Villanova and Seton Hall rarely — if ever — deviate from their preferred starting lineups, but both teams’ reserves can play important roles when they’re on their game.
The Big East Conference rivals will clash Wednesday at Villanova in a rematch between Wildcats coach Kevin Willard and his former school and assistant coach, Shaheen Holloway, now head coach of the Pirates.
Villanova (16-5, 7-3 Big East) won the first meeting 64-56 on Dec. 23 in Newark, N.J. That was Willard’s first time coaching against the Seton Hall program he built up from 2010-22, much of that time with Holloway at his side.
The Wildcats remain third in the conference standings after Devin Askew came off the bench for a team-high 20 points Friday in an 87-73 home win over Providence.
The well-traveled Askew bounced from Kentucky to Texas to Cal before spending last season dominating at Long Beach State. He’s more of a sixth option for Villanova, with just one start this year. But with all five regular starters averaging double-digit points per game, Askew’s 10.5 points per game off the bench give the Wildcats even more scoring punch.
“That’s why I brought him here. This is the type of player he is,” Willard said Friday. “When you go into the portal, you have to really evaluate, watch film and see what he has. When he was on his visit, I think the best part about it is I just loved his maturity. … I think he’s getting rewarded for being a hard worker and a terrific person.”
Askew has three 20-point showings in his past five games. He was quiet in the first Seton Hall game, but freshman Acaden Lewis put up 16 points and Bryce Lindsay went for 15 to power Villanova’s 48.9% shooting from the floor.
Seton Hall (16-6, 6-5) has used only one starting lineup all season, even though sixth man Tajuan Simpkins is third on the team with 11.1 ppg and shoots a team-high 41.7% from 3-point range.
After a four-game losing streak, the Pirates bested Xavier and Marquette at home last week to pull out of the nosedive. Simpkins went off for a season-high 27 points in the Xavier game, fueling Seton Hall’s 56-27 second-half explosion.
“I was just saying on the radio, I know what (Simpkins) is gonna give us,” Holloway said that night. “So if I start (Simpkins) and we get off to a slow start, who do I go to? You almost gotta play chess and not checkers.”
Adam “Budd” Clark was named Big East Player of the Week after averaging 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.0 steals over Seton Hall’s two wins. He’ll try to improve on his 1-for-11 shooting night against Villanova the first time around.
–Field Level Media
