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Oh mio Dio! Villanova basketball’s trip to Rome for the Eternal City Tip-Off didn’t exactly end the way Wildcat fans had hoped.
The Cats opened their 2026-27 season with a frustrating 74-72 loss to former Big East rival Notre Dame on Sunday, blowing a 10-point second-half lead in a game they probably should’ve won comfortably.
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But there’s a pretty good reason to feel optimistic about Kevin Willard’s squad after its first game. Actually, there are 20 of them.
Nova turned the ball over 20 times against the Fighting Irish, including an almost-impressive 15 giveaways in the first half alone. The Irish turned those mistakes into 20 points, which is a pretty good way to lose a basketball game you otherwise controlled.
And somehow, the turnovers weren’t the only problem.
The Wildcats also surrendered 17 offensive rebounds, giving Notre Dame second and third chances on possessions that should’ve gone the other way. Between the turnovers and their inability to clean up the glass, Villanova essentially handed the Irish enough extra opportunities to steal a game they had little business winning.
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Here’s the encouraging part.
Villanova shot 46.2% from the field compared to Notre Dame’s 35.4%. Willard’s squad made more shots despite attempting 13 fewer, held the lead for 83% of the game and looked like the better team for most of the afternoon.
That’s pretty encouraging for a team still figuring out how to play together.
Of course, nobody should be celebrating 20 turnovers or pretending the rebounding issues will magically fix themselves. Willard has plenty to clean up before Friday’s home opener against Holy Cross.
But the Wildcats also cut their turnovers from 15 in the first half to five in the second, which suggests some of the sloppiness can be corrected as this group gets more comfortable playing together.
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It’s Game 1. There are going to be growing pains, especially with a roster that’s almost entirely new.
Villanova already showed it can do everything…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/villanova-20-reasons-feel-better-130000002.html
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Publish date : 2026-11-04 13:00:00
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