VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Villanova Wildcats have won seven of their last eight games since the start of December (10-5 overall, 3-1 BIG EAST). On Wednesday night, however, the challenge becomes greater as two-time NCAA champion UConn – winners eight straight – makes only its second appearance on Villanova’s campus since 1995.

The Wildcats and Huskies (12-3 overall, 4-0 BIG EAST) will face off beginning at 6:30 p.m. FS1 will broadcast the game nationally with Dave Sims and Donny Marshall providing commentary. The Villanova Sports Network on IHeart (Fox Sports Philadelphia and Sirius XM channel 383) with Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby courtside.

UConn moved up to No. 9 in this week’s Associated Press poll. On the home court it beat Providence 87:84 on Sunday. Hassan Diarra led the way with 19 points.

Villanova, however, was firing on all cylinders Saturday as it defeated DePaul 100-56. The Wildcats converted 37 of 62 from the field (.597), the eighth time in 15 games this season that Nova hit on 50 percent or more of its attempts from the floor.

Perhaps just as encouraging as the offensive work were the defensive strides the Wildcats showed last week as they prevailed at Butler Wednesday before building a big lead in the opening moments against DePaul. The Blue Demons were just 20 of 60 from the field (.333).

“We just have to stay humble and hungry,” Villanova head coach said Kyle Neptune. “We have a lot of talent on this team, guys that can do a lot of different things offensively. If we get going, we can get some shots off.”

“If you look at our numbers defensively (Saturday), they were exactly where we wanted them to be. We have to pay attention to this in order to continue in the second half of the season. There’s still a lot of basketball left to play.”

Eric Dixonthe country’s top scorer, continued his good work and led the way with 25 points. He is averaging 25.9 points per game, up to 12 in 14 appearances^Th Place on the Wildcats’ all-time scoring list (1,862 points), three fewer than Ed Pinckney (1,865). The Willow Grove, Pennsylvania native grabbed his 800th^Th Career pileup against the Blue Demons, making him one of only five VU players with 1,800 or more points and 800 or more rebounds (Howard Porter, John Pinone, Pinckney and Jost Hart are the others).

The Huskies won two meetings last season and have won the last four in the series between the teams. This is only the second meeting on campus since January 1995 and the first with a sold-out crowd. The teams met in an empty hall in February 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. All other UConn trips to the Wildcats, meanwhile, have taken place in South Philadelphia at the Spectrum or Wells Fargo Center.

“We’re getting better,” Neptune said after Tuesday’s final practice ahead of Wednesday’s game. “We had nine new signings at the start of the season and I think we are starting to come together as a team. The goal now is to continue to get better.”

“We are looking forward to the game. All of us, players and coaches, do this because we love it. We are competition junkies and this promises to be a great test for our team against an outstanding opponent.”