Devin Askew’s bench scoring powers Villanova to an 88-82 win over Providence

Villanova picked up its fourth consecutive Big East road win on Tuesday with an 88-82 win at Providence.

Villanova (14-3, 5-1 Big East) scored a conference-high 88 points to counter a strong offensive performance from Providence (8-9, 1-5), which entered the game averaging 89.1 points. Devin Askew led Villanova in scoring, totaling 20 points and seven assists off the bench.

“I thought we did a good job in the first half of slowing them down,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “We gave up a lot of twos, but once a game gets up and down, sometimes you’ve got to find ways to score. And I think against them, you’ve got to get up and down a little bit.”

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The Friars were the highest-ranked KenPom offense (36th) Villanova has faced since its 89-61 loss to Michigan on Dec. 9. Providence’s leading scorer Jason Edwards, who is scoring 17.2 points per game, missed Tuesday’s matchup.

Three Friars – Jaylin Sellers (24), Jamier Jones (23), and Stefan Vaaks (21 points) – combined for 68 of their 82 points.

“You’ve got to match [Providence’s] pace,” Willard said. “[Even] on the road where I don’t like to do that. They just get out and go so well. And they have so many guys that can hurt you that you’ve got to take advantage and go right back down.”

The Wildcats collected 14 offensive rebounds, a high through conference play, with Duke Brennan being responsible for five of them. Brennan totaled 14 points and eight total rebounds.

Villanova shot 32-for-64 from the field and 10-for-28 beyond the arc.

Tyler Perkins scored 15 points, shooting 6-for-12 from the field, along with eight rebounds.

He came up big in key moments for the Wildcats, especially in the second half. Perkins scored on a post-up in the paint while Providence was trying to cut into Villanova’s double-digit lead.

“That was huge because that kind of got us back up [by eight points],” Willard said when asked about Perkins. “I thought [that] was huge at that point.”

Perkins is averaging 14.4 points and 5.4 rebounds on 48% shooting over the last five conference games.

Outside of Askew, Villanova’s bench has been quiet offensively since conference play began. Askew scored eight points during a 10-0 scoring run early in the first half.

He has come off the bench in all of Villanova’s games this season besides the season-opener against Brigham Young.

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During conference play, Askew has developed into a veteran Willard can lean on in difficult moments. Askew is averaging 10.8 points over his last five games.

Malachi Palmer collected 10 points in the first half against Providence to tie his career-high, which he set at Maryland last year.

“My mindset is just come in and play as hard as possible and whatever happens, happens,” Palmer said.

Willard has consistently talked about the unselfishness of his team this season. Acaden Lewis has been the prime example of what Willard has harped on.

The four-time Big East Freshman of the Week dished out a team-high eight assists while only scoring seven points, marking his fourth consecutive and ninth overall game with six or more assists.

As a whole, Villanova had 21 assists, its second most this season. The Wildcats had 28 against Sacred Heart on Nov. 11.

Six of eight Villanova players who played collected at least one assist.

Villanova will host St. John’s (12-5, 5-1) in its first game at the Xfinity Mobile Arena this season on Saturday (8 p.m., Peacock). St. John’s entered the season ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll, but has since dropped out.

Villanova split the regular season series with St. John’s last year.