Cold-shooting Villanova struggles past Delaware State

Jordan Longino’s three-point attempt late in the first half was pretty indicative of how things were going Monday night inside Finneran Pavilion for Villanova.

The clock was winding down on the first 20 minutes, and Longino, a sophomore forward, was wide open. The ball barely grazed the rim, if it hit it at all.

Villanova, out of the Associated Press top 25 this week for the first time since February 2019, missed its first 17 three-point shots and struggled all night with visiting Delaware State, a team that entered Monday having not earned a Division I win since March 2021.

The shots eventually started falling, but the result was an ugly 60-50 win that, on the heels of a Friday night loss to Temple, leaves the Wildcats with more questions than answers as they navigate the first part of a new season under new coach Kyle Neptune.

Villanova’s Eric Dixon led all scorers with 17 points while adding seven rebounds. He was 7-for-12 from the field. Brandon Slater joined him in double figures with 15 points (12-for-12 from the free throw line).

Khyrie Staten led a balanced Delaware State scoring attack with 10 points.

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Villanova, favored by more than 35 points, trailed the entire first half.

While Delaware State (1-2) found success around the basket and on midrange jumpers, the Wildcats simply couldn’t put the ball in the basket.

The Wildcats missed all 16 of their shots from three-point range in the first half. It wasn’t like Friday night, when Temple’s perimeter defense caused chaos. A sizable chunk of those 16 attempts were open looks, and came from six Wildcats shooters. Longino and Mark Armstrong missed four apiece.

If not for Dixon’s dominance inside and Villanova going 12-for-13 from the free-throw line, the 27-24 halftime score might have been uglier. Eight Delaware State players made first-half baskets. Villanova had only two players — Dixon and Longino — make a basket in the first 20 minutes.

“This is basketball. That happens,” Neptune said. “I think all but maybe one or two shots were great shots, we just missed them. If we can take those same shots every game, we would take those shots. Sometimes they just don’t go in.

“The important piece is that I think our defense held and we were able to force them into some tough shots and hold them down while we weren’t making shots.”

The streak of misses from beyond the arc stopped at 17 when Slater drilled a corner triple to cut the Del State lead to 29-28 three minutes into the second half and woke up a sleepy home crowd.

“I’m with these guys every single day,” Dixon said. “They get up hundreds and hundreds of shots. I don’t think they ever had any wavering confidence.”

Villanova (2-1) got a big boost from its freshman guards, Armstrong and Brendan Hausen. Armstrong’s drive to the rim and finish gave the Wildcats their first lead, 35-34. He later scored seven straight for Villanova, including a three-pointer from the wing and a pull-up jumper from the foul line on consecutive possessions to put Villanova up four.

Hausen made his shooting presence felt. After not playing in the first half, Hausen scored seven critical points in the middle minutes of the second half. Those minutes included two key three-pointers. The freshman even drew some quiet jeers when he was removed from the game at one point with fewer than six minutes remaining, and then loud cheers when he came back with 4 minutes, 12 seconds to go.

“I was proud of the way he played,” Neptune said of Hausen. “He didn’t get into the last game and, to his credit, a lot of guys would sulk or blame other guys, or feel sorry for themselves. He was just ready to play, so hats off to him.”

Even with everything starting to go Villanova’s way, Delaware State stayed in it. Villanova’s largest run with the game in the balance was 7-0, though that did come at a critical time.

It wasn’t until Dixon’s corner three with 2:20 to go that Villanova could feel comfortable, up 58-48.

Villanova finished with five makes on 27 attempts from three-point range.

How’s this for an upcoming stretch of games for a Villanova team still finding its way?

The Wildcats travel to East Lansing for a game with Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans Friday (8 p.m., FS1). Michigan State had the most votes of any team not in this week’s AP top 25. Call the Spartans No. 26 (and Villanova No. 28).

Then, next week, Villanova spends the Thanksgiving weekend in Portland at the PK Invitational. The Wildcats start that tournament on Thanksgiving Day with a 3:30 p.m. game vs. Iowa State (ESPN2). A win would likely mean a Nov. 25 showdown with current No. 1 North Carolina.

Other teams at the PK Invitational include No. 18 Alabama; No. 25 UConn; Michigan State; Oregon; and Portland.