Musketeers Beat: Xavier looks to move the needle when they host Villanova Tuesday night

CINCINNATI — Now that Xavier has stopped the bleeding with a win at DePaul on Saturday, it’s time to see if the Musketeers can string together consecutive wins for the first time in Big East play this season.

Whenever Villanova comes to the Queen City, there’s s different feeling in the air. It’s like when the Steelers come to play the Bengals; nervousness but also a feeling that they can win because they have done it before.

This year’s Villanova team is good. They’re also deep, with talent, scoring and shooting one through 12 on their roster. The Wildcats look to finally be figuring things out with head coach Kyle Neptune, in his third season with the team after Jay Wright retried in 2022. Villanova is in ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s “Next Four Out” in his latest bracketology that came out Tuesday morning.

Let’s look at the Players to Watch on the Villanova Wildcats on Tuesday night.

Players to Watch

1.  #43  Eric Dixon  6’8″  265 lbs.  Gr.  Forward  Willow Grove, Pa.
25.3 pts, 4.9 rebs, 50.2 FG%, 47% 3-PT FG, 86.4 FT%, 33.4 mpg

Dixon is a behemoth. Coming off back-to-back seasons of being named to the All-Big East Second Team, Dixon is the leading scorer in the country at 25.3 points per game.

One of only 12 Wildcats to have 1,400+ points and 700+ rebounds in his career, Dixon has just two games this season where he didn’t score 20 points. He has three games with 30+ points and four games with five three-pointers. Dixon has played 30+ minutes in every game but three of them this season. There are certain players in College Basketball you can only hope to contain, and Dixon is one of them. Dixon won’t be shut down on Tuesday night, but the Musketeers have to limit just how much he impacts the game.

2.  #5  Wooga Poplar  6’5″  197 lbs.  Sr.  Guard  Sr.  Philadelphia, Pa.  Miami (FL) Transfer
14.5 pts, 6.6 rebs, 47.5 FG%, 38.6 3-PT FG%, 85.7 FT%, 30.5 mpg

Poplar was on Miami Florida’s team that went to the Final Four in 2023, and he was one of just four Power Six players to shoot 46 percent from the floor, 37 percent from three-point range and 86 percent from the free-throw line that season.

This season, Polar has scored in double figures in every game but four of them this season. In addition, he has five games with three or more three-pointers and four double-doubles on the season. Poplar is an experienced player, and he has been a major part of the Wildcats putting themselves on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament this season.

3.  #2  Jhamir Brickus  5’11”  188 lbs.  Gr.  Guard  Coatesville, Pa.  La Salle Transfer
11.2 pts, 2.1 rebs, 96 ast.-33 TO, 51.1 FG%, 51.5 3-PT FG%, 12-14 FT, 30.2 mpg

Brickus is in his fifth season of College Basketball, and he’s played his entire basketball career in the city of Philadelphia. He started at La Salle for four seasons, finishing second on the team in scoring last year and hitting 40 percent of his three-point shots. As a Freshman, Brickus led the Explorers with 85 assists, 45 steals and played 27.3 minutes per game.

This season, Brickus leads the Wildcats with 96 assists. He has five games with eight-plus assists, including two games with double-digit points. Brickus also has 10 games in double figures including a season-high 22 points against St. Joseph’s. He also has six games with three-plus three-pointers, including a four-game stretch earlier this season where he was 15-21 from beyond the arc. Brickus is a sharp shooter and great distributor of the basketball, and Xavier will need to be fundamentally sound against himTuesday night.

4.  #15  Jordan Longino  6’5″  215 lbs.  Sr.  Guard  Doylestown, Pa.
10 pts/gm., 2.9 rebs, 27 stl, 42% FG, 33.8 3-PT FG%, 83.9 FT%, 31.5 mpg

Longino has nine games in double figures this season, and he also has nine games with multiple steals. The leader in steals for the Wildcats with 27, Longino has multiple steals in four straight games, three games with three+ steals and one game with four steals. Those four steals came against Maryland in mid-November. Longino has also played 30+ minutes in every game but four this season. In Villanova’s 100-56 win over DePaul, Longino hit five three-pointers and scored a season-high 19 points.

