The American Conference released its 2026 football schedule for all 14 teams on Thursday afternoon. For Temple, that meant the release of its full schedule for the fall.
After finishing one game shy of bowl eligibility in 2025, the Owls will look to make their first bowl game since the 2019 campaign. But this time, they’ll face 10 teams that participated in bowl games last season.
The Owls will begin their second season under coach K.C. Keeler at home against nonconference foe Rhode Island on Sept. 5, the teams’ first matchup since 1975.
They will remain at Lincoln Financial Field to play Penn State on Sept. 12, in what could be a homecoming for quarterback Jaxon Smolik, who transferred to Temple from the Nittany Lions on Jan. 10.
Smolik is in contention to be the Owls’ starting quarterback. This will be the first time the two teams played in Philadelphia since Temple earned a stunning 27-10 win on Sept. 5, 2015.
The Owls will travel to play Toledo on Sept. 19 in a late addition that was announced in January. Connecticut will visit Lincoln Financial Field on Oct. 10 to round out Temple’s nonconference schedule. UConn will enter led by former Toledo coach Jason Candle.
Army will kick off conference play for the Owls on Sept. 26, followed by Temple’s trip to play South Florida on Oct. 3 in Tampa for the first time since 2023.
Temple will host Charlotte on Oct. 17 before its bye week on Oct. 24.
Temple will open the conference portion of its schedule against Army on Sept. 26.
Four of the Owls’ final five games will be against teams that competed in bowl games last season. They’ll play at East Carolina on Oct. 31 before traveling to Navy on Nov. 7. A home game against Alabama-Birmingham will give the team a break from those bowl-eligible squads on Nov. 14, but Temple will play visiting Rice on a short week in a Thursday prime-time game on Nov. 19.
The season concludes against Memphis on Nov. 27 or 28. This year’s American Conference championship game is scheduled for Dec. 5.
Bryce Lindsay isn’t very superstitious, so he didn’t take Kevin Willard up a few weeks ago when the Villanova coach suggested maybe he should reorient himself in bed and sleep a different way.
Lindsay did, however, take Willard and his family and support staff up on their advice in recent days. Lindsay was 13-for-65 from three-point range in the 11 games that preceded his 15-point effort, behind four triples, last week in an overtime road win over Xavier. The redshirt sophomore guard carried Villanova at times through its nonconference schedule, but being the focus of the opposing team’s scouting report was taking its toll.
“They’re telling me, ‘Go out there and be you,’” Lindsay said Wednesday night after Villanova’s 82-73 win over Butler. “‘Don’t think too much. Focus on defense, focus on the other things, and your shot will come.’”
Lindsay scored 19 points Wednesday and helped Villanova get to 22-6 on the season and 13-4 in Big East play. He went 2-for-6 from three-point range and was 6-for-14 from the field overall and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. It was Lindsay’s first time making six shots in a game since a Jan. 3 road win at Butler. He made six or more in eight of Villanova’s first 14 games before a 13-game drought.
Villanova has fared just fine despite Lindsay’s prolonged slump. But there’s no denying how much easier the offense comes when Lindsay — who shot 40.8% from deep at James Madison last season — is filling it up.
Bryce Lindsay and Villanova are third in the Big East behind St. John’s and UConn.
It did take a bit for Lindsay to understand that there was more to impacting a game than just making shots. This was the first real slump he remembers going through. He had some off shooting nights at JMU last season, but things never snowballed the way they did in recent weeks.
“That was probably one of the hardest things I have ever went through in my life,” Lindsay said. “I’ve never, ever played that bad until now. It comes with the game. When you’re the No. 1 player on the scout, they’re going to try to take you away and that’s what they did. I’m just figuring out ways to maneuver through that.”
Willard would certainly disagree with Lindsay’s assessment of his play, and he spent recent weeks trying to build him up and remind him of that when he noticed Lindsay’s frustration showing up in his body language.
