The steady hands of Acaden Lewis guide Villanova past Temple and into the Big 5 title game

It took 2½ minutes for Acaden Lewis to, for all intents and purposes, end a Villanova-Temple game Monday night at Finneran Pavilion that mostly had been a sloppy rock fight for the first 25 minutes.

The Villanova freshman, in foul trouble for the bulk of the first half, hadn’t yet made his mark on a game that was sending the winner to the Big 5 Classic championship game.

In a flash, that changed. The Wildcats, in the third year of the current Big 5 Classic format, finally will play for a championship in a City Series the program had long dominated. They beat Temple, 74-56, largely because of Lewis’ steady hand and a short sequence that changed the game.

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First, Lewis got to the basket and finished a layup through contact. His three-point play cut a four-point Temple lead to one with 15 minutes remaining. Then he stripped Temple’s Gavin Griffiths and fed Devin Askew for a three-pointer.

After a Temple miss, Villanova’s Duke Brennan, the nation’s leading rebounder, grabbed one of his game-high eight rebounds and found Lewis, who got the ball up court quickly and into the hands of Tyler Perkins, who hit one of his game-high five three-pointers en route to his 19-point night.

Timeout Temple. Tide turned. Lewis got a hockey assist on the next Villanova possession, then grabbed the ensuing Temple miss, brought the ball up the court, and found Brennan rolling to the rim for two easy points. Villanova’s lead was only six with 12 minutes, 20 seconds to play, but Lewis was rolling, and it was only a matter of time before the game got out of Temple’s reach.

Lewis finished with 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting to go with eight assists, five rebounds, and two steals. He played 24 minutes, was a plus-25, and didn’t turn the ball over.

Monday’s stat line came on the heels of Lewis’ 20-point outburst in Villanova’s win over Old Dominion last week. He has averaged 6.4 assists over Villanova’s last five games.

Lewis, a top-35 recruit in the 2025 class, was benched in Villanova’s season-opening loss to nationally ranked Brigham Young. His decision-making and defense in his college debut weren’t good enough. But he has responded over the last four weeks with maturity and poise.

“He’s been playing at an extremely high level ever since the BYU game, and I think he just keeps getting a little bit more comfortable with guys out there and what he’s doing,” Villanova coach Kevin Willard said. “He’s been great.”

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Lewis said he’s feeling more comfortable. He sees it in his ability to take care of the ball and not turn it over. He had four turnovers apiece in victories over Sacred Heart and Duquesne, but followed those outings up with two turnovers vs. La Salle, one vs. Old Dominion, and zero Monday night vs. Temple. His defense has improved, too.

“Man, is he good,” Temple coach Adam Fisher said. “I got to watch him in high school and stuff. He’s just so smooth as a freshman, and I think you see Coach Willard’s teams through the years, his personnel gets better. So I think what you’re seeing from Lewis right now, and the Lewis come February and March is going to be even better.

“And right now, he’s pretty freakin’ good. All five guys got to guard him, his ability to pick you apart. He can guard, he’s got great length, and he disrupts the game.”

Even if he’s not realizing it in the moment.

“I honestly have no clue,” Lewis said when asked about the impact of the aforementioned sequence that changed the game. “I kind of got lost in the game.”

Villanova, with Lewis on the bench for the final 10 minutes of the first half, looked lost offensively at times. Temple’s trio of guards — Aiden Tobiason, Derrian Ford, and Jordan Mason — who combined for 41 of Temple’s 56 points, did a good job disrupting Villanova’s flow. But Villanova finally put together an extended stretch of good defensive play, an area that has been of concern to Willard lately.

Willard said he was happy at halftime despite Villanova leading by just one, 29-28. The Wildcats outscored the Owls, 45-28, in the second half. They outrebounded Temple (4-4), 43-24, overall.

Villanova had nine turnovers in the first 21 minutes of the game, but not another the rest of the way largely because of Lewis, who drained a three-pointer for good measure (or practice) after the final horn sounded.

The Wildcats are 6-1 and have KenPom’s No. 1 team, Michigan (7-0), which is ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press poll, on Tuesday. It will be a litmus test type of game for a team that currently has no real signature win on its resumé.

First up, though, is a date Saturday with Penn (5-3) in the championship of the Big 5 Classic.

“Where we’re trying to get this program back to, you got to learn how to win games that matter,” Willard said. “To play Penn for the Big 5 championship … learning how to win championships, especially in today’s world where you have 13 guys who are all brand-new, it’s a good opportunity for us to learn and see what it’s all about."

Fifth-place game: Drexel vs. La Salle, 2 p.m.

Third-place game: St. Joseph’s vs. Temple, 4:30 p.m.

Championship: Villanova vs. Penn, 7 p.m.