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VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova (8-10 overall, 2-5 BIG EAST) returns to campus for a matinee on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day when it meets Georgetown at Finneran Pavilion at noon Monday. This is the second meeting between the teams in 12 days. Villanova downed the Hoyas 73-57 at Capital One Arena on Jan. 4.
Monday’s game will air nationally on the Fox network with Tim Brando and Donny Marshall courtside to describe the action. The Villanova Sports Network will offer the radio broadcast on the IHeart app as well as Sirius XM channel 381 and channel 971 on the SXM app. Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will be on the call.
This is the first time Villanova has hosted a contest on this national holiday since the 2016-17 season. In that instance, the No. 1 ranked Wildcats knocked off Seton Hall 76-46 at the original Pavilion in an evening battle.
The Wildcats, meanwhile, hope to bounce back after a rough trip to the midwest, where it drop contests to DePaul (75-65) and Butler (79-71) in the final minutes. Villanova continues to rely on eight scholarship athletes without sophomore guard Jordan Longino (stained hamstring), who hasn’t played since suffering the injury in the game at Georgetown. Additionally, classmate Nnanna Njoku missed the Butler game due to a non-COVID illness.
Villanova took Saturday off before getting back on the court at Finneran Pavilion Sunday morning.
“It was definitely good to get away for a day, to let the guys’ bodies recover,” stated Wildcats head coach Kyle Neptune. “To get away for a bit it’s sometimes a good thing. I thought we had a good practice. The guys were locked into what we want to do. Now, we just have to execute for a full 40 minutes.”
Added graduate student Caleb Daniels: “It was good for us to take a step away from what’s been going on.”
Neptune was asked if the series of near misses has had an impact on his squad.
“It’s pretty frustrating,” Neptune said. “We’ve been in every game and had our moments and chances at the end of games. That can be a frustrating thing because you know one or two bounces, one or two decisions may have cost you the game.
“This is the Big East. It’s very unforgiving. Every team is going to try to play their best every night. There’s never going to be any let down of effort with any team. We know we have to give our best effort every night.”
Daniels agreed with his head coach.
“We’re trying to do what we do and stick to the details so that we can become better and better,” said the native of New Orleans. “But right now, we’re just not seeing the results. I think we have to stay committed to what we do and keep on grinding.”