Villanova capped 2025 with a 71-66 comeback win over DePaul on New Year’s Eve at Finneran Pavilion.
Villanova (11-2, 2-0 Big East) trailed DePaul (8-6, 0-3) by as many as 10 points in the second half but rallied for its fourth straight win. It was the Wildcats’ first victory of the season after trailing at halftime.
“I mean, I thought we did a good job battling and still playing hard while not playing well,” Villanova coach Kevin Willard said. “And when you have a young team, sometimes it could be a little frustrating when you’re not playing well offensively, it kind of affects your defense. I thought we hung in there as close as we could while not playing overly well offensively.”
The Wildcats were limited to 27.3% from the field in the first half.
Redshirt sophomore guard Bryce Lindsay continued his sharpshooting, scoring a team-high-tying 19 points that included back-to-back three-pointers in a second-half scoring run to help complete Villanova’s comeback.
Lindsay is averaging a team-leading 16.8 points, which is second in the Big East. He also is shooting a conference-best 44.8% from beyond the arc.
Junior guard Tyler Perkins also scored 19 points, his fifth game of the season in double digits and second in the last three games.
DePaul, which entered the game ranked 187th offensively by KenPom.com, shot 46.2% from the field to help itself to a halftime lead.
Leaning on defense
At the beginning of the season, Willard didn’t like how Villanova was executing defensively. He thought there was “nothing” good with it when asked about it in November. However, in the win over DePaul, the defense allowed Villanova to stay close.
“I think we have had a really good pick-and-roll defense,” Willard said. “I think sometimes coming back after Christmas break, you’re just not as sharp. And you got to give Chris [Holtmann] and [DePaul’s] staff credit. They just kept running the same play, and it was just a matter of we had to take that away and just make sure they were not getting too many easy layups. So we switched into a zone and just had the guards take the pick and rolls and scramble.”
Villanova is now ranked higher defensively (35th) than offensively (40th) on KenPom.
Willard was happy with how the team played physically and defensively despite not playing well on offense.
In their previous game, a 64-56 win over Seton Hall on Dec. 23, the Wildcats held the Pirates to their lowest-scoring output of the season.
Second-half magic
After trailing at the five-minute mark of the first half, Villanova found itself down by 10 points midway through the second half. It was DePaul’s largest lead of the game.
Then, graduate guard Devin Askew knocked down a pair of free throws to cut DePaul’s lead to eight points. Villanova regained possession, and Lindsay sank three-pointers on consecutive possessions to cap an 8-0 scoring run.
Just over three minutes later, Perkins knocked down two three-pointers, the second of which tied the game at 56. Villanova’s scoring run reached 21-8 with under five minutes left to play.
Free-throw struggles
Villanova, which led the nation in free-throw shooting in three of the previous four seasons, struggled at the line against DePaul, hitting just 21 of 31 (67.7%). This season, the Wildcats are shooting just 68.8% from the line, which is 269th out of 365 Division I teams.
“No, I mean, [Matt Hodge, 6-for-9 from the line] just had a tough night,” Willard said. “I think in the first half we still had Christmas cookies in our stomach, it seemed like. Duke [Brennan, 3-for-7] is going to be Duke. We’re working with Duke every day, and Duke’s working hard on it. Duke’s the only one that we’re really working with [on free throws]. Everybody else, they’re good shooters. It’s just sometimes you eat too many Christmas cookies, your free throws go to [expletive].”
Up next
Villanova travels to Indianapolis to face Butler (10-4, 1-2) on Saturday (noon, TNT/truTV). Butler is coming off an 89-85 loss at Creighton on Tuesday. Villanova leads the all-time series, 19-7, and has won the last three meetings.
Tyler Perkins and Bryce Lindsay scored 19 points apiece in Villanova’s 71-66 win against DePaul on Wednesday.
Perkins had seven rebounds for the Wildcats (11-2, 2-0 Big East Conference) and Lindsay shot 7 for 17 overall, including 5 for 10 from beyond the arc. Duke Brennan shot 3 of 5 from the field and 3 of 7 from the free-throw line to finish with nine points.
The Blue Demons (8-6, 0-3) were led by CJ Gunn, who posted 15 points and seven rebounds. DePaul also got 13 points from Layden Blocker. RJ Smith had 11 points.
Lindsay scored 10 points in the first half as Villanova went into the break trailing 32-28. Villanova used a 13-2 second-half run to erase a two-point deficit, and gave the Wildcats a 69-60 lead with 1:45 remaining in the game. Perkins scored 11 second-half points.
The Wildcats next will visit Butler in another Big East game, Saturday at noon (TNT).
NEWARK, N.J. — More than an hour before the game, Kevin Willard was on and around the basketball court at the Prudential Center, the place he called home for 12 seasons as Seton Hall’s head coach.
The first-year Villanova coach, like most head coaches, normally is tucked away going over final game preparations while assistants get his players loose. But Willard was home. It was an emotional couple of days since the Wildcats arrived here Monday evening.
“This place helped raise my family in a very special way,” Willard said. The family saw the same security guards who used to carry his children — one now a college freshman, the other a high school senior — around after games.
