Villanova rolls, 81-68, over La Salle in debuts for Kyle Neptune and Fran Dunphy

The first look at the new era for Villanova men’s basketball shouldn’t have been surprising to too many people. It is, after all, supposed to look a lot like the old one. This was by design.

Head coach Kyle Neptune’s Wildcats looked a lot like Jay Wright’s Wildcats on Monday night. Bodies hit the floor on the defensive end. Shotmakers made jump shots when they were open. They faked when they weren’t … and then they were open. They made almost all of their free throws. Everything down to Neptune not having a designated chair for himself on the bench was a holdover from the Before Times.

So was the result, another Big 5 team on the receiving end of a Villanova beatdown.

The No. 16 Wildcats never trailed and rolled to an 81-68 victory at Finneran Pavilion in Fran Dunphy’s debut coaching the La Salle Explorers.

Caleb Daniels, sporting a face mask for Villanova after suffering a broken nose during a September practice, made his presence felt early and often. He led all scorers with 24 points on 8 of 11 shooting (6-for-7 from beyond the arc) while adding 10 rebounds. Eric Dixon picked up where he left off, scoring 20 points. Villanova also got 12 apiece from Brandon Slater and Jordan Longino.

La Salle was paced by Josh Nickelberry’s 22 points. Hassan Drame added 17.

With Justin Moore (Achilles) still out for Villanova and without a timetable, the offensive burden was always going to be on Daniels, Dixon and Slater out of the gate.

Villanova raced out to a 28-11 lead on a Daniels three-pointer, one of four triples he made in the first half.

The jump shooting was the story for most of the night. Villanova made 13 of its first 18 shots. La Salle started 3-for-16. Villanova led 37-23 at halftime largely on the backs of Daniels (14 points) and Dixon (11).

The Explorers did make things interesting for a bit late in the second half once shots started falling. A 16-7 run capped off by two Drame three-pointers cut the Villanova lead to 69-58. The deficit was never tighter.

Out of a media timeout following a La Salle offensive foul, Longino’s drive and dunk stopped the bleeding. Then Slater scored on a drive following two La Salle free throws to keep the lead at 13 with less than three minutes on the clock.

» READ MORE: ‘We’re getting him there’: Jordan Longino ready to make the sophomore leap for Villanova

“We always want to come out and set the tone… starting the game is really important to us,” Neptune said. “But we knew they were going to make runs. I think one thing we can do is have a good start and then keep going. I thought we had a couple little lulls throughout the game, but that’s to be expected. It’s early in the season.”

The Explorers, who went 11-19 last season, were picked to finish 14th in the 15-team Atlantic 10 conference. They looked very much like a team in transition, and one that won’t have very many good shooting nights. But Dunphy-coached teams won’t lay down, and La Salle didn’t.

“That’s what you want from your guys,” Dunphy said. “We talk about it every single day, the momentum of games ... I’m proud of their effort, but we have a lot of work to do.”

The newness around the Villanova program isn’t just with Neptune. There will be plenty of new faces in the Wildcats’ rotation, too.

Mark Armstrong was the first new face off the bench. The freshman from New Jersey had six points in 16 minutes, on two threes. He also had two assists.

Cam Whitmore, Villanova’s top recruit, didn’t make his debut. He remains out following thumb surgery, and Neptune said an update on his timeline will come in a week or two. The third freshman in the 2022 recruiting class, Brendan Hausen, didn’t score, but played eight minutes.

Redshirt freshman Angelo Brizzi was also in the rotation. He played 13 minutes and scored two points, making his only shot. His biggest mark on the game came with 1:57 on the clock, when he dove on the floor for a loose ball and called timeout.

“I think those guys all did a great job. It looked like they played confidently,” Neptune said. “I’ll go back and watch the film, but we felt confident with them out there. They all looked like they’ve been out there for a while.”

Monday was the first of two Big 5 contests to open the season for Villanova. The Wildcats play Temple at the Liacouras Center on Friday. The game is at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNU.

La Salle plays Temple’s first opponent, Wagner, Saturday at home. Game time is 3 p.m. on ESPN+.