“Sometimes when you’re a shooter and you’re not shooting good and you’re standing on the court and you’re thinking about it, it’s like the worst thing you can do,” Willard said. “Just trying to get them to focus on all of the positive stuff.
“There are times on the floor where he’s plus-8, plus-9, but he’s 0-for-4. You can see his body language. You can see everything going down. But your team is playing well when you’re out there.”
Lindsay, who is averaging 14.3 points over the last three games, was plus-12 in 31 minutes Wednesday night. The advanced stats show a team that has a much better net rating in conference play with Lindsay on the floor.
“In my head I feel like I was playing bad, but in their head I’m not playing bad because [of] the stats, my plus-minus is good,” Lindsay said. “I was always able to make shots, but when I don’t see the ball go in it’s hard.
“These past few games I tried not to focus on it as much.”
His effort Wednesday helped Villanova bounce back from Saturday’s deflating loss to No. 6 UConn in front of a sold-out Xfinity Mobile Arena. The Wildcats built a 14-point halftime lead but started sloppily in the second half and allowed Butler to climb back into the game. The lead was one before Lindsay extended it back to three with a layup with more than eight minutes to play. He again scored inside to bump an eight-point lead back to double digits with four minutes to go, then helped seal the game with four free throws inside the final two minutes.
The fact that Lindsay scored all 10 of his second-half points inside the arc is a positive sign, too. It seemed at times that he was becoming too reliant on shooting threes in trying to break out of his slump.
“Just focusing on other things,” Lindsay said when asked how he navigated it all. “My defense, my rebounding …”
Willard, who was seated at the postgame podium between Lindsay and Devin Askew — who scored 16 points Wednesday — leaned over as Lindsay went on with his answer and circled a stat on the sheet in front of Lindsay.
Focused on rebounding? Lindsay had zero rebounds Wednesday.
The player and coach shared a laugh. After six weeks of slumping, Bryce Lindsay can finally smile.
St. Joseph’s coach Steve Donahue said following a win over Loyola Chicago on Saturday that his Hawks may not shoot well for all 40 minutes, but they would do everything else well.
The Hawks showed what could happen if they played a complete game against George Mason on Wednesday night at Hagan Arena.
St. Joe’s (18-10, 10-5 Atlantic 10) clicked on both ends of the floor, knocking down 11 three-pointers while forcing 11 turnovers in an 81-63 win over the Patriots. In a game to help decide which team receives a double-bye in next month’s A10 tournament, George Mason (21-7, 9-6) had no answers.
“We can be unstoppable, honestly,” said guard Derek Simpson. “I think the biggest part with us is being on the same page.”
Khaafiq Myers drives on George Mason’s Kory Mincy during the first half on Wednesday. Myers scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Statistical leaders
St. Joe’s shot 51.6%, led by Simpson (23 points) and Jaiden Glover-Toscano (21). It is the second straight game the Hawks have had two players score 20 or more points.
The Hawks also limited the Patriots to 39.7% shooting. They trailed for just 36 seconds to send George Mason home with its fourth straight loss.
What we saw
The Hawks went down 2-0 in the first minute of the game and never trailed again.
With the game tied at 10, St. Joe’s guard Austin Williford drained a three-pointer to kickstart a 13-0 run, which included back-to-back threes from Glover-Toscano for a 23-10 lead with 11:09 left in the first half.
The Patriotsscored just 11 points in the first 11 minutes of the first half
“We want to get loose,” Simpson said. “I feel like we didn’t do that the last game. We weren’t able to get out and have fun. I feel like we slowed the pace a lot. We were dead in the legs and stuff like that. But today we said we weren’t going to do that.”
The Hawks went into halftime with a 44-25 lead after going on a 21-8 run over the final 8:48 of the first half.
George Mason didn’t fare much better in the second half.
The Hawks shot 51.7% from the floor in the second half. They used their pace to stifle the defense with 22 fastbreak points and got 15 points off turnovers.
Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham watches St. Joe’s take on George Mason on Wednesday night.
