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VILLANOVA, Pa. – Following a short break for the Christmas holiday, Villanova returns to game action on New Year’s Eve when it hosts BIG EAST rival DePaul (8-5 overall, 0-2 BIG EAST) at 6 p.m. at Finneran Pavilion.
This marks the sixth time since the reorganization of the BIG EAST in 2013 that the Wildcats have played on New Year’s Eve.
The first of those New Year’s Eve specials came on Dec. 31, 2013, when the Wildcats welcomed new conference foe Butler to the conference with a 76-73 overtime victory at Hinkle Field House.
Another memorable New Year’s Eve battle took place two years later at the Pavilion. With freshman guard Jalen Brunson battling a flu virus, Ryan Arcidiacono scored 27 points to help the Wildcats run past Xavier 95-64 at the original Pavilion. In all, Villanova is 4-1 on New Year’s Eve in the last 13 seasons (.800) with the sole loss coming to Marquette, 68-66, on the final day of 2022.
Last season, the ‘Cats were idle on New Year’s Eve but were in action on the first day of 2025, rallying past the Bulldogs 73-65 behind a 28-point performance from Eric Dixon.
Villanova (10-2 overall, 1-0 BIG EAST) hopes to build on the momentum it crafted in its final two contests prior to the break. On Dec. 19, Nova sprinted past Wisconsin 76-66 with a huge effort in overtime. Four nights later, they delivered a 64-56 win in the return of longtime Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard to Newark’s Prudential Center as the William B. Finneran Endowed Head Coach of the Wildcats.
DePaul brings an 8-5 overall mark, including 0-2 in the BIG EAST with it from Chicago into this contest.
This matchup will air nationally on FS1 with Emmanuel Berbari and Donny Marshall at the Finn to call the action. Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will bring the audio call to the Nova Nation via the Villanova Sports Network on IHeart (Fox Sports Philadelphia and Sirius XM channel 380.
With the Villanova student body on winter break, a limited number of tickets remain available to the public for this BIG EAST game. Please click on the link at the top of this page for more information.
The Wildcats rose to No. 21 in the NCAA NET as of Monday morning and are up to No. 25 nationally in the advanced metric calculations of Ken Pomeroy at kenpom.com. Part of that rise is owed to an improved defensive effort that helped Villanova win its first game of 2025-26 when it failed to score 70 or more points at Seton Hall. VU is 9-0 thus far this season when it goes past the 70-point plateau.
Following this game the Wildcats will begin preparations for another BIG EAST battle, this one Saturday at Butler (noon, TNT and TruTV).
