St. Joe’s men take down Villanova for the second straight season in Big 5 Classic matchup

St. Joseph’s and Villanova opened up the 2024 Big 5 Classic on Tuesday at Hagan Arena, and for the second year in a row, the Hawks came out on top with a 83-76 win over the Wildcats. It was their first home win against Villanova since 2011.

Both teams had something to prove entering the rivalry matchup after the Wildcats dropped a Nov. 6 game to Columbia, 90-80, and the Hawks lost, 73-67, to Central Connecticut two days later.

The Hawks (2-1) came out of the gate hot but couldn’t keep the momentum for long before the Wildcats (2-2) fought their way back to take the lead midway through the first half. A 10-0 run fueled by fifth-year guard Jhamir Brickus allowed Villanova to build a 29-21 lead, but the Hawks refused to go down — despite Erik Reynolds being held to only one shot attempt in the first half. A three-pointer from sophomore Xzayvier Brown — his only made field goal of the half — cut the Hawks’ deficit to 37-36 at the half.

“Erik’s gotten stronger, and emotionally, he understands how to stay in it, and he did a great job,” Hawks coach Billy Lange said. “But a lot of that’s just the credit to Villanova. They did an amazing job holding him off in the first half.”

Reynolds added: “Knowing that we can have a lot of threats on the floor at one time, and knowing that teams can’t just focus on one person or two people, the fact that they have to worry about everybody on the court at once because of our movement and our concepts, it’s amazing.”

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The second half was a reversal of roles. Reynolds, held scoreless in the first half, tied the game, 42-42, with a layup early in the second half. A 15-0 run allowed the Hawks to retake the lead, 53-42, with 13 minutes, 49 seconds left. St. Joe’s moved the ball quickly for open looks while matching Villanova’s first-half physicality on defense. The Wildcats, though, wouldn’t be put away that easily, and briefly took a one-point lead on a Wooga Poplar jumper with 6:38 remaining. But Rasheer Fleming’s emphatic dunk put the Hawks out of reach with 20 seconds left.

“I thought they got into us. I thought their pressure affected us,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “Defensively, they came after us. So, we have to shore that up. We have to get the ball moving a little bit more. You have to share the ball a little bit more.”

Villanova star Eric Dixon scored a game-high 24 points, followed by Brickus’ 22. Poplar (13) and Jordan Longino (12) also put up double figures for Villanova. Fleming paced the Hawks with 19 points. After getting hot in the second half, Brown finished with his first double-double of the season with 18 points and a career-high 13 of the Hawks’ 20 assists. Derek Simpson (16) and Anthony Finkley (12) also finished with double figures for St. Joe’s.

Villanova and St. Joe’s will return to the court Friday. The Wildcats face Virginia in Baltimore (5 p.m., TNT). St. Joe’s will continue Big 5 play as it heads to the Palestra to face Penn (8 p.m., ESPN+) for the second part of a men’s and women’s doubleheader. The women’s game is at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN+. Reynolds said the Hawks will be approaching that game with “the same attitude” they had against Villanova.

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“Go out, do what we do, and compete at a high level,” Reynolds said.