Before tipoff, Willard embraced Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway, who coached under Willard for 11 seasons at Iona and Seton Hall. A video that played before the national anthem showed highlights of Willard’s tenure at Seton Hall, and the sellout crowd of 11,153 mostly responded with a nice ovation for the coach who left in 2022 for Maryland and returned Tuesday for his first game against his old program with one of its bitter Big East rivals.
The show at that point was over. “Walking out, once I got out, we got to win a game,” Willard said.
It was a sloppy-at-times Big East fight during the first half, but Villanova used an emphatic 16-0 run early in the second half and pulled away from Seton Hall in a 64-56 victory that wasn’t as close as the final score suggested. Villanova led by as many as 20 midway through the second half.
Kevin Willard spent 12 seasons from 2010 to 2022 with Seton Hall before taking a job at Maryland.
The Big East opener was a matchup of teams off to hot starts. Willard’s Wildcats improved to 10-2 and handed Seton Hall (11-2) its second loss of the season.
The Wildcats entered Tuesday ranked 30th in the NCAA’s NET rankings, and they shot up to 20th on Wednesday morning after winning their first Quad 1 game of the season. By 10 p.m. Tuesday, the metrics site KenPom had Villanova ranked 24th. Seton Hall was just outside the Associated Press Top 25 this week. The Pirates were 27th, based on ballot points. Surely, Villanova will be in the conversation to be ranked for the first time since November 2023 next week.
The Wildcats’ two losses are to then-No. 8 BYU and No. 2 Michigan. They hit the holiday break with a home victory over Pittsburgh and road wins at Wisconsin and Seton Hall.
“We’re trending in the right direction,” Willard said. “I like the fact that no one’s really talking about us.”
They are now. It was a light day on the college basketball calendar, and, given Seton Hall’s surprising start to the season and Willard making his return to Newark, there were plenty of eyeballs watching Villanova pass the eye test.
Freshman point guard Acaden Lewis “controlled the game,” Holloway said, after he led all scorers with 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting to go with five rebounds, two assists, and three steals (to cancel out three turnovers) in a season-high 37 minutes. Redshirt freshman Matt Hodge added 12 points and six rebounds, and redshirt sophomore Bryce Lindsay scored 15 points on nine shots.
The night was far from perfect for Villanova. The Wildcats turned the ball over 18 times and had trouble with Seton Hall’s press after the lead ballooned late in the game. They allowed 16 offensive rebounds and had just eight of their own.
Villanova freshman guard Acaden Lewis played a season-high 37 minutes in a 64-56 win over Seton Hall on Tuesday night.
But Villanova had an answer every time Seton Hall pushed back in the second half. Devin Askew hit a three-pointer to push the lead back to 17 (50-33). Hodge put back a Lewis miss with just over eight minutes to play that stopped a 6-0 Seton Hall run and bumped the lead back to 16. The Pirates then cut their deficit to 13 before Lindsay made a three-pointer. He made 3 of 7 attempts on the night.
“We’re battle-tested,” Willard said. “We played BYU on the road, Michigan on the road, Wisconsin on the road, three Big 5 games … so I have a lot of confidence in the fact that our guys have played against a lot of good teams.”
Villanova overcame its struggles because of its defense. Willard said the game plan was to make dynamic Seton Hall point guard Adam “Budd” Clark, a West Catholic graduate, be a scorer and not a “sprayer.” The Wildcats, who utilized a zone defense, forced him into tough spots and limited his driving opportunities. He also was limited to just five minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, and Seton Hall’s offense was disjointed without him. Clark finished 1-for-11 from the floor, and Seton Hall converted just 33.3% of its shot attempts.
The Pirates were 15-for-30 on what were considered layups by the official stats, but the majority of their shots were well-contested. The 16-0 run happened mostly because of Villanova’s active hands, which forced steals and easy transition buckets.
Earlier in the season, defense was one of Willard’s major concerns. It recently has become a strength. Why? Lewis said physical practices where fouls aren’t called have translated into higher-intensity stretches of defense during games.
Villanova returns home on New Year’s Eve for a game vs. DePaul (8-5). But first, a few days off to celebrate the holiday, a break that got a little merrier with Tuesday’s win.
“We’re trending up,” Lewis said. “Since that Michigan game, we really locked in and built with each other. [Michigan] showed us there’s levels, and we’re building up to that level to see them again when March comes around and we want a different look when that happens.”
After Tuesday, playing meaningful basketball in March seems like a real possibility.
On Nov. 9, 2022, Bryce Lindsay announced his commitment to Texas A&M. It was just three days after his mother, Takisha, died.
Lindsay, now starting at guard for Villanova, calls his mother his biggest inspiration and the strongest person he knew. He watched her fight through surgeries and life changes and take care of a family during a 10-year battle with Grade 2 astrocytoma, a brain tumor that was diagnosed in September 2012.
Up and down his left arm and leg are tattoos that are meaningful to Lindsay. On the back of Lindsay’s thigh is a tattoo of his mother and her middle name, Simone. It is a permanent dedication to her.
“That time when I was at [Texas] A&M, [still dealing with] my mother passing was a very hard time,” Lindsay said.
It was not the first or last time Lindsay, 20, faced adversity in his young life.
