Villanova has found ways to win and the ‘comfort’ in not needing it from its usual suspects

For all the talk about Villanova faltering out of the gate, playing the role of doormat to Big 5 teams this season and being devoid of its star forward to start the month of December, the Wildcats have a heck of a lot to offer by way of perspective.

Head coach Kyle Neptune can enjoy his holiday dinner a little bit more with the knowledge of having a nine-win team in mid-December, and one that still remains undefeated in the Big East following an 84-48 road victory of DePaul Saturday in which they controlled the tempo essentially the entire game.

Interesting stat: The Wildcats are now 8-1 when holding an opponent to below 70 points this season.

After a quick DePaul lead in the early moments, Villanova (9-4, 2-0 Big East) took over and brought a 46-28 lead into halftime. For the second game in a row, the Wildcats got a strong performance out of senior forward Eric Dixon, who finished with 12 points, but it was a game-high 20 points the Wildcats received from Maryland transfer Hakim Hart off the bench that was the driving force in the Wildcats third straight win in as many weeks.

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It was the most the Roman Catholic alum ever scored coming off the bench in his college career. He also had a pair of really good assists, taking favorable ball screens to repeatedly drive the lane and dish out to three-point specialist Brendan Hausen, waiting to pull up from the perimeter. Hausen finished with six points, both threes.

It harkened to something Dixon said after the Wildcats’ 68-66 win against No. 12 Creighton on Wednesday.

“It’s never pressure to score on this team,” Dixon said about Villanova’s ability to score points. “We have talented guys. It can be anyone’s night. It happened to be me [on Wednesday]. We all take comfort that we don’t have to score individually to be effective.”

Against DePaul (2-9, 0-1), the ‘Cats also found those points arrive by committee. Villanova shot 53.6% from the field — 54.5% from three, and found nine different players make it onto the box score, with 36 of its total points coming from the bench.

DePaul had three scorers finish with 11 points a piece to lead their charge in senior forward De’Sean Nelson, sophomore guard Jaden Henley, and graduate student guard Chico Carter Jr.

Entering the season, many expected that despite a talented roster comprised of really good offseason transfers, Villanova would still largely be guided on how well graduate guard Justin Moore performs.

Well, the Wildcats have been without Moore since he suffered a right knee sprain in a 72-71 overtime loss to Kansas State on Dec. 5, however, the team has rattled off wins against UCLA, Creighton, and now DePaul, with the Blue Demons arguably its complete win of the season from a statistical perspective.

The timetable for Moore remains to be seen, but with an 11-day break before its next game against Xavier at home on Jan. 3 (8:30 p.m., FS1), it’s likely a healthy Moore will return to the lineup in 2024.

After two games and two wins in four days, the Wildcats will resume play in the new year with a trio of home games starting with the Musketeers, who have been slow out of the gate and with a loss in the Big East against St. John’s. Coincidentally, the Red Storm come on Jan. 6 (1 p.m., Fox29), before a run-it-back against DePaul on Jan. 12 (8:30 p.m., FS1).

All of which arrive before a road date with No. 6 Marquette on Jan. 15 (2:30 p.m., Fox29) followed by a game at Wells Fargo Center against No. 5 UConn on Jan. 20 (8 p.m., FS1).

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