Game-changing play
Playing in his second game since missing two, St, Joe’s guard Khaafiq Myers scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
George Mason trimmed the lead to 66-49 with 8:13 left in the game, but the Hawks were still looking for extra cushion. Myers helped, drilling a three with guard Devin Booker in his face and on the ensuing Patriots’ possession, he hauled in a defensive rebound and passed to Simpson for a dunkto go up 71-49 with 7:33 remaining.
“I thought [Myers] was terrific tonight, and that’s another thing,” Donahue said. “Our offense really needs someone to just push it and get somebody else an easy basket. He did that tonight.”
Up next
St. Joe’s will hit the road to face Rhode Island (15-12, 6-8) on Saturday (noon,ESPN+).
Temple knew it had a tall task as it welcomed Rice, undefeated in the American Conference, to the Liacouras Center Wednesday night. When an eight-point run by the home Owls trimmed the visiting Owls’ lead to five points entering halftime, an upset felt possible.
But the deficit crept back to double digits by the end of the third quarter, and Rice (25-3, 15-0) ultimately stayed unblemished in the conference with a 77-66 victory over Temple (12-15, 6-9).
“It was a tough game today,” head coach Diane Richardson said. “I think we could have done better. I think we could have shown what talents we have. But again, without the consistency, we come up on the losing end.”
What we saw
Temple and Rice traded baskets throughout most of the first quarter before poor transition defense and a stagnant offense began to plague the home team in the second quarter. Rice used an 8-0 run to take a 13-point lead with four-and a-half minutes remaining before halftime. Rice center Shelby Hayes (19 points) and guard Dominique Ennis (21 points on 8 of 13 shooting) established themselves early for the visitors.
But Temple found momentum on both sides of the ball in the final minutes before halftime. It prevented Rice from getting the open looks it was getting in the first quarter and it found cleaner looks on offense. A 10-2 run sent Temple to halftime trailing 40-35. It shot 44.4% from the field and made all 10 of its free throw attempts in the first 20 minutes.
But Temple could not build on that momentum out of the locker room, and Rice began to pull away again. Temple committed six turnovers in the frame which allowed Rice to push its lead back into double digits. It struggled to find an answer and entered the fourth quarter trailing, 61-47.
Temple never made it competitive in the final 10 minutes, only getting as close as 11 points in the closing minutes.
“This is a talented team, but you can’t let a team take your superpowers from you,” Richardson said. “So we’ve got to build that confidence up.”
Temple head coach Diane Richardson lamented the Owls’ lack of consistency on Wednesday night.
Hayes dominates down low
When Temple and Rice played on Jan. 28, a 65-56 Rice win, Temple could not contain Hayes, who finished with 17 points on 7-10 shooting. Temple looked to have more success against Hayes on Wednesday, but to no avail.
Hayes routinely got behind her defender in the paint for easy layups, with her 19 points coming on 8-11 shooting. When Temple did stop Hayes down low, it required multiple defenders which then left shooters open beyond the arc for easy looks.
“One of the things in our adjustments was not overhelping,” Richardson said. “When they started to spread their offense and have the overload on [Hayes], we overhelped and then they could kick it out for a three.”
Rice was red-hot from the field and three, shooting 53.6% and 42.1%, respectively. The visitors finished with 24 assists on 30 made baskets.
Molina leads Temple’s statistical leaders
Temple did not have a bad shooting day, hitting 47.2% of its shots from the field, but went just 2 of 10 from three and committed 20 turnovers. Forward Jaleesa Molina paced Temple with a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Kaylah Turner led Temple with 22 points on 10-18 shooting.
“They were switching on ball screens,” Molina said of her performance. “So I was just posting up my mismatch and that’s what it was.”
Next up
The Owls will hit the road to take on Alabama-Birmingham (10-16, 3-11) on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+).
Inside a sold-out Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday night, Villanova endured a 40-16 UConn run over a 20-minute stretch that turned the biggest home game of the season into a blowout loss.
The loss dropped the Wildcats to 21-6 and 12-4 in the Big East, and, barring the unforeseen, all but ensured them the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, which begins in two weeks at Madison Square Garden.
