After two disappointing seasons under coach Kyle Neptune, Villanova is not off to a great start in Year 3.
The Wildcats were upset by visiting Columbia 90-80 on Tuesday and will be hungry for a win Friday when they host NJIT in nonconference action.
After the retirement of coach Jay Wright, who led Villanova to two national championships, Neptune has missed the NCAA Tournament in each of his first two seasons. The NCAAs are once again considered a realistic goal for the Wildcats (1-1), although a loss to an Ivy League school is not exactly quieting the doubters.
“We’re human beings,” Neptune said after the loss to the Lions. “You don’t want to come in and lose. Everybody wants to win. So, we’ve got a little bit to think about that and accept the fact that it happened. And now we’ve got to move on from it. We’ve got to go and get ready for the next game. We’ve got to get better.”
Perhaps most alarming was that standout Eric Dixon was terrific with 33 points — one shy of his career high — to go along with six rebounds and three steals. Yet it wasn’t enough.
“I don’t think offense was the issue,” Neptune said. “We shot 45 percent (overall from the field). … I thought we just couldn’t get stops. And I think we turned the ball over. And we just have to get better defensively. They scored 90 points. It’s going to be tough when teams score 90 points against you.”
Meanwhile, the Highlanders (0-1) authored a fine defensive effort Monday but came up short against Penn 58-57. Tariq Francis and Sebastian Robinson led the way with 20 points apiece, but the team squandered a 17-point lead with just over 13 minutes remaining.
“Being that we have a young team,” NJIT coach Grant Billmeier said on media day, “we’re going to have to understand that there’s going to be some losses early, but we’ve got to continue to grow from it.”
Villanova has won both previous matchups, although the schools haven’t met since 2014.
–Field Level Media
