Villanova ‘a work in progress’ at 1-1, Kevin Willard says

On paper, a 20-point win looks appealing. However, for Villanova coach Kevin Willard, “really nothing” has impressed him so far, and the team is still “a work in progress.”

In its home opener, Villanova conquered Queens University of Charlotte, N.C., 94-74, Saturday at the Finneran Pavilion. It was Willard’s first victory at Villanova and his 336th career win, tying him with his father, Ralph Willard, the former Pitt and Holy Cross coach.

With the help of senior forward Duke Brennan, Villanova (1-1) outrebounded Queens, 42-20. Brennan posted a career-high 20 rebounds alongside 17 points. Freshman guard Acaden Lewis rebounded from his five-point collegiate debut with 21 points, four rebounds, and four assists. He played 34 minutes, which was second only to Bryce Lindsay’s 37.

Here is what we learned from Villanova’s home opener:

While Willard was not impressed with much, he did point out how hard the team played.

Villanova did have some defensive lapses, however, and allowed Queens to shoot 57% from the field. But the Wildcats dove for loose balls. Senior Tafara Gapare knocked over a few courtside seats on his way to save a ball from going out of bounds.

Queens (1-2) had only three rebounds in the game’s final 10 minutes as Brennan finished the game with 11 offensive boards. The rebounds came in handy because Villanova made only 4 of 19 three-pointers (21%).

Villanova was the sixth-best three-point shooting team in the country last season (39%), but now the Wildcats are 258th at 25.9% after two games.

The Wildcats were missing freshman guard Chris Jeffrey (ankle), junior Zion Stanford (ankle), and redshirt sophomore Malcolm Flaggs (Achilles).

» READ MORE: What we learned from Villanova’s near upset of No. 8 BYU in Las Vegas

“I think not having Chris Jeffrey and Zion hurt us today,” Willard said. “When teams go small, these guys end up playing a whole lot of minutes on teams that are small. It’s tough to put Duke out there trying to guard a guy that’s a pick-and-pop three-point shooter. I thought [Queens] did a really good job of just cutting, moving, and keeping us spaced.”

Lindsay was the conference Sixth Man of the Year last season at James Madison after leading the Sun Belt in three-point percentage (41%). The redshirt sophomore totaled 25 points against Queens, shooting 7-for-16 from the field and 10-for–11 on free throws.

Lindsay has positioned himself to retain a starting role even after the Wildcats recover from a slew of injuries. He is averaging a team-high 23.5 points, making 42.9% of his three-point shots.

Willard has said that when Villanova is fully healthy, 11 Wildcats could wind up playing. Four minutes into the game, he pulled redshirt freshman Matt Hodge and Lindsay. He replaced them with Gapare and Devin Askew, creating a more traditional lineup compared to the small-ball lineup that began the game.

Askew is still recovering from a right knee sprain he suffered over the summer but has looked comfortable coming off the bench.

“We’ve got 10-11 guys that can play,” Willard said before the game. ”I’m excited about the fact that we can go deep. We can play differently. Now that we’re getting healthy, we’re actually able to practice different lineups, which is good. That was one of our issues we had the other night [against BYU]. ... So now that we’re getting healthy, we’re going to look forward to using those lineups.”

The game against Queens was the first of three in the Villanova Challenge, a four-team event that also includes Sacred Heart and Duquesne. Villanova will host Sacred Heart (1-1) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).

“[We are] an unselfish team,” Willard said. “Which I love. They have a great attitude. They’re unselfish. But man, we’re a work in progress.”