In a hostile environment that could have been mistaken for Provo instead of Las Vegas’ T-Mobile arena, Villanova battled but ultimately fell, 71-66, to #8 BYU in Monday night’s season opener.
Villanova went into the half down by 10, but encouragingly were able to come back and take a 59-57 lead with 6:28 to play. BYU responded with a 10-0 run to finish strong and drop Nova to 0-1.
Villanova guard Bryce Lindsay was the lone Wildcat in double figures with 22 points, including five three pointers. Graduate
transfer Devin Askew had a disappointing debut, logging a box score full of zeroes in 12 minutes of action.
“Devin hadn’t played in a game in six weeks and he looked rusty,” said head coach Kevin Willard of the Long Beach State transfer. “That’s probably my fault for putting him in that spot.”
AJ Dybantsa, a potential 2026 NBA Draft overall #1 pick, led BYU with 21 points and was joined in double digits by Richie Saunders with 15 and Rob Wright with 14.
Villanova begins its home schedule against Queens Royals on Saturday, 11/8 at 7p at Finneran Pavillion.
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Apologies for the lack of a game thread or timely recap. More to come this week…
