NEW YORK – With just over five minutes left in regulation, Kayvaun Mulready drilled two consecutive corner three-pointers to stretch Georgetown’s run to 16-4 and give them a 67-53 lead over Villanova in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.
The sequence seemingly took away any hope of a Villanova comeback. Villanova (24-8, 15-5 Big East) went on to fall to Georgetown (16-17, 6-14), 78-64, ending its run in the Big East Tournament without a win.
Villanova, which currently sits as a seven seed in the NCAA Tournament according to ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, had the opportunity to use the Big East Tournament to earn a higher seed.
Nothing was working for Villanova against the statistically worst team in the Big East. Georgetown outrebounded Villanova, 46-25. Villanova’s lack of size after the loss of forward Matt Hodge for the season, as well as Zion Stanford, was clear.
“[Georgetown] has big dudes,” Villanova forward Duke Brennan said. “All those boards were trying to crash, but they just got dudes who can jump and are taller than us. So, we lost the battle tonight, and it showed.”
Brennan finished with his third-worst rebound performance of the season with six.
Freshman guard Acaden Lewis took accountability for his lack of rebounding, which he believed affected the team.
“I think it’s something we’ve got to adjust to really quickly,” Lewis said. “I hadn’t rebounded today, and I think that hurt us. There were a couple of times where I got back cut, and some of those, he gets the rebound, gets a hand on the ball, or my man is just in the play.
“And I think that’s something that all of us guards have got to do a lot better. We just got to go hit somebody, box out, and if we’re not getting a rebound, at least get the other man out to play. We just have to stop them. Otherwise, something like today happens.”
Villanova’s lack of size in the paint has been apparent across multiple games this season. In both regular season loses to St. John’s, Villanova was outsized and dominated physically.
Entering the NCAA Tournament, Villanova will need to find a way to play physical teams while using its small lineups.
Villanova head coach Kevin Willard is still trying to find out how to manage the loss of Hodge at the four. Malachi Palmer has stepped into Hodge’s role in the starting lineup. Villanova has managed while Palmer plays the four. However, Willard acknowledged the struggles Villanova has once junior guard Tyler Perkins takes Palmer’s place at the four.
“I think Malachi’s done a really good job stepping in for Matt,” Willard said. “Where we struggle is when Malachi comes out of the game. So that’s something that I have a couple days where I got to try to figure out what we’re doing when [Perkins] is at the four.”
The Wildcats are now looking forward to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2022, with only one win over a team with an at-large bid. Thursday night’s loss to Georgetown was the worst Villanova suffered this season. The loss will have implications for the team’s seeding in the NCAA Tournament.
Villanova’s offensive struggles seeped into its defense for one of the few times this season. At times, the team had a spurt of bad shot selections, while on the other end, it allowed Georgetown to score with ease.
“I thought a little bit of our offense late in the first half dictated a little bit of our defense,” Willard said. “That was probably the first time, all year, that our offense kind of shifted to our defense instead of the other way around.”
Villanova shot 23-for-61 (37.7%) from the field and 7-for-29 (24.1%) on three-pointers. Villanova’s 37.7% from the field was its worst performance since it shot 34% against Georgetown on Jan. 21.
Willard was not the only one who noticed that the poor offensive play affected the defense.
“Offensively, shots weren’t falling for us tonight,” Villanova guard Devin Askew said in a quiet Villanova locker room after the loss. “And that kind of dictated our defense, usually, we’re a great defensive team, no matter how [our offense is]. But thank God that we have one more game. We gotta learn from this one, because if it was the next one, we’d go home for sure, for the rest of the season.”
Every game Villanova plays from here on out could be its last one of the season.
Villanova now awaits its seed, opponent and first-round tournament site on Selection Sunday, March 15, at 6 p.m. (CBS).
“We’ll go back and watch film on Sunday,” Willard said. “They’re gonna get a couple days off, which I think is well deserved. We’ll come back Sunday and practice and watch film. After Selection Sunday, that’s a whole new season.”