In 2022, Lindsay was committed to South Carolina out of St. Frances Academy in his native Baltimore. He was determined to play for Gamecocks coach Frank Martin. However, Martin was dismissed from the program in mid-March. Because of the timing of the firing, Lindsay was left with limited options.
Villanova’s Bryce Lindsay is fouled by Duquesne’s John Hugley as he drives to the basket on Nov. 15.
He decided to play a prep school year at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
That’s when Lindsay committed to Texas A&M. Exactly one year after his mother’s death, Lindsay finally played his first college minutes on Nov. 6, 2023.
‘Amazed at his strength’
“It was tough for him,” said Lindsay’s father, Dustin. “It was tough for our entire family. She was the rock. She held everything together, to be honest. So that stretch was really tough for him. Losing his mom could have broken anyone’s spirit. So watching him through it, though, I was honestly amazed at his strength, to be honest with you. He never let it define him.
“He grieved, he healed, but he also stayed committed to coming back stronger, and I saw it firsthand. That period really showed his resilience and character both on and off the court. He faced more than most people could imagine, but he turned it into fuel to grow mentally and emotionally.”
Then, just eight games into his college career, the 6-foot-3 Lindsay was struck with another setback. He suffered a sports hernia that required surgery on both sides of his abdomen and forced him to redshirt the remainder of his freshman season at Texas A&M.
Lindsay was without two of the most important things in his life: his mother and basketball.
“I saw him just put both feet in the sand and just say, ‘It’s my time, right?’” Dustin Lindsay said. “And that’s easier said than done. Because most of us never have to go through a tragedy like that. But, I tell people this all the time, it’s not until you go through a tragedy like that that you realize how strong a human being can really be. I saw an individual who realized that wasn’t making excuses.”
Guard Bryce Lindsay played at Texas A&M and James Madison before he landed at Villanova.
After he recovered, Lindsay committed to James Madison in May 2024. He came in thinking he would be a key player, but he was not in the starting lineup for JMU’s season opener against Ohio.
Despite yet another setback, Lindsay was unfazed.
“Bryce tells me, ‘Dad, I’m not even worried about it. I’m going to be sixth man of the year,’ Dustin said. “And when he told me that, I mean, it really almost brought tears to my eyes. The maturity that showed in him at that time was just priceless.”
Lindsay went on to accomplish that goal. He came off the bench for the first 18 games of the season, shooting 45.6% from the field and 42.9% from beyond the arc. His performances pushed him into the starting lineup for the final 12 games of the season and the conference tournament.
At the end of the season, Lindsay was named the Sun Belt’s Sixth Man of the Year and Rookie of the Year.
“I believe that true confidence comes with the work you put in behind the scenes,” Lindsay said. “I was always the type of guy who was a gym rat. I would always be in the gym before practice, after practice, and I feel like that gave me my true confidence with me coming up.”
When Villanova hired coach Kevin Willard last spring, Lindsay had the opportunity to move up from a mid-major program.
Wildcats center Nico Onyekwere (left) pours water on Bryce Lindsay after Villanova beat Pittsburgh at the Finneran Pavilion on Dec. 13.
“I absolutely think he’s had such a positive effect on everybody offensively just because of the way he’s playing,” Willard said. “And he never worries about missing a shot. He never worries about a turnover. He’s like, ‘Next play.’ Guys like that who have that confidence, who don’t get down on themselves — and he doesn’t get down on himself at all, which is great — always have a positive impact on his teammates.”
Baltimore basketball
When asked about his resilience, Lindsay laughed. “It’s crazy that you use the word ‘resilient,’” he said. “I was about to get that [as my] next tattoo.”
Much of that comes from where he grew up, in a city known for its basketball culture.
“I could be kind of biased, but I think we have the best group of guys coming out of not just Baltimore, but the [D.C., Maryland, and Virginia] area as well,” Lindsay said. “Specifically, Baltimore, I just think that we just have that competitive edge and that nitty-gritty to our game and play style. Just because where we come from, we don’t really come from too much.”
It was not easy to carve out a path in a crowded Baltimore basketball scene.
“I remember Bryce when he first picked up a basketball,” Dustin Lindsay said. “He was young, and I could already see the love for the game. Seeing him maneuver and again, finding that resilience to overcome a lot of the obstacles that he had to endure, just growing up and playing that sport here that so many people are passionate about.”
Lindsay’s father put him on teams with older, more experienced players, so he was forced to play more physical basketball.
Bryce Lindsay is averaging 16.6 points for the Villanova Wildcats.
“I think it created that part of him, that resilience that I’m going to try my best not to let these obstacles get in my way,” Dustin Lindsay said. “I tried to put him in a lot of difficult situations on purpose. Because I just know how hard life can be sometimes. And so I just wanted him to face obstacles early on in life, and it wasn’t easy. But that kid just never gave up.”
Lindsay was a part of the Class 3A state title team at Baltimore Polytechnic in his freshman year. Then he transferred to St. Frances, the second of three stops in his high school journey. In 2021-22, Lindsay averaged 19.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists.
“Being from Baltimore, I think that definitely puts an edge on me,” Lindsay said. “I mean, I just wanted to do extra work because nobody wants to be in Baltimore forever. They always want to get out, so I think I’m super grateful for being from Baltimore. I love my city.”
