It’s a battle of teams from the Big East on the hardwood as they collide in the Windy City. The Villanova Wildcats are on the road as they make the trip to take on the DePaul Blue Demons Tuesday night. Villanova was knocked off 88-80 at home by #18 Xavier Saturday in their previous game, losing outright as a two-point favorite. DePaul fell 78-70 on the road at Butler in their most recent game Wednesday night though they pushed against the spread as an eight-point underdog. In the all-time series between the two schools, Villanova owns a commanding 32-7 advantage and have won the last 22 meetings. That includes a 67-43 home win in the most recent matchup on January 25, 2022.
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Villanova was knocked off at home by #18 Xavier Saturday in their previous game, suffering their third loss in the last four games in the process. The Wildcats enter this game 8-8 overall on the year and stand 2-3 in the Big East, leaving them sixth in the conference standings. Against Xavier, Villanova trailed by nine early in the first half but cut the margin to four points at intermission. The Wildcats tied the game at 44 with 15:39 to play before giving up an 11-3 run that left them down 55-47 with 12:33 remaining. Villanova was unable to get closer than four the rest of the way. The Wildcats shot 43.2% from the field, including seven of 32 from three-point range, while allowing Xavier to hit 54.4% from the floor. Cam Whitmore led Villanova with 26 points in the loss.
The Wildcats are an average offensive unit as they are averaging 71.5 points per game so far this season, putting them 186th in the nation in scoring offense. Villanova is collecting an average of 32.3 rebounds a game while dishing out 11.6 assists per contest on the year. The Wildcats are a slightly above average team on the defensive end of the floor, holding opposing teams to 68.2 points a contest, leaving them 164th in the nation in scoring defense so far this season. Caleb Daniels is one of four players averaging in double figures for Villanova and leads the team with 16.7 points plus five rebounds per contest this season. Eric Dixon (15.8 points, 6.3 rebounds), Cam Whitmore (12.9 points, 5.7 boards) and Brandon Slater (11.4 points, 5.4 rebounds) are solid secondary scoring options. Jordan Longino, Mark Armstrong, Chris Arcidiacono, Brandon Hausen, Angelo Brizzi and Trey Patterson are key contributors for coach Kyle Neptune in his rotation. Villanova is shooting 43.6% from the field as a team on the year. The Wildcats are knocking down 9.1 triples a night while shooting 33.3% from b eyond the arc. Villanova is an excellent team at the charity stripe as they convert a sparkling 85.7% of their attempts on the season, which is #1 in the nation.