Just four games separate the Wildcats from the postseason, starting with a home game Wednesday night vs. Butler (15-13, 6-11). A trip to the NCAA Tournament, which would snap a three-season drought, is basically a foregone conclusion, but, as Saturday showed, there are things that need to be corrected if Villanova wants to finish the season strong and threaten to get to the second weekend.
Here are five things to watch in the final four games of the regular season.
The second unit
It was a rough night all around vs. the fifth-ranked team in the country on Saturday, but it was especially difficult for much of Villanova’s second unit. Sophomore wing Malachi Palmer was minus-17 in 18 minutes. Devin Askew, who has provided a big boost as a veteran ball handler and scorer off the bench, was minus-16 in 18 minutes. Backup center Braden Pierce was minus-13 in 11 minutes.
Plus-minus numbers never tell the whole story. But Villanova caused eight turnovers in the first half and couldn’t take advantage in part because the second unit struggled offensively. The two-man game with Askew and Pierce, for example, was ineffective.
Villanova guard Devin Askew and UConn’s Solo Ball fight for possession in Saturday’s matchup.
Pierce has made some strides in recent weeks filling in for Duke Brennan when the starter needs rest. Palmer emerged in the second half of the season as a reliable reserve on both ends. Freshman Chris Jeffrey returned from injury and has occasionally provided a spark. Askew, meanwhile, has been the reason Villanova has won a few games. But the 23-year-old guard is 9-for-44 from the floor (20.4%) over the last five games and has not made up for it by creating efficient offense and generating assists.
Villanova coach Kevin Willard talked recently about needing to figure out which lineups to get out there at the right times now that his team is healthier and the bench has expanded. Perhaps we’ll see some new wrinkles over the next two weeks.
Bryce Lindsay’s shot
Lindsay got the weight of the world off his shoulders when he made 4 of 8 three-point shots and scored 15 points during an overtime win at Xavier last week. Before that, Lindsay was 13-for-65 (20%) in the previous 11 games.
Lindsay’s shooting prowess helped Villanova to a 9-2 start through nonconference play, but when his shot wasn’t falling, it wasn’t as easy to justify playing him 30-plus minutes, which Villanova asked of him when he had it going earlier in the season. Villanova’s offensive analytics are much better with Lindsay on the floor than off, even when his shot isn’t falling. But his perimeter defense can leave a little to be desired in critical moments of the game.
Villanova guard Bryce Lindsay shoots the basketball over UConn’s Malachi Smith on Saturday.
Everything is easier for Villanova when Lindsay’s shot is going in. Willard would probably be wise to try to get Lindsay going over the next four games. The coach said the redshirt sophomore guard was feeling the mental side of his slump but was confident that Lindsay would be a big boost going into the postseason.
Free throw woes
Villanova has missed at least five foul shots in each of its last 10 games. The Wildcats missed eight and almost lost to a Xavier team with five conference wins last week. They missed 13 on Feb. 10 and almost suffered a home loss to Marquette because of it.
After that game, Willard pointed to a young team shooting important free throws in bigger college basketball games for the first time and needing to work its way through it.
Villanova “didn’t come out with enough urgency” after it left the locker room following halftime trailing UConn by just two, leading scorer Tyler Perkins said.
It led to an embarrassing loss in front of the home crowd, and Willard said his team seems to have a better mentality on the road than it does at home.
Villanova guard Tyler Perkins grabs the basketball in front of UConn’s Jayden Ross on Saturday.
“We’ve really struggled at home at times just playing well for good stretches,” he said. “Some of it is a little bit of youth. This is really only our second time in this building. The crowd was unbelievable. They were into it. I think some shots that we’ve been making, we were a little juiced up and missed some shots early.”
He also said that “every once in a while you get your [butt] kicked.” That’s happened only once or twice (depending how you’d classify the home loss to St. John’s on Jan. 17), but the last time the Wildcats were blown out, an 89-61 loss to No. 3 Michigan on Dec. 9, they responded with a dominant home win over Pittsburgh and two tough road wins at Wisconsin and Seton Hall.