Now, Lindsay has transitioned from a mid-major to Villanova. He already has set a program record for three-pointers in a game, hitting nine against Sacred Heart on Nov. 11. It broke a record that had stood for 20 years.
He is averaging a team-high 16.6 points and has four 20-plus point outings in 11 games. Lindsay is also the 10-2 Wildcats’ best three-point shooter at 44.2%, and ranks in the top 40 nationally in threes made per game (3.17).
“I’m very grateful that I got to mesh with this group of guys,” Lindsay said. “We all came together pretty well in such a short time. So I’m grateful for that. We have a great coaching staff here. That’s why I chose to come here to Villanova. Plus, the culture and what Villanova means.”
Even after a dominant nonconference performance, Lindsay says there is more work to be done on his game. He believes he has not hit his ceiling.
“I would say I’m never satisfied with my play,” Lindsay said. “I feel like certain guys they get satisfied, and they stop doing all the little things. I was that type of person. Like during practice, I’m going to keep going hard 110% every day, and I’m never going to cut corners.”
The thoughts and feelings facing Kevin Willard this week hadn’t crossed his mind until Sunday, he said.
Villanova, with no classes to rush home for, spent the night in Milwaukee on Friday after finishing its nonconference schedule with an overtime victory over Wisconsin. The Wildcats traveled home Saturday with their 9-2 record and their ascending metrics tucked away with the cargo.
It’s time for Big East play, Willard’s first conference campaign since taking over at Villanova after three years coaching Maryland. Up first: Seton Hall on the road and a return to a place Willard spent 12 years from 2010 to 2022. Credit to the conference schedulers, who probably couldn’t have predicted it would be the 9-2 Wildcats against the 11-1 Pirates. They nailed it nonetheless.
On Sunday, though, Willard and his wife, Julie, started reminiscing. Willard didn’t play Seton Hall in any of his three seasons at Maryland, although he did coach a game at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Seton Hall’s home court, last season, coincidentally a Maryland victory over Villanova.
Tuesday will be much different. The Willards have numerous family photos that document memories around the Seton Hall program. There are pictures of their children, Colin and Chase, running around on basketball courts at the Prudential Center and on road trips. Willard said he has about 80 people attending Tuesday’s game, a mix of family and friends.
It’s a community he remains connected to. Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway was one of his assistants for eight years and the guy he wanted to succeed him. He still goes on golf trips with Seton Hill alums and stays in touch with former players, like Sandro Mamukelashvili, a Raptors forward who was in Milwaukee on Thursday night playing against the Bucks.
Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard talking with guard Myles Powell in November 2019.
Willard said he imagines he’ll be emotional seeing former staff members and fans Tuesday night.
“There’s a little bit more to this one,” he said Monday. “I love Seton Hall. I raised my kids in Jersey, my kids grew up there, my wife and I spent 12 great years at Seton Hall and in the community. It’s a great fan base, it’s a great alumni base.
“It’s probably going to be a little bit harder for me going back than I think it is.”
That being said …
“It’s obviously a league game, so it’s not like I’m going to be crying at halfcourt,” he said. “But it’s definitely a place that I hold very dearly and will always be the love of my life to be honest with you.”
That is the balance Willard will need to find Tuesday night. He will surely be cheered, and for good reason. Willard led the Pirates to five NCAA Tournament appearances in his last seven seasons, and a sixth would have happened if not for the COVID-19 pandemic. Seton Hall won 20 games just once in the first decade of this century before Willard hit that mark seven times in 12 seasons.
But whatever fanfare Seton Hall has planned for Willard’s return is only a distraction from what is a critical Big East Conference game.
Villanova entered Monday 29th in the NCAA’s NET rankings while Seton Hall was 36th. At the metrics site KenPom, Villanova was 28th and Seton Hall was 43rd. Meanwhile, ESPN’s bracket guru Joe Lunardi on Saturday had Villanova as a No. 10 seed, the 39th-ranked team in his 68-team field, and Seton Hall was a No. 7 seed, the 28th-ranked team.
Kevin Willard coaching Villanova against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Finneran Pavilion on Dec. 13.
It may be a little early for such discussions — the teams are barely one-third of the way through their 2025-26 schedules — but it is surely a game that could be a big deal come March. That is not a reality Willard hides from, a departure from his predecessor at Villanova, who treated every game like the “Super Bowl” and didn’t talk to his players about bubbles and rankings and metrics.
“We talk about where we are, where we’re standing,” Willard said. “We talk about our NET numbers. I let them know everything.”
When Bryce Lindsay decided to make a layup rather than run the clock out in the waning seconds of Friday’s win, Willard said the guard told him afterward that he was trying to protect Villanova’s NET ranking.
What’s the benefit of keeping his players aware of it all?
“Because you’re going to go through some parts of the season where you struggle,” Willard said. “Everybody does. If the players understand where you are and what your numbers are and what opportunities you have, it’s much easier to get them out of that struggle because they’re sitting there saying, ‘OK we lost a couple games, it’s over.’
“Nope. I lost a game last year on the road and my NET went up. It’s all about your opportunities … and once you get to conference play, as long as you did what you had to do for the most part in the nonconference, you’ve just got to stay focused and keep guys focused.”
