Acaden Lewis toed the free-throw line with 3 minutes, 35 seconds left in the second half Tuesday night and Villanova trailing Marquette by three. The freshman point guard released the first of two attempts and watched as it failed to reach the rim. The second attempt was only mildly better and clanked off the front of it.
Just over a minute later, he was back at the line after being fouled on a drive. The deficit still was three.
In this moment, it would be Tyler Perkins who inspired the winning plays in Villanova’s 77-74 victory. They were visible all night in Perkins’ clutch three-pointers, his game-winning block, and a key steal as he finished with a team-high 22 points.
But his night also included a moment of leadership, a junior making sure a freshman could forget what had just happened.
“Tyler came up to me and was just like, ‘You’re built for these moments,’” Lewis said.
“I just relaxed and shot them.”
Both free throws went in. Lewis cut Marquette’s lead to one. The tide was starting to turn, and Villanova (19-5, 10-3 Big East) rode the wave and avoided a bad loss to a struggling Marquette team.
That is the thing about free throws. They giveth and taketh. Lewis described his two misses as “uncharacteristic,” but he is shooting 60.5% for the season, and the Wildcats entered Wednesday ranked 285th in the country and 10th among 11 Big East teams in free-throw percentage (69%).
They made their last six free throws and won the game at the line over the final 2 minutes, 10 seconds. But they were in a tight game against an inferior opponent largely because they were 12-for-25 before the closing minutes.
Sensing a pattern
Villanova’s win against Georgetown on Saturday didn’t have to be as hard as it was. Fourteen missed free throws made it nervy. The fans who were at Finneran Pavilion on Tuesday night know the issues well. They gave a Bronx cheer to freshman Chris Jeffrey when he made a pair of free throws midway through the second half.
It is worth mentioning that the struggles are abnormal for a program that consistently has resided at the top of the conference and near the top of the country in free-throw percentage for much of the last decade. But it is not particularly relevant context, given that Kevin Willard is in his first season coaching an entirely new team.
Still, what gives?
“Everyone is in there every day,” Willard said. “It’s not like we’re not doing it. I think it’s a little mental right now. I think we miss one, and it’s like we got a little bit too much negative emotion right now on the free-throw line. I’ve got to change that somehow.”
How does one change a mentality this late in the season?
“We’ll get there,” Willard said. “If we can improve our free-throw shooting and make a couple layups in the first half, it’s a completely different game. We held them to 32 points [in that first half], we should’ve had 44 points, and it’s a different type of game.”
Willard was flanked in his postgame news conference by Lewis and Perkins. He turned to Lewis and mentioned that the freshman shoots around 200 extra free throws after practices and noted that Perkins, who is shooting 75% for the season, never misses in practice.
“I have a lot of confidence in these guys that as we go through February and get into March that we’ll make them,” Willard said.
Lindsay’s slump continues
Bryce Lindsay made his first shot Tuesday night, a three-pointer less than three minutes into the game.
It had to, at least briefly, feel like the weight of the world was off his shoulders. Lindsay entered the night having made just 15 of his previous 64 attempts from three-point range (23.4%) over Villanova’s last 10 games since the calendar turned to 2026. The sharpshooting redshirt sophomore guard was a big reason behind Villanova’s strong start to the season, but he has reached double figures just four times in the last 11 games. That initial attempt Tuesday night was his only make on six three-point tries. He went scoreless Saturday afternoon at Georgetown.
“He’s going to get going,” Willard said. “It’s a little mental. I talked to the team earlier, before the game, about staying in the moment. Talking to each other and not worrying about the past, not worrying about the future, just trying to stay in the present. Sometimes it’s hard when you’re not playing well to kind of stay in the moment.
“I have a lot of confidence in Bryce. He’s in the gym with me every day working. He’s going to get it. I thought he had some good opportunities tonight. When you’re struggling the way he’s struggling, sometimes you just need one, get a good bounce, bank one in. I told him to sleep on the other side of the bed tonight. Sometimes you’ve just got to try something different.”
Something different, like starting sixth man Devin Askew and giving Lindsay a different look off the bench?
“No,” Willard said. “He’s still doing a lot of other things, and people have to guard him.”
Lindsay did affect the game in positive ways despite only scoring four points. He was plus-8 and had three rebounds and four assists, including a key pass to the corner for a Matt Hodge three-pointer with 4:20 left in the game.
Willard said he likes Askew coming off the bench as a “security blanket.”
Speaking of which … it was Askew who made two free throws with 11 seconds left that gave Villanova a three-point lead and forced Marquette into a desperation three-point attempt.
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