“It’s not the end of the world,” Willard said.
Bouncing back starts Wednesday, when the Wildcats have a chance to also play well in front of a home crowd.
The seed line
With a road game at St. John’s looming on Saturday, Wednesday night’s game vs. a Butler team that Villanova blew out on the road on Jan. 3 isn’t one to fool around with.
Bracket Matrix, the website that tracks all of the NCAA Tournament bracket projections, shows Villanova as the top No. 7 seed in the bracket with an average seeding of 7.04. Losing to Butler at home would probably be a seed-line loss, and dropping back into the 8-9 range means the possibility of having to face a No. 1 seed on opening weekend.
There’s some runway left, and moving up a seed line — or two, pending a big run at the Garden — is still possible. It’s just a bad time of year to fall backward.
Burford (née Grasso) played volleyball at Rowan from 2010 to 2014 before entering coaching and spent the last two seasons as head coach at Catholic University. She previously held assistant coaching roles at Goucher College, Delaware State, and Frostburg State.
“This program has always meant so much to me because of my experience here as a student-athlete, alum, and student-assistant coach,” Burford said in a news release. “I’m truly excited by the work Deana did to shape Rowan volleyball into the culture and program it is today and feel so lucky to be a part of it again.
“Returning to my alma mater and being part of this program feels like a full-circle moment, and I’m excited to work with a group of strong, talented young women as we continue to grow together.”
The Profs were 25-6 and 7-1 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference last season. Rowan lost to Stockton in the semifinals of the NJAC tournament 11 days after Jespersen’s death.
“Coach [Jespersen] instituted a strong culture of family and togetherness, and I’m confident that Coach [Burford] will build upon that similar philosophy to lead our program to success on and off the court,” Rowan athletic director Shawn Tucker said in the release.
With four games remaining in the women’s basketball regular season, Temple is not where it envisioned it would be. The Owls were coming off consecutive 20-win seasons and picked to finish fourth in the American Conference this season.
Instead, Temple stands at 12-14 with a 6-8 mark in conference play and finds itself fighting to make the tournament instead of battling for a top seed.
The Owls slid as low as ninth in the standings and were one game away from falling out of the top 10, and only the top 10 teams make the conference tournament. Temple has righted the ship with back-to-back wins against Charlotte and Memphis to move to seventh place but is still looking to improve.
“We have been up and down,” coach Diane Richardson said. “But I think we are playing better together. … Hopefully we are on the upswing. I know it’s going to be a tough hill to climb to get into the conference tournament and even if we are in the conference tournament, it’s going to be five games [in five days].”
Temple’s remaining games offer a unique set of challenges and circumstances. It faces two of the top three teams in the conference in Rice on Wednesday and South Florida next Tuesday. It will face two teams below the Owls in the conference in Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday and Florida Atlantic on March 7.
Kaylah Turner has been a key contributor for Temple this season.
The Owls almost certainly will have to play five games in five days at the conference tournament in Birmingham. That will present a challenge for Temple since its depth has not progressed to the level Richardson desires.
While the reserves have been improving — Temple had 14 bench points in its 65-62 win against Memphis on Sunday — their lack of production is why the Owls have fallen in the standings, and Richardson knows it will be a factor in March.
“They’re starting to pick things up and not be so hesitant and be more confident in what they’re doing,” Richardson said. “Knowing how they have to help us. They have to. Seeing how we’ve done this season with going up and down, up and down, and not being able to really count on the bench as much. They kind of see that.”
Without a strong bench, Richardson has relied on guards Kaylah Turner and Tristen Taylor and forwards Jaleesa Molina and Saniyah Craig.
Craig has especially improved. She’s been a force in the paint for the Owls, scoring in double figures in the last seven games, and has hit double-digit points in every conference game beside two, while averaging 8 rebounds.
