Backs against the wall, Villanova is making opponents play its style. Reason for hope?

Here’s how quickly things can change in college basketball.

Consider ...

Nearly two weeks ago, Villanova was blown away in the first half of an 85-80 home loss to Marquette. Coach Kyle Neptune was booed during the pregame introductions. The loss dropped Villanova to 4-6 in Big East play, put the Wildcats on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, and had a lot of people convinced that Neptune’s second season would end the way the first one did: with a trip to the NIT.

It still could, but the way Neptune’s team has responded over the last week should have Villanova fans at least clinging to a bit of hope.

Consider ...

The Wildcats dismantled Providence last Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center in a 68-50 victory that had Friars coach Kim English calling it the “the most embarrassing performance I’ve been a part of since I’ve been in basketball.” Then Villanova held a pretty high-scoring offense to just 56 points in a 56-53 road loss at Xavier. Yes, the Wildcats failed to get a shot off at the end of the game, an inexcusable finish to what was overall a pretty strong defensive effort from a Villanova team that can’t win unless it does that part of the game well. Then came Sunday, back at the NBA arena. Villanova never trailed in its 80-54 blowout victory over Seton Hall. The Wildcats made 14 three-pointers and forced 15 turnovers. The game was never in doubt in the second half. The student section chanted for walk-on Collin O’Toole before the final media timeout — the surest sign of a certified butt-kicking.

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There it was again, consecutive Sundays, the opposing coach wondering what the heck just hit him.

“We just got embarrassed,” Seton Hall’s Shaheen Holloway said. “They punched us in the face and we ran away.”

Backs against the wall, the Wildcats are fighting their way to the finish.

This isn’t a coronation or any announcement that Villanova is back. The Wildcats are still 13-11 overall and 6-7 in the Big East. There is a lot of work still to be done. But here’s what’s ahead: a road game at Georgetown on Friday and a home game vs. Butler next Tuesday. Carrying an 8-7 conference record into a road game at No. 1 Connecticut isn’t just in play, it’s what even the most cynical, Neptune-booing-I-miss-Jay-Wright-spoiled-brat version of Villanova fan should be expecting.

Expectations, those same fans know, don’t mean anything.

That’s why Sunday’s throttling was probably frustrating in some ways to some Villanova supporters. That team that beat No. 3 North Carolina and ran the table in the Bahamas? It’s still in there somewhere. Which means so, too, is the one that was swept by inferior Big 5 competition.

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A version of that question was posed to Neptune. Is it frustrating to be teetering around .500 knowing that this team is capable of playing this type of game?

“For us, none of that stuff really matters,” Neptune said. “This is where we are right now. We have a bunch of games left, there’s a lot of season left for us.”

True, there can be no changing the past, only the future, and everything always looks better when the shots are falling. But Villanova routinely got its best offensive players in positions to score. At times it felt like Seton Hall hadn’t scouted Brendan Hausen, who poured in five threes on eight attempts. Other teams have elected to double Eric Dixon, but Seton Hall allowed the Villanova big man to too often get in the spots he’s so dangerous in.

At the other end, Villanova took Seton Hall’s best player, Kadary Richmond, out of the game. Richmond, who routinely stuffs stat sheets, was held to 12 points on 4-for-10 shooting. It wasn’t that portion of the stat line Villanova was concerned with, it was the six turnovers against three assists that made all the difference. Villanova put two on the ball pretty much every time Richmond touched it, and it clogged passing lanes to limit his ability to create offense.

“We knew the scouting report,” Holloway said when asked how Hausen got loose so many times.

“I don’t think our focus was there.”

That is a Seton Hall problem, but also one created in part by Villanova.

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It has been a theme of late. For three consecutive games, with their season on the line, the Wildcats have made three fellow residents of the NCAA Tournament bubble play the way they want them to play. The loss Wednesday night in Cincinnati will sting, and could be worse come the third Sunday in March, but there are reasons for optimism.

After a five-game losing streak, what more could you ask for?