Villanova reclaimed its spot atop the Big 5, and ‘a big test’ awaits the Wildcats next

By the time his tenure ended at Villanova in March, there were a list of reasons why Kyle Neptune was no longer the head men’s basketball coach. Somewhere on that list had to be Villanova’s recent showings in the new Big 5 Classic.

The school that spends more money on its basketball program than the other five schools in the local association combined shouldn’t finish sixth of six and third of six in the first two revamped Big 5 Classic tournaments.

At the end of Saturday’s tripleheader at the Xfinity Mobile Arena, a banner lowered toward the court, and Villanova players and coaches held up t-shirts with the school’s “V” logo and the words “OUR CITY” written on them. Villanova might not be in the city, as some of its detractors in the Big 5 like to say, but the Wildcats were back in a familiar spot: Big 5 champions.

They beat Penn, 90-63, in the finale and won their three Big 5 games by an average margin of 20 points.

The latest was 27-27 with 5½ minutes left in the first half, but Villanova closed the remaining minutes of the first half with a 17-2 run. The Wildcats shot 15-for-31 from three-point range and forced 14 Penn turnovers.

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Duke Brennan was named the championship game’s most valuable player behind 15 points, 10 rebounds, three steals, two blocks, and two assists. Bryce Lindsay made five of his six three-point attempts and finished with 18 points to lead all scorers. Devin Askew added 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting in 19 minutes off the bench, and Matt Hodge tallied 12 points.

Penn (5-4) got 11 points apiece from T.J. Power, Michael Zanoni, and Cam Thrower. The Quakers’ leading scorer, Ethan Roberts, was held scoreless in 15 minutes before leaving the game with an injury.

“I think physically and athletically we were outmatched a little bit,” Power said afterward.

That wasn’t much of a surprise. The Wildcats entered the game as nearly a 20-point favorite and lived up to the expectations. But Penn stayed in the game early thanks to its proficiency from three-point range.

What changed?

“I told them the next guy that gives up a three is never playing again,” Villanova coach Kevin Willard said with a smile.

It’s been an intriguing start to the 2025 season for Villanova under Willard. The Wildcats had a showcase game in their opener with a new-look roster and lost by just five points to No. 9 BYU. Since then, they have beaten up on lesser competition. Villanova (7-1) has won its last seven games by an average margin of 19.7 points, but none of those opponents finished Saturday ranked inside the top 140 in KenPom metrics.

The good part, Willard said, is that Villanova has played at home and has gotten healthy. The only two games away from the Finneran Pavilion since the opener on Nov. 3 in Las Vegas have been a road game at La Salle and Saturday’s game in South Philadelphia. Being home and practicing and not dealing with a travel schedule means a team is able to get into a rhythm, Willard said.

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Plus, he’s at least had a few weeks to see what he’s looking at with a team that featured 13 new players, right?

“Yeah, I’m looking at Michigan,” Willard joked. “I don’t think anybody wants to look at Michigan right now to be perfectly honest with you.”

That’s what’s waiting for Villanova on Tuesday night in Ann Arbor. It will be a litmus test of sorts. A true question of how good are the Wildcats really? How ready are they for a team that could be No. 1 in the next Associated Press rankings come Monday afternoon? Michigan’s last four games have gone like this: 94-54 win over San Diego State; 102-72 win over No. 20 Auburn; 101-61 over No. 11 Gonzaga; and 101-60 over Rutgers in its Big Ten opener Saturday.

“We have a big test Tuesday because I think, by far, they’re playing the best basketball in the country,” Willard said. Prep for Tuesday, Willard said, was to begin late Saturday night.

Earlier in the week, after Villanova beat Temple, 74-56, Willard said he was looking forward to Saturday’s title game because it was a game with at least some stakes.

“Where we’re trying to get this program back to, you got to learn how to win games that matter,” he said. “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.”

Mission accomplished, and order restored. Prior to the new format, which started in the 2023-24 season, Villanova had won or had a share of eight of the previous nine Big 5 round-robin championships. The celebration wasn’t going to last long, however, because the tune-ups are over with for this Wildcats team that has its eyes on making the NCAA Tournament.

After Michigan, is Pittsburgh at home, and then comes a road game at Wisconsin before Big East play begins on Dec. 23.

Out with the Big 5, in with the bigger games.

Deuce Jones II hit a well-defended buzzer-beater to lift St. Joseph’s (5-3) to a 70-69 victory over Temple (4-5) in the third-place game. The Owls, who got 27 points from Derrian Ford, were down by nine early in the second half and then led by five with 1 minute, 27 seconds to play before the Hawks’ late-game heroics.

Jones finished with 17 points on just 6-for-14 shooting, but he hit the only shot that mattered in the end.

La Salle (4-6) earned fifth place after a 69-64 victory over Drexel (4-6) in the first of three games Saturday. The Explorers led 41-22 at halftime before Drexel got back into it. La Salle’s Josiah Harris led all scorers with 21 points and 13 rebounds.