“She’s been more of a leader, so she’s talking more,” Richardson said. “She’s more comfortable and talking, and that in turn has stepped up her game. That confidence is like, ‘OK, let’s go, let’s go.’ If you hear on defense, you can hear her talking the whole time. And that also helps her teammates, kind of gets a little fire in everybody else.”
Guard Savannah Curry has also increased her production. She missed the first four games of conference play with a facial injury and struggled to find her role upon returning. However, she scored career highs in points (18 and 21) in consecutive games against East Carolina and Charlotte.
Curry’s emergence could be important in taking some of the burden off the Owls’ top four contributors. While Temple is no longer on the verge of missing the conference tournament, it wants to end its regular season on a high note.
“We’re looking at one game at a time,” Richardson said. “If we make the tournament, that’ll be great. If we don’t, we’re still working on getting better and us playing together and cohesively. So, right now, we’re concentrating on one game at a time.”
When St. Joseph’s coach Cindy Griffin recruited Gabby Casey out of Lansdale Catholic High, she compared Casey to Susan (Moran) Lavin, who scored 2,340 points, the most by any men’s or women’s basketball player for the Hawks, from 1998 to 2002.
Casey set the scoring record for the boys’ and girls’ teams at Lansdale Catholic, and her natural scoring knack intrigued Griffin. The Hawks’ culture drew the 5-foot-9 guard, who joined St. Joe’s during the 2023-24 season.
Her role gradually increased each year, and now as a junior, Casey has St. Joe’s fighting for a top-four seed and double bye in the Atlantic 10 tournament. She leads the Hawks in points, rebounds, and steals and prides herself on being a well-rounded player and leader for her teammates.
“I felt that over the summer I had to put in a lot of extra work and come in more confident than I ever had before because I knew I was going to have a much bigger role,” Casey said. “I knew I was going to score in order for us to win, and that has really been the fun part for me. Scoring and then getting to lead the girls is so easy.”
Casey played sparingly off the bench as a freshman, averaging 13.2 minutes. Last season, she was elevated into the starting lineup but was a secondary scorer, averaging 7.7 points. The Quakertown native has been an example for her teammates.
“That used to be the natural progression,” Griffin said. “Kids stay, and they reap the benefits of their work, and when it’s their time, it’s going to be their time. I think Gabby is a great example of that, just staying the course and being where her feet are. She loves being around our team and our culture, and being able to step into that leadership role is really nice to see.”
Gabby Casey (center), shown last Wednesday against Duquesne, has made 62 three-pointers this season.
Casey has embraced leading a St. Joe’s team that lost a lot of experience from last season’s team, which won 24 games. In Griffin’s eyes, Casey has carried on the lessons that she learned from past team leaders.
She has filled the leadership role seamlessly, guiding the Hawks to a 19-9 record with one regular-season game, at home against third-place Richmond (2 p.m., ESPN+) remaining.
“[I try to] bring consistency in just showing up every day with the same mindset and same goals,” Casey said. “Then also creating an environment where everyone feels welcomed and feels like this is a place they want to be every day.”
Casey always possessed the ability to score, which was evident from her high school days, and has put it on full display this season. She is averaging 16.0 points, good for third in the A-10, while shooting 48% from the field.
Her favorite way to score is a turnaround jumper, but she also can get to her spots in the midrange for pull-up jumpers. Casey also is a threat from three and leads the team with 62 triples.
However, her on-court impact goes beyond scoring. She is St. Joe’s top rebounder with 6.4 per game, tied for second in assists (3.1), and is first in steals (1.6). When Casey is struggling to score, she still finds ways to help her team compete.
“She’s multidimensional. It’s not just about scoring, it’s how she impacts the game,” Griffin said. “I go back to her freshman year, when we beat Villanova on our home court, and the trajectory of the game changed when Gabby came in and got a couple of steals. It changed the game, and that’s her impact. She’s gritty, tough, and competitive.”
St. Joe’s guard Gabby Casey (left) is averaging 16.3 points this season.
