Villanova will be the last team to play its Big East Conference opener. It just so happens to come in a rivalry game with a new wrinkle.
Kevin Willard, in his first year leading Villanova, will coach against protege Shaheen Holloway and Seton Hall for the first time on Tuesday night in Newark, N.J.
The last high-major college basketball game before Christmas sees Villanova (9-2, 0-0), the blue blood hoping for big things from a new leader, meet resurgent Seton Hall (11-1, 1-0), where Willard coached from 2010-22.
When Willard left Seton Hall for the Maryland job in 2022, Holloway came home to his alma mater fresh off guiding tiny Saint Peter’s on a legendary run to the Elite Eight. Holloway served on Willard’s staff from 2010-18 and worked for him at Iona before that.
“Hope (Willard) gets a standing ovation for what he did at Seton Hall,” Holloway said at Big East Media Day. “He turned the program back around to where it should be.”
Holloway has yet to take the Pirates to an NCAA Tournament, as Willard did five times from 2016-22 (it would have been six if the 2020 tournament weren’t canceled due to COVID-19). But this year could be his first.
The Pirates are the darlings of the Big East after finishing dead last a year ago. After crushing rival Rutgers 81-59 on Dec. 13, Seton Hall opened conference action with a gritty 72-67 win at Providence on Friday. Tajuan Simpkins scored a team-high 22 points off the bench, and Stephon Payne won Big East Player of the Week honors for his 18-point, 16-rebound double-double.
On a Zoom call with reporters Monday, Willard declared he was “not surprised at all” by Holloway engineering the fast turnaround.
“Every one of his guys has his personality, and you can see how they play on the defensive end, very unselfish on the offensive end,” Willard said. “And I think he’s got a point guard in ‘Budd’ (Adam) Clark that plays this the way he played way back in the day. So I’m not surprised anything Sha is doing. He’s a heck of a coach, and I’m happy for him.”
Clark averages 10.1 points, 5.7 assists and 2.2 steals per game. He’s second among Big East players in assists and first in steals.
Villanova is 4-1 in December. After a blowout loss at No. 2 Michigan, the Wildcats beat Pitt and then traveled to Milwaukee to pull out a 76-66 overtime win over Wisconsin on Friday.
After giving up a 13-point halftime lead, Villanova outscored Wisconsin 20-10 in overtime. Bryce Lindsay scored 10 alone in the extra session and paces the Wildcats at 16.7 ppg.
–Field Level Media