Villanova did what it had to do in the nonconference portion of its schedule. It is, as Willard said, time to focus on the 20-game Big East schedule. But taking his own advice will be harder Tuesday night than the other 19 contests.
Villanova’s season came to an end Saturday night in a 30-14 loss to unseeded Illinois State in the semifinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs at Villanova Stadium.
Emotions were high for the Wildcats who played their last collegiate snaps, but the 12-3 team could take solace in a bounceback season that saw it reach the FCS semifinals for the first time since 2010.
Villanova opened the season with a 1-2 record, including a blowout loss to Penn State and a 51-33 defeat to Monmouth in the Coastal Athletic Association opener. Then the Wildcats played every game like it was the last one, running off 11 wins in a row.
“Week 3, if anyone told us we’d be here now, I think they’re a little crazy,” graduate linebacker Shane Hartzell said. “But I’m super proud of how we responded week after week. Every game after Week 3 was pretty much a playoff game for us. We took that as it was, and I was really proud of the group that we had.”
Hartzell, who led the team with 101 total tackles and 9½ sacks, played his final collegiate game. The Perkasie native led the Wildcats in tackles in three of his five seasons with the program. In the postgame news conference, Hartzell said the end of his collegiate career had not fully set in, but earlier this season he said he could be interested if a professional football opportunity came his way.
“Super proud of this team and the season they were able to put together this year,” Villanova coach Mark Ferrante said. “When you get to a playoff situation, unless you go all the way, it’s bittersweet, because you’re going to end it in an ‘L.’ As I said all year, [this team] gave maximum effort all the time, showed a lot of resilience, and we just came up short.”
Villanova linebackers Omari Bursey (left) and Ayden Howard stuff Illinois State running back Victor Dawson during the first quarter Saturday.
Even though the college football landscape has changed with name, image, and likeness opportunities and the transfer portal, Villanova prides itself on a culture that retains players for four seasons, plus graduate years in a lot of instances.
“It was a great season, the ups and downs, but I’m super proud of these guys,” said running back Isaiah Ragland, a redshirt sophomore. “This year was very player-run, so it was very easy to mesh with the guys. And Pat McQuaide was a great leader. He came in last January and he was super hype. [We were] like, ‘Who’s this guy?’ But as time went on, we adapted to him, and we took him in. … We spent a lot of time outside of football, hanging out with each other. And I think that really helped with our successes.”
McQuaide transferred in as a graduate student from Nicholls State last winter. He threw 25 of his 51 career touchdown passes at Villanova. In his final game, he passed for 199 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
“Pat, honestly, just as an offense as a whole, we had complete trust in him,” Ragland said. “If he made a mistake, we knew he was going to go out there and make a play.”
Ferrante is looking forward to speaking with all seniors and players with eligibility remaining in the coming days and weeks.
“I told them I want to talk to each one of the guys who are exhausting their eligibility here within our program,” Ferrante said. “[We will] let them check it into the training room and then have a team meeting [Sunday], and then I’ll pull those guys aside, we’ll have a great conversation.”
Ferrante was able to retain running back David Avit last offseason after he entered the transfer portal. Avit received offers from Stanford, South Florida, and others before deciding to return to the Main Line.
Wildcats wide receiver Braden Reed runs with the ball against Illinois State.
With the season now concluded, Ferrante and the Wildcats are planning on enjoying the holiday season. Then it will be back to business, with the coaching staff hitting the road for recruiting visits.
“Right now, it’s bitter,” Ferrante said. “As we get further and further away from where we are right now, into the next semester, and we go on a road recruiting, there’ll be a lot of people giving us a lot of compliments on the season we had. So it’ll get a little sweeter later.
“There’s a lot of tears, as you would imagine, especially the older guys whose careers are ending, but they have a lot to be proud of. But right now, I told them, enjoy the holidays with your families, and we’ll move forward, the sun will come up tomorrow, and we’ll be in great shape.”
Tyler Perkins has a different point of view than the rest of his Villanova teammates.
The junior guard is one of three returning players on the Wildcats roster, and the lone returnee who played last season. Perkins has been a steady presence as the program went through a coaching transition and a total reboot entering the 2025-26 campaign.
But adapting to a new system isn’t the biggest challenge for Perkins — he’s done it every season of his college career. He played for Penn as a freshman, then transferred to Villanova ahead of the 2024-25 season. While most of his former teammates moved on after Kyle Neptune’s firing in March, Perkins elected to stay on the Main Line as Kevin Willard took the helm.
Perkins is focused on being a leader for Villanova (9-2), in addition to fulfilling Willard’s high expectations of his backcourt. Promoted to the starting five this season, Perkins is averaging 10.6 points and 4.3 rebounds through 11 games.
“When you’re a college basketball player, you don’t really want to have three new coaches in three years,” Perkins said. “But it’s something you can’t control and have to learn from. Willard has definitely helped me understand that even on your good days and bad days, if you’re one of the leaders, you always have to keep a positive attitude. Even my teammates are holding me accountable.”
The only returner
The process of building camaraderie among the new Villanova squad inevitably was difficult when summer training began. The Main Line was unfamiliar to most of the team, apart from Perkins, redshirt freshman forward Matt Hodge, and walk-on senior guard Wade Chiddick. But over the summer, Perkins made a jump in his own game as he got to know his new teammates and coaching staff.
