Villanova’s inability to close out Georgetown just the latest in a season of self-inflicted defeats

WASHINGTON — When Villanova coughed up an eight-point lead in less than three minutes during a Jan. 20 home loss to Georgetown, three critical Wildcats turnovers flipped the game.

It was déjà vu in the District on Tuesday night. This time it was a nine-point lead with 3 minutes, 43 seconds left before the turnovers showed up. Villanova turned it over just six times, but three of them came during a 7-0 Georgetown run that cut that nine-point lead to two in a little more than a minute.

Jayden Epps later dropped in a layup with five seconds to play, and Jordan Longino’s three-point attempt at the horn didn’t go, dropping Villanova to 18-13 overall and 11-9 in the Big East. Georgetown’s 75-73 win marked the first time since 1993 that Villanova has been swept by the Hoyas in the regular season. The rest of the conference still has games to play, but Villanova was busing back to campus with a sour taste that may linger until the ball is tipped next week at the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden.

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Eric Dixon tried to will Villanova to another win, scoring all of his game-high 24 points in the second half. He did his best to carry a sleepwalking team to the finish line in Villanova’s final regular-season game. But in a season full of what-ifs, another late-game collapse rendered Dixon’s performance almost meaningless. It has been a theme of the 2024-25 season. The Wildcats have the nation’s leading scorer, Dixon, and one of the most efficient offenses in the country — thanks largely to Dixon — but they haven’t mastered the thing that matters more than anything: winning.

“Just some ill-advised turnovers by us,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “Their pressure, I thought they did a great job, their game-planning. They switched their defenses up a lot, forced us into some turnovers down the stretch, and we couldn’t handle their pressure. We turned the ball over.”

Add Tuesday to a growing list of late-game mishaps. If this season ends without a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season, it will be because of games like Tuesday. Both losses to Georgetown probably should have been wins. Villanova let a 14-point lead at Connecticut on Feb. 18 evaporate. It couldn’t close out a home win over Creighton on Feb. 1. It let a Quad 1 opportunity on Jan. 14 slip away at Xavier. It is nearly impossible to win every close game, to be sure, but the losses have too often been self-inflicted.

Tuesday was no different. Wooga Poplar pulled in a defensive rebound with 3:29 minutes to play with Villanova ahead, 69-60. But he almost immediately dribbled off his foot and turned the ball back to Georgetown, which nailed a three. Then came a Jhamir Brickus turnover and two Georgetown foul shots. On the ensuing Villanova possession, Poplar got the ball in the corner and mishandled it. At the other end, Drew Fielder dunked in transition. Villanova still led by two points, but the ending seemed inevitable.

Dixon’s heroics — he was 8-for-11 in the second half — helped turn around what was a sloppy start for Villanova. The Wildcats, who looked confused at times by Georgetown’s zone, started 3-for-11 from the field, then 6-for-22, then 9-for-29, including 1-for-10 from three-point range. Dixon didn’t score and missed all eight of his attempts in the first half, yet the score still was tied, 29-29, at halftime. Villanova trailed by nine before Dixon finally took over. It was a 32-14 run that appeared to seize control of the game for Villanova.

But like too many games before Tuesday, the lead wasn’t safe.

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Villanova entered Tuesday night’s game with an unrealistic path to an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. The Wildcats left for home knowing they have no chance to dance unless they run the table in the conference tournament.

“We’re looking ahead, looking at whoever our next matchup is,” said Jordan Longino, who scored 17 points. “Hopefully, we’re going to crumble this one up and throw it away after we watch film and regroup.”

Is the film really necessary when it’s just a rerun?