A Rebuilt Villanova Plays Rutgers in an Exhibition, and the Big East Should Notice

Villanova plays Rutgers on Sunday, October 11, at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway. The Big Ten has the game at 1 p.m. ET. It is an exhibition. The two programs were Big East rivals from 1996 to 2013, before Rutgers left for the Big Ten.

Kevin Willard is in his second season. Villanova went 24-9, made the NCAA Tournament as a real Big East team, and lost to Utah State in the round of 64. The offense was top-40 in KenPom. Acaden Lewis is now at Miami. Bryce Lindsay is at Indiana. The creators who made that offense go are not the ones walking into Piscataway. Tyler Perkins is.

Rutgers is the right first opponent and a limited one. The Scarlet Knights finished outside the top 150 in KenPom offense. Sunday is not a measuring stick for March. It is a measuring stick for whether a new backcourt can run a possession on the road.

Tyler Perkins, the returner

Perkins opted out of the portal and is back for a third year in Villanova. He was All-Big East and the Big East’s Most Improved Player. In 33 games he averaged 13.7 points and 5.4 rebounds, shot 44.0% from the field and 36.9% from three, and led the team with 452 points. He was second on the team with 179 rebounds.

He is a wing, not a point guard. Lewis took the creation with him. Perkins is the one proven scorer still on the roster. If he is still finishing possessions on Sunday, the new guards are depth. If one of them is initiating and Perkins is catching on the wing, Willard has the hierarchy he spent the portal cycle trying to build.

Jake Fiegen, from Cornell

Fiegen is the cleanest add. The Cornell graduate averaged 17 points, shot 54.6% from the field, 67.6% on twos, and 41.4% from three, and finished second on Cornell with 122 rebounds. He is 6-4. He can handle, he can score inside the arc, and he can make a three. He does not need a role invented for him.

Elijah Crawford, from UIC

Crawford averaged 14.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in 23 games at UIC, with 17 starts. He shot 45.3% from the field. He made All-Missouri Valley second team and the All-Newcomer team, and he was MVC Newcomer of the Week twice in February. He led UIC in scoring and assists, with 113 dimes, and scored 28 against Northern Iowa in the conference tournament semifinals. The shot is the caveat. He made 27.6% of his threes. He is a creator, not a spacer.

Darryl Simmons II, from St. Bonaventure

Simmons led St. Bonaventure at 16.4 points per game in the Atlantic 10. He had 31 against Duquesne, 30 at Richmond, and 20 in the conference tournament at Dayton. He is 5-11. He is another ballhandler, not a forward. Three guards who just averaged 14 or better at a lower level, plus Perkins, is a lot of hands on the ball. Sunday is the first time they have to share it against somebody else.

Devin Royal and Kwame Evans Jr.

Royal comes from Ohio State. Evans comes from Oregon, where he averaged 13.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.0 assists and shot 45.4% from the field. Both are physical forwards. Both are on the roster to give Perkins a screener and a finisher he did not have to import last year. Evans is the one with a proven double-digit line. Royal is the Big Ten body.

Freshman Adam Oumiddoch, who Willard kept from going to St. John’s, and 7-3 freshman Luigi Suigo are the other names in the rotation talk. Neither is the story on Sunday unless the transfers foul out.

What Sunday is for

Villanova does not need to win by 20. A top-40 offense walking into a bottom-150 offense should be able to run a side: Fiegen or Crawford bringing it up, Perkins getting a catch, Evans finishing a roll. If all three new guards are hunting their own shot and Perkins spends the night watching, the 24-9 season is not walking back onto the floor.

The other exhibitions are at home. George Mason on October 17. Virginia on October 22. Virginia is the defense check. Rutgers is the first one. The regular season opens November 1 in Rome against Notre Dame. Sunday is the only look before that trip.