“When you have 13 new guys, it’s hard and it takes a while, but ever since the summer, we’ve clicked, and it’s been fun,” he said.
Perkins was a consistent contributor early in the season, scoring eight points in each of the first four games. Against Old Dominion on Nov. 25, he scored 21 points — his most in a Villanova uniform — with seven rebounds at the Finneran Pavilion.
Tyler Perkins scored a career-high 21 points against Old Dominion on Nov. 25.
It was Perkins’ third year playing in the Big 5 Classic. But it was the first time that most of his Villanova teammates — and coaches — had competed in the annual tripleheader among the six Philadelphia teams.
Perkins took it upon himself to emphasize the significance of the Big 5 rivalry to his teammates ahead of the event. Against Penn, he recorded six points and three rebounds as the Wildcats demolished the Quakers, 90-63, for their first Big 5 title in the revamped format.
“[The Big 5] is all about pride, to be honest,” Perkins said. “When I was at Penn and we had Villanova on our schedule, it was like our Super Bowl. It was a game where we could show everybody who we are. Being on the other side of that now, I was just trying to tell the guys that these games mean a lot to the Big 5 schools. So being able to finally win it and bring it back to the Main Line is definitely special.”
‘It’s bigger than you’
Upon arriving at Villanova, Willard noticed Perkins’ potential to fill his starting lineup as a versatile guard. In their first conversations, Perkins was eager to buy into Willard’s vision for the program.
“I thought my playing style and [Willard’s] coaching style meshed, both offensively and defensively,” Perkins said. “He likes his guards to get deflections and get steals. And I feel like that’s something that I’m naturally good at, and just my ability to rebound and play hard. So after talking with him and seeing how those things aligned, I was happy with the decision [to stay at Villanova].”
In Villanova’s win over Wisconsin on Friday night, Perkins was confident with the ball in his hands. He shot 6-for-17 from the field, including 4-for-10 from three, and scored a team-high 19 points in the 76-66 overtime victory.
Villanova guard Tyler Perkins shoots a three-pointer against Wisconsin on Friday.
“I like the fact that Perk’s looking to shoot the basketball. … He does all the little things that most people don’t see,” Willard said postgame in Wisconsin. “But when he’s aggressive out there, it gives us another scorer.”
When grappling with uncertainty after last season, Perkins turned to some of the former teammates he looked up to as role models, including 2025 graduates Eric Dixon and Jordan Longino. Both played their full careers at Villanova and helped shape Perkins’ understanding of the school’s basketball tradition and how to represent it.
Now, Perkins sees himself as a leader by example as the Wildcats get ready to open Big East play at Seton Hall on Tuesday (7 p.m., NBCSP, Peacock). Villanova enters the most crucial part of the season, and Perkins hopes to put the program back in the national spotlight.
“When you walk into the Finn and see [murals of] Jalen Brunson, Collin Gillespie, and all those other greats, they built this place,” Perkins said. “Villanova is Villanova because of them. Now, it’s just our turn to keep it going and play for those guys. That’s the main thing I’ve learned, is that it’s bigger than you.”
No. 12 Villanova was out-played at home on Saturday night by unseeded Illinois State, resulting in a 30-14 loss in the FCS semifinals.
Villanova’s loss ended its 23-game home win streak, which was the longest active streak in college football. The Wildcats found the end zone once in the game’s final minutes and managed to knock in two field goals while in the red zone. Illinois State totaled 426 yards of total offense, in comparison to Villanova’s 300.
Illinois State (12-4) won the first down battle, 30-14. It tied a season-low for Villanova (12-3) on first downs in FCS play. The Wildcats’ semifinal appearance marked their first since 2009, when Villanova won its first and only FCS championship.
For Illinois State, Saturday’s 16-point margin win marked the largest semifinal victory by a road team in the last 30 seasons. The Redbirds are also the first team in FCS history to win four consecutive road wins in the postseason. They will face Montana State in the championship on Jan. 5 at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn.
Illinois State celebrates after defeating the Villanova, 30-14, in the FCS semifinal at Villanova Stadium on Saturday.
Passing game struggled
While Villanova’s passing attack guided the offense through its three playoff wins, the Wildcats were held to just 68 yards in the first half.
Graduate quarterback Pat McQuaide threw for 199 yards on 13-for-30 pass attempts. On the opening drive, he threw an interception in the end zone while attempting to extend a play. Illinois State scored off the turnover.
THE UNSEEDED REDBIRDS ARE HEADING TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER THE LARGEST SEMIFINAL WIN BY A ROAD TEAM IN THE LAST 30 SEASONS 🤯@RedbirdFB defeats (12) Villanova, 30-14, to advance to the National Championship of the 2025 @NCAA DI FCS Football Playoffs ‼️ #FCSPlayoffspic.twitter.com/lsYSFKFyZo
It wasn’t till the end of the fourth quarter when McQuaide connected with his primary target, graduate receiver Luke Colella, one time for six yards.
“Pat looked like he was a little off today with some of the throws,” Ferrante said. “[Illinois State] blitzed more than, I don’t want to say more than we anticipated, because we kind of had a feeling that they we’re going to. They play fundamentally sound football.”