Now, Casey aims to lead St. Joe’s to success in the conference tournament.
“These practices are going to be key to dialing in on the little things that we have to fix throughout the rest of the year,” Casey said. “We have to really focus on the little details that will give us the edge because A-10 play is going to be hard.”
The Villanova women’s basketball team bounced back from a loss to No. 1 UConn with a 64-39 victory over Marquette Sunday on Senior Night at Finneran Pavilion.
With the win, Villanova (22-6, 14-5 Big East) maintained its second-place spot in Big East standings in a crucial final week of the schedule.
For coach Denise Dillon, Sunday’s game encapsulated the team’s trajectory of improvement across the season. It was a significant turnaround from the Wildcats’ 85-69 loss at Marquette on Jan. 4.
Sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe led the team with 18 points, four rebounds, and seven assists. Graduate forward Denae Carter added 14 points, and freshman guard Kennedy Henry scored 13.
“After the last game, we knew that wasn’t us, and we were ready for this game,” Bascoe said. “We’ve had quite a few in between, but it’s always kind of been in the back of our minds. I couldn’t tell you how excited we all were for this game. The win’s amazing, and we’re so proud of everyone because we fought today.”
Villanova sets the tone on defense
Sunday afternoon’s game was a testament to Villanova’s improvement on defense after giving up 85 points to Marquette (16-11, 10-8) in their previous matchup.
The Wildcats were especially effective in stopping Halle Vice, who dropped 32 points back in January. Vice finished Sunday’s game with nine points.
“We put Denae Carter on [Vice] to start the game, so that adjustment was made,” Dillon said. “Today, [Carter] rose to the occasion and certainly set the tone. I don’t think [Vice] felt that she had any breathing room. Even when she caught it on a kick-out, Denae’s closeout was tremendous. … Those defensive stops are a team positive, but when one person on the ball is setting the tone, it makes it a lot easier for the rest.”
Villanova held a 16-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Freshman guard Kennedy Henry brought energy on both sides of the ball, scoring a team-high nine points and notching three steals in the first half. The Wildcats forced 14 turnovers from the Golden Eagles in the first 20 minutes, which ended with a 29-18 advantage.
Villanova held Marquette to just 31.7% shooting from the field across the game.
“When we were leaving Milwaukee in January, this group had [this game] circled on their calendar, so they wanted this one back,” Dillon said. “They were locked in to what needed to be done defensively, and certainly executed it.”
Both teams struggled with shooting from outside the arc. Marquette was 2-for-13 from three-point range, while Villanova was 3-for-16.
Seniors go out strong
For five graduating Villanova players, Sunday’s game was their last at the Finneran Pavilion.
“It was a big game for us, but we were thinking about [the seniors] the whole time, so we got our emotions out early,” Bascoe said. “We kind of had to bring it back in. But I’m just so proud of all of them. They’ve done so much for our team, and for me as an individual as well. So I couldn’t be more thankful for all those girls.”
As Villanova led, 60-38, with just over three minutes to play, senior forward Annie Welde came in off the bench. Dillon praised Welde, a Cardinal O’Hara alumna and team captain, for her “commitment to what Villanova’s all about, the community, and making this place better.” Welde cut inside and scored on a layup to finish her career on the Main Line.
Up next
In its final game of the regular season, Villanova will go on the road for another key matchup against Seton Hall on Thursday (7 p.m., Peacock). The Pirates (18-9, 12-6) sit third in the conference.
The Big East tournament, hosted at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., begins on March 6.
Kevin Willard has been pretty proficient when it comes to using his timeouts. The first-year Villanova coach has used them quite a few times this season to stop an opposing team’s run.
He called one 3 minutes, 27 seconds into the second half Saturday, his Wildcats trailing by 10. He called another, less than two minutes later, and another, the last one he had left in the holster, with 10:21 left on the game clock.
“I ran out of timeouts,” Willard quipped after Villanova’s 73-63 loss to No. 5 Connecticut at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Ideas, too.
