Nova trying to find answers after upset by Columbia

• Myron Medcalf, ESPN

  • Personnel WriterNov 6, 2024, 10:56 PM ET Close Covers college basketball
  • Signed up with ESPN.com in 2011
  • Graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato

After a home loss to a Columbia team that had actually won just seven Ivy League games over the previous three seasons, Villanova coach Kyle Neptune stated he would need to watch the film to comprehend what went wrong.The Lions’

90-80 victory Wednesday night at Villanova’s Finneran Structure was their very first versus a Big East challenger because 2012. Neptune, on the other hand, suffered his second consecutive loss to an Ivy team, after Villanova fell 76-72 at Penn last year.Neptune, who goes into an essential season after failing to reach the NCAA tournament in his very first 2 campaigns leading the Wildcats, suffered his 6th loss to a group that went into the game with a sub-100 ranking on KenPom.Editor’s Picks 1 Associated”If we had actually won that game, we would still have to get a lot better,”he stated.”We’re simply not where we require to be right

now. We’ve got to return, watch this film, gain from it and move onto the next game and improve.” Columbia, picked to finish 5th in the Ivy League preseason survey, entered the game as 17.5-point underdogs on ESPN BET. Guard

Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa had a team-high 22 points for the Lions, who linked on 53.7% of their basket attempts (29-of-54 )and 92.3%of their complimentary toss tries (24-of-26). Columbia (2-0)never ever has had a winning season under coach Jim Engles, who was employed in 2016.”I do not believe offense was the problem,” Neptune said.

“We shot 45 %[ total]. I thought we simply couldn’t get stops. And I think we turned the

ball over. And we just need to get better defensively. They scored 90 points. It’s going to be tough when teams score 90 points against you. “In 2022, Jay Wright abruptly retired after winning a set of national championships with the Wildcats, whom he turned into among the most respected programs in America. Villanova then hired Neptune, a previous assistant under Wright, to lead the program after one year as Fordham’s head coach.Neptune is now 35-34 at Villanova, which was ranked 31st on KenPom getting in Wednesday’s game. With the return of star Eric Dixon(33 points versus Columbia), the Wildcats were forecasted to end up seventh in the Big East preseason poll and expected to compete for a very first NCAA competition look under Neptune. While both remain possible, Neptune said his group has major challenges to deal with before it hosts NJIT on Friday.”They simply executed us … outexecuted us, I ought to state, offensively, “Neptune said of the Lions. “It is what it is. We’re humans. You don’t wish to come in and lose. Everyone wants to win. So, we’ve got a little bit to think about that and accept the reality that it took place. And now we’ve got to move on from it. We have actually got to go and get ready for the next game. We’ve got to get better.

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