After nearly losing last week’s game against UC Riverside, the UCLA Bruins return to action today with a game against the Villanova Wildcats. Today’s game will be played at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, which Villanova calls its “home away from home.” In reality, Villanova is about 25 miles outside of Philly while the Wells Fargo Center is in South Philly in the same complex as Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies, and the Eagles’ Lincoln Financial Field. That means that driving to today’s game from campus is similar to a trip from Westwood to the Rose Bowl, in that it would take about 40 minutes to get there.
UCLA has played Villanova in the building once before. That was an NCAA Tournament game back in 2009 which the Wildcats won, 89-69, back when it was known as the Wachovia Center. The only time UCLA has visited Villanova during the regular season was in February 2002 when the teams met at Finneran Pavilion on the University campus. By comparison, Finneran Pavilion holds 6,500 while the Wells Fargo Center has a capacity of 20,318 for basketball. Interestingly, the Wells Fargo Center sits on the former site of John F. Kennedy Stadium, which co-hosted Live Aid in 1985.
Enough trivia…let’s get to some basketball.
The Wildcats come into today’s game on a three-game losing streak. After starting the season 6-1 with wins over Maryland, Texas Tech, and Memphis as well as an overtime win over North Carolina, the Cats have lost games to St. Joseph’s, Drexel, and Kansas State. So, it’s really a question as to which Villanova team will show up today. Will it be the team which beat the Tar Heels or the team which has lost three in a row?
Overall, Villanova is 23-21 under second year head coach Kyle Neptune who took over after Jay Wright retired following the 2021-22 season. Neptune has served as an assistant under Wright from 2013 until 2021 when he left the program to become the head coach at Fordham. In his only season with the Rams, Neptune posted a 16-16 mark. So, he hasn’t exactly been impressive as a head coach.
Let’s look at the Wildcats’ starting five.
Starting Five
Neptune will start a lineup featuring three guards and two forwards.
The Wildcats are led by redshirt senior Eric Dixon who will be one of the starting forwards. Dixon leads the team with 14.4 ppg. His 47.5% shooting percentage also leads the team and his 37.5% three-point percentage is second on the team less than a half a point behind Tyler Burton. Dixon’s 6.7 rebounds per game makes him the team’s second-best rebounder.
One guy who will not play tonight is grad student Justin Moore, who is second on the team in scoring with an average of 13.3 ppg. Moore will be kept out due to a sprained knee. It’s a good thing he won’t be available as Moore is deadly from the charity stripe where he’s made 27 of his 28 attempts this season. He is also tied for the team lead in assists with 22. In his place, expect to see a lot of junior guard Jordan Longino. He is averaging 9.6 ppg which means that he’s scoring more than three of the team’s starters. Longino’s 47.1% shooting percentage is the second best on the team even though he hasn’t started a game until tonight.
Another starting guard has a name which should be a little familiar. TJ Bamba transferred to Villanova this season after playing at Washington State the past three seasons. Bamba is averaging 9.1 ppg for the Wildcats and he is tied with Moore for the team lead in assists.
Sophomore Mark Armstrong is the third starting guard. He is only averaging 6.3 ppg and he is awful from beyond the arc, where he is shooting a dismal 15.4% on 13 attempts.
Last but not least is starting forward and graduate transfer Tyler Burton. While Burton is averaging just 9.0 ppg, he is the team leader in rebounds with an average of 7.4 per game as well as in three-point percentage where he is making 37.8% of his long-range shots.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Today’s game will be on Fox with Tim Brando and Jim Jackson calling the game. If you prefer, you can listen to Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray. Just be sure to right-click on it so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to today’s game online.
This is your UCLA men’s basketball vs. Villanova Wildcats game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:
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Mara looking better on D, but he doesn’t look for the ball on offense and doesn’t seem to fight hard enough to get into position. It seems like unless it’s a set play run for him, like the screen and roll that led to his dunk, he doesn’t seem to turn his head for the ball.
Guards have received the ball from him and looked to pass to him, only to see his back; not aware enough for a give and go layup; I've seen this a few times already this game
U! Clap clap clap!
C! Clap clap clap!
L! Clap clap clap!
A! Clap Clap Clap!
UCLA! Fight fight fight!
Hi Clio and Bruin Mom! Let's Go Bruins!!!💙💛
Hi Tamara! Hi Clio! Go Bruins!
Goof evening, Tamara, good to see you! Go Bruins!
Let's go!
Hello BB!
Hey B Mom!
Hi, BB!
Glad CMC is back on the sideline for this game
Good evening, Bruin Mama!
Broadcast points out lots of ucla fans at the game tonight
How the hell did we not corral that ball??
Stefanovich!
Mick is already dropping the curse words. Not a good start.
Send that, big man!
Stefanovich for 3! Good evening, Might Bruins! Go Bruins!
Hi Doctor!
Hey, Jim!
Yay, Adem!
Way to be patient Bona
Marra looks like he is moving better tonight.
Love the nba on nbc theme. Very nostalgic
Hi Everyone!!! Had to finish the dishes 🤣 but finall back! 💙💛
Hey, Tamara!
Hi BB!!!
Bona having a pretty good start so far
Stef again! It looks like we have more inclination to shoot tonight.
Bona forcing the TO and not fouling yay
Ticky-tack offensive foul call on Mack.
Refs always call that chest push off on him.
Villanova hitting from outside keeping them in the game so far
Need to close out better on the 3s than the game against Riverside.
It’s a problem
Looks like we’re getting “out-of-control” Mack tonight
Yep. We need to settle.
0 for 3 and two fouls.
Getting beaten on the boards
I was surprised to see they only had 10 boards to our 8; it seemed like more
Must have been the flurry of missed ones that makes it seem like more!
Plus our lack of offense is killing us.
Need some ball movement on offense and player movement without the ball.
Good evening, army, it looks, to me, that we are moving better tonight.
Damn, Stefanovic missed two easy shots
Very streaking shooting
Oh, Bona.....
Look, up in the sky!
7 points in 10 min. Smdh.
And terrible passes and ball protection
Great pass for the Mara dunk!
Finally Mara!
That's the way!
Andrews from the corner!
Andrews!!!
Dylan!
5 team fouls so far
LOLOL Bona and Vide checked in, Mara and Fibleuill checked out, and announcer said UCLA going a little small!
🤣
Looks like a bricklayer convention. Some good play from Mara.
Wow ucla nearly forces a 5 second violation and got Nova to waste a TO
Mara looking better on D, but he doesn’t look for the ball on offense and doesn’t seem to fight hard enough to get into position. It seems like unless it’s a set play run for him, like the screen and roll that led to his dunk, he doesn’t seem to turn his head for the ball.
Facts
Guards have received the ball from him and looked to pass to him, only to see his back; not aware enough for a give and go layup; I've seen this a few times already this game
Yep. That’s why when it’s just him on the floor without Bona, ucla becomes mostly a jump shooting team
great analysis
Great D by Bona!
LOL Bona threw up a prayer, and it was answered
Nice Bona!!!
Andrews with another 3!
Dylan for 3!!!
Tough shot!
Too many second chances for Villanova.
Andrews again (although Mara finally looked for the ball after the pass, but Andrews didn't see him LOL)
Someone needs to feed Mara.
Mara needs to put himself in a position to get the ball down underneath
He needs a bit of Mass to hold that spot.
spot on!
Patience and Dylan!
Our bigs only have 1 foul apiece; hope they continue to be careful
Bona!!
Bona!
Gotta say, I am sooo impressed with how Bona has upped his game since last year!