5.  #4  Tyler Perkins  6’4″  212 lbs.  So.  Guard  Lorton, Va.  Penn Transfer
6.8 pts, 3.2 rebs, 39.1 FG%, 36.4 3-PT FG%, 6-8 FT, 23.3 mpg

Perkins had an excellent Freshman season at Penn, ranking second on the team with 13.7 points per game and leading the team with 40 steals. In the Ivy League, Perkins ranked in the top 15 in steals, free-throw percentage, rebounds, scoring, three-pointers per game and three-point field goal percentage.

This season, Perkins had six double-digit scoring games and three games with 30+ minutes played. From beyond the arc, Perkins has three games with four or more three-pointers. That includes five three-pointers against Seton Hall when Perkins scored a season-high 17 points.

6.  #13  Enoch Boakye  6’11”  255 lbs.  Sr.  Forward  Brampton, Ontario, Canada  Fresno State Transfer
4.5 pts, 6.4 rebs, 15 blk, 64.3 FG%, 74.2 FT%, 20.9 mpg

Playing for the third team in his Collegiate career, Boakye leads the Wildcats with 15 blocks. Four of those blocks came in a win over Cincinnati back in December 3rd. On the season, Boakye has three games with multiple blocks. In addition, Boakye has established himself as a really good rebounder. He has two games with 14 rebounds and two other games with double-digit rebounds. Boakye has played 25+ minutes five times this season.

7.  #1  Kris Parker  6’9″  201 lbs.  R-Fr.  Guard  Tallahassee, Fla.  Alabama Transfer
3.6 pts, 1.7 rebs, 51.2 FG%, 5-19 3-PT FG, 57.7 FT%, 11.9 mpg

Parker redshirted at Alabama in 2023-2024, as the Crimson Tide went to the Final Four for the first time in school history. In his first season at Villanova, Parker has two games with 11 points. One of those games came in the Wildcats 100-56 win against DePaul. Parker has played 10+ minutes 12 times, including in each of his last five games.

8.  #0  Josiah Moseley  6’6″  228 lbs.  Fr.  Forward  Round Rock, Texas
3.1 pts, 2.8 rebs, 62.5 FG%, 0-3 3-PT FG, 12-18 FT, 12.7 mpg

Moseley has played 10+ minutes 12 times in his first season of College Basketball. He scored a season-high 10 points in Villanova’s season-opener, and he pulled down a season-high seven rebounds against Temple in early December. Moseley was the Texas Boys Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year in 2024 as well as the Texas Max Preps Player of the Year, culminating a career where he scored 2,096 points.

Head Coach: Kyle Neptune (3rd season)
Neptune is in his third season with the Wildcats, but this isn’t his first tenure with Villanova. From 2013-21, Neptune was an assistant to Jay Wright. In that span, Villanova won two National Championships and went to three Final Fours. The Wildcats also won four Big East Tournament Championships and seven Big East regular-season titles. Neptune was also a video coordinator for the Wildcats in 2009, the same year the Wildcats went to their first Final Four in 24 years. Neptune served as the head coach at Fordham for one season in 2021-22, taking the Rams to the A10 Tournament Quarterfinals.

Keys to the Game

1.  Be efficient: This Villanova team will demand the Musketeers to be efficient on both ends of the floor. That’s the impact a guy like Eric Dixon can have on opponents, and Xavier has to be prepared to be efficient on Tuesday night.

2.  Get off to a good start: This may be cliché, but it really applies to this game Tuesday night. A fast start will get the Cintas Center crowd into the game, which will be a 180-degree reversal of the last time the Musketeers took the floor at home against St. John’s.

3.  Be the tougher team: This is a game where being scrappy, diving on the floor for loose balls and being relentless on the glass can go a long way. Tough teams do these things well, especially against opponents like Villanova. The jury is still out on Xavier, but a win over a resurgent Villanova team can start to move the needle for the Musketeers.

Score Prediction: Villanova 77 – Xavier 71
While this is a game Xavier can win, they have to prove they can beat teams like Villanova in Big East play before being predicted to and expected to win in games like this. Regardless, anytime Villanova comes to the Cintas Center creates a different kind of energy and an opportunity to move the needle for the Musketeers.