Penalties prove to be costly
After giving up nine penalties against Tarleton State last weekend, Villanova was called for six on Saturday and gave Illinois State a crucial 46 yards.
Three of Villanova’s penalties came from the same Illinois State scoring drive in the second quarter. Villanova got a stop on 3rd and 11, but an offsides call gave Illinois State five yards and a first down to keep the drive alive.
Then a Villanova pass interference and facemask added on, giving Illinois State 35 yards on the drive. The Redbirds capitalized on the free yardage with a 2–yard rushing touchdown by Victor Dawson. The scoring drive stretched Illinois State’s lead to 21-6.
In the second half, Villanova picked up its second pass interference penalty, but held Illinois State to a field goal.
“We gave them a little extra yardage on some penalties, which keeps those drives alive,” Ferrante said. “I say pretty much each and every week, we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties. We had too many of those that either slow drives down for us on the false start or extended drives for them, on the roughing the kicker, and those types of things.”
Villanova head coach Mark Ferrante watches the action during the third quarter of his team’s 30-14 loss to Illinois State on Saturday.
Battle of third downs
Both teams had opposite outcomes on third downs.
Villanova completed a season-low one of 10 third downs. It was the lowest since the Albany game on Oct. 25, when Villanova converted two of 12 third downs.
The inability to convert third downs forced Villanova to punt and settle for two field goals.
For Illinois State, it converted 11 of 20 third downs. Some were converted with the help of Villanova’s defensive penalties.
“I think it was a combination of multiple things,” said senior linebacker Shane Hartzell. “One, I think we weren’t able to get enough pressure on the quarterback, and then that made the [defensive backs] have to stay in coverage longer.”
Up next
With its season over, Villanova will prepare to move from the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) to the Patriot League next season.
With a 72-55 win over Seton Hall in its conference home opener, Villanova’s winning streak reached seven on Friday night.
The Wildcats (9-2, 2-0 Big East) made an early statement at Finneran Pavilion against one of their prime conference rivals. Seton Hall (7-4, 1-1 Big East) was third in the conference preseason poll, while Villanova was ranked fourth.
Sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe led the way with 20 points and seven rebounds. Senior guard Ryanne Allen added 19 points.
Villanova guard Jasmine Bascoe (11) prepares to shoot a three-point basket against Seton Hall on Friday.
The Pirates were paced by sophomore guard Jada Eads, who scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds.
It wasn’t one of Villanova’s strongest shooting nights. The Wildcats went 30-for-68 (44.1%) from the field, including 12-of-34 on three-pointers. But they thrived on defense to claim a double-digit victory over their Big East foe.
Villanova’s success in the turnover battle was key, as they scored 18 points off 15 Seton Hall turnovers. Meanwhile, the Pirates managed four points from Villanova’s 12 turnovers.
Shaking off the rust
It took some time for the Wildcats to find their rhythm after a nearly two-week hiatus from competition. Villanova last played on Dec. 7, when it beat St. Joseph’s to claim the Big 5 Classic championship.
The Wildcats shot just 5-for-18 from the field in the opening 10 minutes.
However, Villanova leaned on its steady defense, notching six steals in the first quarter and holding Seton Hall to 5-for-14 shooting from the field.
As Villanova trailed, 11-7, with 49 seconds left in the first quarter, Bascoe stole the ball and drove in a layup. Freshman forward Brooke Bender then sank a three-pointer to give the Wildcats a one-point edge heading into the break.
Allen heats up
Allen fueled the scoring in second quarter, making all five of her three-pointers.
The Wildcats continued to control possession as 12 of their 23 points came off turnovers.
With 1 minute, 23 seconds remaining in the first half, junior forward Brynn McCurry grabbed a steal and passed it to Bender. She then assisted Allen’s fourth three-pointer to secure a 35-25 halftime lead.
Using offensive depth
Villanova pulled away from Seton Hall in the third quarter. A three-pointer from Bender gave the Wildcats a 21-point advantage in the period’s final seconds.
The Wildcats shot just 3-for-14 on three-pointers in the final 20 minutes, but Bascoe and McCurry were effective in distributing the ball.
Villanova finished with 20 assists, and McCurry dished out a team-high eight.
Meanwhile, Villanova limited Seton Hall’s movement, holding the Pirates to just six assists.
Up next
Villanova will host St. John’s (11-2, 1-1 Big East) on Monday (noon, ESPN+).
MILWAUKEE — Duke Brennan came up to the top of the key and set a screen for Devin Askew, rolled to the paint, and rose for a two-handed dunk to put Villanova up eight in overtime, sending Wisconsin fans to the exits.
The inside of Fiserv Forum on Friday night felt more like a Wisconsin home game than a neutral-site nonconference matchup. It was a tale of two halves for Villanova, but when the clock hit zero, the Wildcats picked up a resumé-boosting 76-66 overtime win against the pesky Badgers, who had beaten Big East foes Providence and Marquette.
The win moved Villanova (9-2) into the 29th spot of KenPom’s rankings and sends the Wildcats into the Big East slate on a high note.
“I thought they did a really good job of extending their halfcourt defense on us, which kind of surprised us a little bit,” Villanova coach Kevin Willard said postgame. “We had opportunities in the second half to win the game. And when you have two freshmen and a sophomore out there, sometimes you have to live through those mistakes.”