The final deficit was 10, but the Huskies led by as many as 21 inside of five minutes to play before Villanova chipped away in garbage time and put the lipstick on the pig.
It was — given the lead-up, the 20,261 sellout crowd, the six-game winning streak Villanova carried with it — the Wildcats’ worst performance of the season. When they were ran out of the gym on the road at No. 1 Michigan on Dec. 9, you chalked up a 28-point defeat to a young team still finding its way.
This time felt like more of a reality check.
Villanova guard Acaden Lewis gets his second-half shot blocked by UConn forward Tarris Reed Jr.
Villanova is 21-6 and 12-4 in the Big East and well on its way to snapping a three-year NCAA Tournament drought. But if you were wondering if the Wildcats were in the same tier as UConn and No. 17 St. John’s, the answer to that query was delivered one beautiful UConn offensive set after another, and one Villanova turnover after another.
It was 30-27 Villanova with 4 minutes, 29 seconds until halftime. A Matt Hodge putback in transition off of one of eight first-half UConn turnovers caused Dan Hurley to call a timeout and had the rally towels waving. Unlike Willard’s later attempts at stemming the tide, this timeout was a turning point. UConn outscored Villanova, 40-16, over the next 20 minutes.
“Every once in a while you get your [expletive] kicked,” Willard said.
“Sometimes it’s just, when guys don’t have it going … or they got into us pretty well, and we missed a couple layups, missed a couple free throws … sometimes it just snowballs.”
Villanova made just 6 of its 28 shot attempts over those fateful 20 minutes and turned the ball over six times. The Wildcats shot just 40.7% on the night, including 6-for-24 (25%) from three-point range. They opened the second half trailing by just two points and proceeded to commit a few quick turnovers while also missing their first five attempts from the field.
“We were too soft in the second half to start,” said Hodge, who finished with 13 points. “They came out ready to go, and it’s been a problem a couple games now so we really have to take care of that.”
Willard referenced the slow start Villanova had to the second half against St. John’s on Jan. 17. Villanova eventually found its way back into that game, but on Saturday never cut the deficit lower than eight after UConn’s initial second-half surge. The Wildcats got beaten to almost every loose ball. UConn’s rebounding advantage was 37-24. The Huskies, who shot 55% from the floor and had six players with eight or more points, had nearly as many offensive rebounds (10) as Villanova did defensive rebounds (13).
The game was all but over quickly in the second half, and there weren’t enough timeouts for Willard to find a way to get his team out of it.
“It was very deflating,” Willard said. “Give them credit. They’re an older team, they kind of impose their will on you at times. The game there we did a really good job taking care of the ball.”
Willard is referencing his team’s 75-67 overtime loss at Connecticut on Jan. 24, a game the Wildcats could have won. Among the many differences this time around was Duke Brennan’s ineffectiveness. Villanova’s center had 16 points and 14 rebounds in the first meeting and was held to seven points and a season-low three rebounds Saturday night. Huskies big man Tarris Reed Jr. defended Villanova’s high post action and his pick-and-roll defense limited Brennan’s touches.
“We’ve been playing good basketball,” Willard said. “You just got to bounce back. It’s not the end of the world. That’s a good basketball team, and they’re coming off a tough loss against Creighton. I thought their defensive intensity was so much different than it was against Creighton.
“Sometimes you come off a tough home loss and you go on the road and you can really find a way.”
Villanova won’t have the same luxury, though maybe hunkering down at home and practicing after a forecast snowstorm for much of the region will yield a bounce-back performance Wednesday night at home against Butler (7 p.m., FS1).
Tyler Perkins, who scored 10 points in the first 14 minutes of the game and finished with 15, said the Wildcats will draw on their experience from what they learned after losing to Michigan in December. They responded with an 18-point win over Pittsburgh. A similar result Wednesday night would be a confidence booster before next Saturday’s game at Madison Square Garden against a surging St. John’s team.
“We’ve been through it before,” Hodge said. “We played Michigan and got our [expletive] kicked and bounced back. We just got to stick together.”
