No. 3 seed Villanova suffered a shock 78-64 loss to No. 11 seed Georgetown in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday. Since the Wildcats lost their first game of the conference tournament to a much lower seed, some have been curious to learn if Kevin Willard’s team will qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
As things stand, Villanova is on course to make the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats’ early exit from the Big East Tournament might not be a big cause of concern for Willard, who is in his first year with the program.
Villanova finished the 2025-26 season with a 24-7 record. The loss to Georgetown on Thursday was only its eighth this season.
The Wildcats are projected to get a No. 7 seed in March Madness this year.
Notably, Villanova has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2022.
Villanova HC Kevin Willard Discusses Plans to Fine-tune his Team Ahead of NCAA Tournament
After Villanova’s loss to Georgetown on Thursday, Kevin Willard discussed his team’s shortcomings while adding that he still needs to fine-tune his team for March Madness.
“I’ve gotta help the young guys out a little bit in these games,” Willard said. “We struggled a little bit to run offense when Malachi wasn’t in there, and we kind of got stuck going a little bit one-on-one. That’s kind of what I mean.
“I gotta help them a little bit with not being able to put them in that situation so much. And it was just unfortunate, with Malachi going out and Perk in there, we just kind of get stuck with a very simplistic offense, where with Malachi and Matt, we were able to do a lot more.”
For Georgetown, Jeremiah Williams and Kayvaun Mulready scored 14 points each. Malik Mack also contributed 12 points for the Hoyas.
Meanwhile, Tyler Perkins added 13 points for Villanova, while Bryce Lindsay chipped in 11 points. However, the Wildcats looked disjointed for most of the contest.
Villanova was outrebounded 46-25 and also allowed 16 offensive rebounds against Georgetown. This might be something that Willard needs to address heading into March Madness.
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