Live by the three, die by the three
The Wildcats got off to a hot start from the three-point line, hitting 8 of 19 attempts in the first half, led by Tyler Perkins’ barrage. He came into the game making 40.5% of his three-pointers, and his third three-pointer of the half from the top of the key pushed Villanova’s lead to 13 before the break.
Perkins paced the Wildcats with 19 points and earned praise from his coach afterward.
“I like the fact that Perk’s looking to shoot the basketball,” Willard said. “He’s shooting a high percentage. He does all the little things that most people don’t see. But when he’s aggressive out there, it gives us another scorer.”
Villanova guard Tyler Perkins prepares to shoot a three-pointer against Wisconsin on Friday.
But the second half was a different story. The three-point shots weren’t falling (1-for-10 in the second half), and the pressure Wisconsin (7-4) put on Villanova’s ballhandlers, like freshman Acaden Lewis and transfer guard Bryce Lindsay, left little room to operate.
A lead that had ballooned to 15 early in the second half was slowly whittled to three with less than seven minutes remaining in regulation. After a Brennan layup with 6 minutes, 16 seconds left, the Wildcats did not score a field goal for nearly five minutes. Villanova was outscored, 34-21, in the second half and shot just 8-for-29 from the field.
“We knew they [were] going to go on that run,” Lindsay said. “They got everybody in the crowd [into it], their fans. We just had to stay [together] as a team and play together.”
Wisconsin tied the game with 31 seconds left, and Lewis’ contested stepback jumper fell short right before the buzzer to send the game to the extra frame.
But in overtime, it was Lindsay, who shot 1-for-9 from the field through the first 40 minutes, who ignited the Wildcats. He opened the scoring with a curling three from the top of the key after a Brennan screen freed him. A dribble handoff with Villanova’s big man got Lindsay loose again two minutes later, pushing the Wildcats up seven with 2:59 left in overtime.
“I see one fall, the hoop gets a little bigger for me,” said Lindsay, who finished with 12 points.
Brennan’s battle on the boards
Brennan was tested by the size of Wisconsin big men Nolan Winter (7-foot) and Aleksas Bieliauskas (6-10). The 6-10 Brennan, who entered the night averaging 11.6 rebounds, second-most in college basketball, pulled down seven of his 11 rebounds in the first half and outrebounded Winter and Bieliauskas combined.
He also found soft spots in the middle of Wisconsin’s defense on pick-and-roll action. Lindsay found him in the lane for an and-one layup to open the second half, and Lewis found him on a similar action to end a scoring drought later in the half.
Villanova’s Duke Brennan dunks the ball during overtime of a 76-66 win over Wisconsin.
He played a team-high 39 minutes finished with his fourth double-double of the season.
Turning up the heat defensively
It was a shame that Lewis got into foul trouble in the first half because he was a big reason Wisconsin turned the ball over.
His full-court pressure, along with Lindsay and Askew, made the Badgers uncomfortable in the first 20 minutes, which was part of Villanova’s game plan. The Wildcats scored 15 points off 16 Wisconsin turnovers, eight of which came in the first half.
“That’s a Wisconsin team that can put up a lot of numbers,” Willard said, “and to have them struggle and turn them over like that, to me, was huge.
“If you let them just run their offense, they will pick you apart. And really early in the game, we wanted to get them uncomfortable.”
Free basketball at Fiserv Foum. Villanova and Wisconsin tied at 56 heading into extra period.
Friday was another learning experience for Lewis, who had opportunities to close out the game for Villanova. He missed the front end of a one-and-one with the Wildcats up three with 59 seconds left, committed a foul on the other end to give Wisconsin two free throws, then missed the potential game-winning shot and didn’t play most of the overtime period.
However, he didn’t turn the ball over and finished with seven points and two assists on 3-for-9 shooting.
Villanova freshman Acaden Lewis attempts a shot over Wisconsin’s Nick Boyd on Friday at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
“I thought he played great,” Willard said. “This is a great learning experience for him of what to do at the end of the game. But he had two huge steals in the end of the second half. And he’ll make his free throws next time, and he’ll make a better play at the end of the game.
“That’s why you got to put him in those situations, and he’ll learn from it. He’s done it every game.”
Added Perkins: “He’s so mature. … He got in foul trouble early. And a lot of freshmen would dig in their head, not be ready, not stay in the game. But he had some great stops at the end of the game.”
Before the game, Villanova announced that freshman guard Chris Jeffrey underwent right knee surgery and is out indefinitely. Jeffrey, a Brooklyn native, had a knee injury before he arrived on campus that “recently flared up,” the program said.
In nine games this season, Jeffery was averaging 4.2 points across 10.6 minutes. The team also announced that walk-on Wade Chiddick also had right knee surgery and has no timetable to return.
Up next
Villanova will open conference play at Seton Hall on Tuesday (7 p.m., Peacock). The Wildcats hope to ride the momentum they gained through their tough stretch of nonconference play.
“The schedule we inherited, didn’t give us a whole ton of games in November to test ourselves,” Willard said. “And I think going through Michigan, [Pittsburgh], now Wisconsin, and now we got a really good Seton Hall team on Tuesday, now we’re testing ourselves, and I like the way these guys are going.”
