Wildcats to the Final Four before retiring. That was also the last time Villanova made the NCAA Tournament.
Villanova is 6-3 since Feb. 1 and can lay claim as the only team to defeat No. 6 St. John’s since the calendar turned over to 2025.
Current coach Kyle Neptune knows there is no room for error if he’s to guide the Wildcats back to the Big Dance given a shaky performance in the nonconference portion of the schedule.
“We have one-game seasons from here on out in our minds,” Neptune said, as Villanova sits one loss behind Xavier in the battle for the last first-round Big East tournament bye.
“Standings, none of that stuff really matters to us. We’re thinking we have another game in a couple of days so that’s our biggest game of the year.”
Georgetown (16-13, 7-11) ended a seven-game losing against Villanova earlier this season with a 64-63 road victory on Jan. 20. Micah Peavy scored 24 points, including the game-winner with 1.8 seconds remaining as the Hoyas won on Villanova’s campus for the first time since 2005.
Peavy, who averaged 24.2 points per game in February, was held to 15 in Saturday’s 76-61 loss to then-No. 21 Marquette while Jordan Burks recorded his first double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. It was the third straight loss for the Hoyas, who ended the game down their top two options at centers in Thomas Sorber (left foot surgery) and Drew Fielder (back).
“This is what we signed up for,” Georgetown coach Ed Cooley said about keeping his team together despite the injuries and losses.
“This is not, ‘Put your head in the sand and feel like woe is me.'”
The Hoyas have lost five straight at home to the Wildcats, last winning during the 2018-19 season.
–Field Level Media
