Villanova Basketball: 2018-19 keys for a Wildcats win at Georgetown

PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 03: Collin Gillespie #2, Eric Paschall #4, and Phil Booth #5 of the Villanova Wildcats celebrate their win against the Georgetown Hoyas at the Wells Fargo Center on February 3, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Villanova defeated Georgetown 77-65. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JANUARY 30: Eric Paschall #4 of the Villanova Wildcats looks on during the game against the DePaul Blue Demons at Wintrust Arena on January 30, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

3. Silence the crowd…and the self-doubts

Villanova must’ve been kicking themselves after the loss to the Red Storm. The Wildcats were up by double-digits at the half (despite a half-court heave from St. John’s) and led by 14 with just over 12 minutes left on the clock. The Red Storm didn’t even lead until late in the second half of an eventual 71-65 win.

Moving on from a disheartening loss like that can be a challenge. Twice already this season, Villanova has followed a loss with another loss.

But championship-caliber teams are capable of compartmentalizing during a challenging stretch and focusing on the next task at hand. Jay Wright has two titles on his resume, so there’s little doubt he can coach this year’s squad to have that same mentality.

Compounding the loss is the difficulty of playing at Georgetown. The program is enduring some growing pains with Patrick Ewing at the helm, but there’s still a lot of pride there, from the roster to the fans who pack Capital One Arena for every game. The Hoyas have lost five games at home this season, but every one of those has been decided by single digits and every home Big East defeat has come by four points or less.

Villanova hasn’t lost at Georgetown since 2015 and has won their last two games there by a combined 58 points.