Villanova and the nation’s leading rebounder will make their first trip down the Main Line to Philadelphia’s renovated Glaser Arena to take on Big 5 rival La Salle on Wednesday night.
The game is part of the Big 5 Classic. Both teams are part of three-team Pod 1, with the series concluding at the Xfinity Mobile Center with a triple header on December 6.
Villanova has won three straight games under new coach Kevin Willard and has five players averaging double figures in scoring, including James Madison transfer Bryce Lindsay, who is at 23 points per game and shooting 50 percent from 3-point range.
“I think we’re doing a lot of good things offensively,” Willard said after his team’s 87-77 win over Duquesne on Saturday. “We share the ball, but we really struggle defensively. If we can ever get our defense to be good with what our offense is doing, that would be good for us.”
Villanova’s Duke Brennan, a 6-foot-10 senior, leads the nation with an average of 14.8 rebounds per game. The Wildcats are fourth in the nation in offensive rebounds, but Brennan echoed his coach’s sentiments regarding the defense’s improvement.
“I feel like we need to communicate better,” Brennan said. “I don’t talk fast enough and my guy can’t react fast enough to come. We need to talk better.”
La Salle enters Wednesday’s contest averaging 73 points per game and also allowing 73. The Explorers have lost their last two games, including 83-69 Saturday against Penn State. The Nittany Lions went on a 20-0 run in the first half and led by 21 points.
The Explorers were without two injured players expected to contribute. Point guard Jaden Johnson has yet to play and Truth Harris, who came with new La Salle coach Darris Nichols from Radford, suffered a foot injury in the season opener.
Freshman Ashton Walker had to play the role of leader. He averaged just under 10 points and had four turnovers against Penn State.
“What’s important is getting other handlers healthy. Ashton Walker and Eric Acker are burning out and taking over the entire field every game,” Nichols said. “Guys get used to playing with each other. You build that together in game situations. It’s different in practice, but you try to simulate what it can be like.”
Senior guard Jaeden Marshall leads the Explorers averaging 15.3 points per game.
La Salle hasn’t had a winning season since 2014-15. Glaser Arena reopened in 2024 on the La Salle campus and can accommodate approximately 3,000 seats. The two schools are less than 15 miles apart but have not met in basketball since 2022.
–Field level media
