January 6, 2027
#10 Villanova 88, @Connecticut 69
Point guard
Devin Guzman achieves career highs in points (19) and assists (6) to spark the Wildcats to victory in Coach Sims' Big East debut.
Bradley Christmas returns to action as the sixth man tonight, scoring 13 points in 21 minutes, and
Tommie Johnson notches another double-double (14p/10r).
Richard Pray also ends up in double figures, scoring 10 off the bench--equaling the combined output of
Jose Blanco and
Bruno Le Fleurquin.
Record: 12-0 (1-0).
January 9, 2027
@#14 Rutgers 87, #10 Villanova 67
Jacob Allen's 24 points aren't enough to overcome a balanced and effective performance from the Scarlet Knights.
BLF scores 14, and
Bradley Christmas adds 8 with 10 rebounds.
We make only 9 of our 31 three-point attempts, but we'd have needed more than that to turn this one into a victory.
Record: 12-1 (1-1).
January 13, 2027
#11 Villanova 64, @Cincinnati 53
A much better defensive effort, plus 20 points from
Bruno Le Fleurquin, returns us to the winning side of the ledger.
Bradley Christmas scores only 2 points in his return to the starting lineup, but he finds other ways to help: 6 rebounds, 6 assists.
Tommie Johnson outplays Cincy's big men (11p/9r/4b).
Devin Guzman adds 10 points.
Record: 13-1 (2-1).
January 16, 2027
#11 Villanova 67, @Louisville 55
Bruno Le Fleurquin steps up with 18 points and 5 rebounds as the Wildcats hand Louisville their first conference loss.
Jacob Allen (12),
Jose Blanco (12), and
Devin Guzman (11) join BLF in double digits, and we make 53 percent of our shots while limiting the Cardinals to 36 percent.
Record: 14-1 (3-1).
January 20, 2027
@#8 Villanova 66, DePaul 53
Starting guards
Devin Guzman (16) and
Jacob Allen (14) combine for 30 points, and we keep the Blue Demons from getting their offense going before a big crowd at the Finneran Pavilion.
DePaul makes only 15 of 46 shots, while we're particularly accurate from long distance (8-for-17). Allen and Guzman both shoot 3-for-6.
Tommie Johnson scores 11 points, while
BLF finishes with 11 rebounds.
Record: 15-1 (4-1).
January 22, 2027
@#8 Villanova 84, Seton Hall 66
The Wells Fargo Center falls silent late in the second half when
Tommie Johnson falls heavily to the court, hitting his head on the floor. The senior center is strapped to a backboard, but he regains consciousness and moves his extremities as he's carried to an ambulance. Johnson is diagnosed with a severe concussion, and our medical staff believe he'll be out of action for at least six weeks. He could possibly return for the Big East tournament.
Johnson had been playing a wonderful game, scoring 21 points and grabbing 9 rebounds.
Jose Blanco, who will replace him in the lineup, adds 19 more, and
BLF posts 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Devin Guzman hands out a career-high 9 assists, and
Jacob Allen scores 13 points.
The victory feels good, but losing TJ feels worse.
Record: 16-1 (5-1).
January 27, 2027
#6 Villanova 75, @Notre Dame 69
Bradley Christmas stuffs the scoresheet (15p/7r/5a) and
Jose Blanco plays big (19p/9r) as we come from behind to beat the Fighting Irish at the Joyce Center.
Bruno Le Fleurquin (10p/10r) and
Devin Guzman (12 points) also distinguish themselves.
With our victory, we move into a tie with Georgetown for the Big East lead. Louisville also has a 6-1 conference record, but we beat the Cardinals earlier this month.
Record: 17-1 (6-1).
January 30, 2027
#14 West Virginia 70, @#6 Villanova 59
Full credit to the Mountaineers for playing the best defense we've seen all year. We commit 14 turnovers and shoot 19-for-62.
Jose Blanco leads the Wildcats with 15 points, and
Devin Guzman scores 11 with 6 assists.
Bruno Le Fleurquin collects 11 rebounds, but he also shoots 1-10. Bradley Christmas has 10 rebounds and 8 points.
Record: 17-2 (6-2).
As the month closes, let's look at the standings.
Code:
2026 Big East Conference Standings
TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
-----------------------------------------------------------------
#2 Georgetown 7 1 .875 20 1 .952 12 96
Louisville 7 1 .875 14 6 .700 30 78
#12 Rutgers 6 2 .750 18 2 .900 3 81
#10 Villanova 6 2 .750 17 2 .895 33 91
Notre Dame 5 3 .625 10 9 .526 21 91
#11 West Virginia 5 3 .625 17 3 .850 26 87
Providence 5 3 .625 13 7 .650 74 76
Marquette 5 3 .625 14 5 .737 120 65
Pittsburgh 4 4 .500 15 6 .714 104 94
Syracuse 3 5 .375 14 5 .737 41 73
Connecticut 3 5 .375 9 11 .450 22 63
Seton Hall 2 6 .250 8 12 .400 172 57
DePaul 2 6 .250 6 14 .300 80 61
South Florida 2 6 .250 6 13 .316 93 65
Cincinnati 1 7 .125 9 10 .474 79 66
St. John's 1 7 .125 7 13 .350 126 67
And, over in the Patriot League, the beat goes on for the Leopards:
Code:
2026 Patriot League Standings
TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------
#24 Lafayette 7 0 1.000 18 5 .783 66 91
Holy Cross 5 2 .714 16 7 .696 46 55
American 4 3 .571 11 10 .524 141 43
Navy 4 3 .571 9 11 .450 203 37
Colgate 4 3 .571 6 14 .300 276 54
Lehigh 3 4 .429 7 15 .318 324 46
Bucknell 1 6 .143 7 14 .333 168 52
Army 0 7 .000 10 13 .435 256 43