City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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VILLANOVA — It was business as usual at the Finneran Pavilion, except that it wasn’t. 

At the end of an 81-68 win over La Salle, it was Kyle Neptune taking his seat the post-game podium between Caleb Daniels and Eric Dixon, Neptune spouting the same platitudes — “playing Villanova basketball,” giving credit to the opponent, etc. — that Jay Wright made his bread-and-butter during his 21 years of press conferences after 500-plus Villanova wins.

But it was Neptune, not Wright sitting there, and that made it different enough. For one game, at least.

“I get all the hype, it’s the first game, Big 5 game, brand-new coach’s first game, all that stuff,” Neptune said. “But going into the game and just being part of this program for so long, I think everyone here just has a unique resolve and all we think about is playing and coaching for each other, that’s all we truly think about. 

“When you do that and think that way, there’s nothing to be nervous about.”

Two eras got underway at the Finneran Pavilion on Monday night, as Neptune and La Salle’s Fran Dunphy both made their official debut at their “new” programs. 

Neptune’s return after one year at Fordham was unsurprising after Jay Wright stepped down, the former ‘Nova assistant a no-brainer to come back after leading Fordham to 14 more wins than the year prior to his arrival. 

Dunphy’s return to La Salle more than three decades after he was an Explorers assistant was much more unexpected, the Big 5 legend agreeing to return to his alma mater to try and provide some juice to a program that’s struggled of late to gain a foothold in the city or Atlantic 10 landscape.

Though both programs were under brand-new head coaches, there were no misconceptions that the two were on equal footing. Villanova might be past the Wright era, but expectations are still quite high under Neptune, who has three returning starters and some highly-touted newcomers from last year’s 30-win squad.

But while Dunphy joked about his gameday ‘agita’ and his inability to sleep well the night before, Neptune didn’t give any indication that he was feeling the pressure whatsoever.

“I slept like a baby, I slept like a baby,” he said. “We truly feel like we’re going into a game, we’re just playing our hearts out for our teammates and coaches. [...] I thought we had a great practice the day before the game, we had a great walkthrough this afternoon, knew our guys were ready to go, we had nothing to be worried about.”

Though Villanova walked away feeling good after the 13-point win, Dunphy’s spirits remained high in his first game back on the sideline following three years away, the former Penn and Temple boss sporting his familiar mustache once more as held court at his own post-game presser. His Explorers showed good fight in the second half, not letting the Villanova faithful feel confident about their win until the final couple minutes, even though the deficit never hit single-digits down the stretch.

“I thought we did enough good things to be feeling okay about the game as we come out of it, however, we made some mistakes that just didn’t go our way if we’re going to hang a little bit longer,” Dunphy said. “I thought we did enough good things that I’m going to be encouraged as we go into Saturday’s game [against Wagner.]”

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Stat Dump

Caleb Daniels led the way for Villanova (1-0, 1-0 Big 5) with 24 points, shooting 8-of-11 overall and 6-of-7 from downtown, adding in 10 rebounds as well as four assists in 36 impressive minutes. He was joined in double figures by Eric Dixon (20 points), Jordan Longino (career-high 12) and Brandon Slater (12 points, 8 rebounds).

La Salle (0-1, 0-1 Big 5) got 22 points from Josh Nickelberry, the second-year Explorer and former Louisville transfer shooting 7-of-12 from the floor and 5-of-9 from deep. 

Hassan Drame, one of two twins who came over from Saint Peter’s this summer, scored 17 points in his La Salle debut, grabbing six rebounds; his brother, Fousseyni Drame, got the start but quickly got in foul trouble and finished with seven points without a rebound in 13 minutes. Sophomore guard Khalil Brantley added 11 as the only other Explorer in double figures.

The biggest disparity in the box score was in the shooting column: Villanova was 29-of-52 (55.8%) overall and 13-of-20 (65%) from 3-point range; La Salle just 25-of-55 and 10-of-25, both right on 40%. Both teams committed nine turnovers and Villanova won the rebound battle 30-29 and outscored La Salle 26-20 in the paint and 19-12 off turnovers; La Salle’s bench outscored Villanova’s, 28-8.

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Dixon looks aggressive

Without Justin Moore (Achilles) and Cam Whitmore (thumb), Villanova was down a few of its primary offensive options. Redshirt sophomore Eric Dixon, one of the team’s most experienced players, stepped up his assertiveness in their absence, taking a career-high 17 shots en route to scoring 20 points for just the second time in his college career, four shy of his high-water mark in a Villanova uniform.

Dixon went right at La Salle big man Mamadou Doucoure early and often, the muscular 6-8 wing forward beating the lumbering 6-11 post to the bucket whenever he wanted, forcing Doucoure’s early removal from the game; no matter who else was on Dixon, he continually demanded the ball and tried to see what he could make happen. Afterwards, he played down his own assertiveness.

“My teammates found me in spots that I’m comfortable in and I just tried not to give up any shots or force another pass or anything like that,” he said, “just tried to do the right play.”

A 2,000-point scorer at Abington, Dixon’s going to have to shoulder a heavy load on the offensive end this season, especially early on, as the Wildcats wait to get Whitmore and Moore back from injury. Neptune said that his team will know in “a week or so” when they might be getting Whitmore back, while Moore is aiming for a return in a month or so; until then, a more confident and assertive Dixon is a must.

In the meanwhile, Neptune will be looking at sophomore Trey Patterson (scoreless in 11 minutes), redshirt freshman Angelo Brizzi (3 points in 13 minutes), and true freshmen Mark Armstrong (6 points in 17 minutes) and Brendan Hausen (scoreless in eight minutes) to see what they can provide.

“We know our top three guys, especially while Justin’s out: Eric, Caleb and Brandon Slater,” Neptune said, adding that Longino is “right there,” and continuing on: “It’s a little bit of figuring those guys out and seeing what spots, but we have a lot of confidence in these guys and they have great experiences, so we think we’ll be fine.”

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Jocius flashes some potential for Explorers

The La Salle staff has been high on freshman forward Rokas Jocius all preseason, though also cautioned that the 6-10 freshman from Lithuania wasn’t going to be a day-one stud, that he would need time to adjust and develop. 

But with Doucoure unable to guard Dixon and Fousseyni Drame in foul trouble, Jocius ended up playing 24 minutes in his collegiate debut, acquitting himself decently well. The Explorers were only -2 when he was on the floor, and he got more comfortable as the game went on. 

“I was impressed from Rokus, I thought he did a really good job,” Dunphy said. “We were talking about that [before the game], is he ready to go? It’s a tough environment to be in, but I think he’s going to be a really good player.”

Though he only grabbed two rebounds and scored two points, Jocius was far from a stiff on the floor, battling around the rim and making good defensive reads, showing why the Explorers’ staff has long-term faith in his abilities.

Jocius wasn’t able to shut down Dixon, who praised the European forward’s footwork and mobility at his size, but he did force Dixon to step away from the basket and knock down a couple 3-pointers to stay productive.

“He walled up against Dixon I thought very well in the second half,” Dunphy said. “He made Dixon work a little bit.”

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