City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
__

VILLANOVA — St. Joe’s went toe-to-toe on the road at a nationally ranked Kentucky team last week. It was an opportunity it just let slip away, falling in overtime at Rupp Arena.

In another Top 25 road matchup Wednesday at Finneran Pavilion, the Hawks didn’t trade punches but instead threw haymakers at Big 5 rival Villanova. While they took a few shots back from the Wildcats, they never gave an inch and eventually delivered a knockout blow.

St. Joe’s (5-2) held a comfortable margin the entire second half Wednesday in a 78-65 win over No. 18 Villanova (6-2).

“I feel like the schedule had built to a point tonight where the guys were not phased,” coach Billy Lange said.

St. Joe’s downplayed the significance of Wednesday’s victory, but it’s fair to say this was the Hawks’ biggest win in a long, long time. 

The win marked the Hawks’ first Top 25 victory since a win over Rhode Island in 2018. It marked the Hawks’ first win over Villanova since 2011. And it marked the Hawks’ first win at Villanova since 2004. Current St. Joe’s assistant Dwayne Jones was on that St. Joe’s team, while Lange was an assistant on the Villanova bench for that one.

The victory also improved the Hawks to 2-0 this season in Big 5 play, locking up a spot in the inaugural Big 5 Classic championship game Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center.

“I recognize and acknowledge that this game and now that win means a lot to Hawk Hill, Philadelphia,” Lange said. “And that means more to me than what it means to me or a streak or anything. We’ll just wake up tomorrow and do the same thing we do everyday as a basketball team.”

Junior guard Erik Reynolds scored 24 for the Hawks on 8-for-13 shooting. Freshman guard Xzayvier Brown added 16, his triple with just less than two minutes left was that final knockout punch as it extended the Hawks’ lead to 17. 

Junior guard Lynn Greer III dazzled as well with 15 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Sophomore forward Rasheer Fleming chipped in a double-double — 12 points and 11 rebounds — for the Hawks, who were missing redshirt-freshman forward Christ Essandoko due to injury and sophomore guard Christian Winborne due to personal reasons

“You try to stay connected to them,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said of the Hawks’ backcourt. “They’re really good when they get two on the ball. They’ve got multiple decision-makers and obviously they have multiple shot-makers and they made some shots tonight.”

Graduate guard Justin Moore scored 17 and redshirt-senior forward Eric Dixon scored 14 as the only Wildcats in double figures.

Villanova’s only previous defeat was a 76-72 Nov. 13 loss at Penn. The Wildcats answered with four straight victories, including three in the Bahamas last week over Texas Tech, North Carolina and Memphis to take home the prestigious Battle 4 Atlantis championship.

They are 0-2 in the Big 5 tournament this season and will play in the fifth-place game of the Big 5 Classic on Saturday against Drexel.

The Wildcats played from behind the entirety of Wednesday night’s game. They fell behind by double digits in the first half before cutting the deficit to 43-35 at the break. St. Joes’ rattled off five straight points to start the second half, and Villanova never cut its deficit to less than seven after that.

“Our best game is our next game,” Dixon said. “That’s how we always think. That’s not gonna change. We’ll be able to get back tomorrow, win or lose, and get better. This doesn’t change that much.”

Playing without the 7-foot Essandoko, the Hawks lost their size advantage in the matchup. Fleming came up huge, but with freshman forward Anthony Finkley in foul trouble throughout, Lange decided to throw a zone defense at the Wildcats.

The zone gave Nova fits in its loss to Penn earlier in the season, when it shot 22-of-63 (34.9%) from the floor and 9-for-33 (27.3%) from 3-point range. The Wildcats’ offense was similarly out of rhythm at times Wednesday as they shot 22-of-56 (39.3%) from the floor and 10-of-37 (27%) from deep, including 4-of-22 from 3-point range in the second half.

“We were desperate and we were down our ‘5’ man,” Lange said. “You do it and if it works you stay in it, but you have guys in foul trouble, you’re playing small. They’re an amazing team with the way they methodically mow you down with Dixon and Moore on back downs. We really didn’t have a choice.”

“So much of what is determined as being effective or smart is results,” Lange said. “So if they made a few more of those shots, humbly, it might not have been the smartest move.”

The Hawks turned the ball over just four times in the first half, compared to 11 assists. A stretch of five turnovers in five minutes early in the second half allowed the Wildcats to creep back in the game, making it a 52-45 with 11:48 left.

St. Joe’s settled after a media timeout, not turning the ball over at all in the final 10:47 in the game. The Hawks finished with 19 assists compared to 11 turnovers and forced Villanova into 17.

“At that time, we didn’t change anything,” Lange said. “The ball was sticking and it looked like as a team, we were like ‘You make a play and get me a shot,’ instead of ‘get the ball moving and bodies moving.’ Once we were able to recalibrate a little bit at that timeout, I thought we executed better. … When the shots go in and they make great decision, it makes for great results.

The Hawks shared a piece of the Big 5 title in 2011-12 but haven’t worn the city crown outright since 2003-04. They will play in Saturday’s title game at Wells Fargo center against Temple, a triple-overtime winner over La Salle on Wednesday.

“It’s a blessing to be a part of this team,” Greer said. “I feel like we just had a lot of confidence. I knew when I decided to come to St. Joe’s, I wanted to play in the Big 5 games.”