Villanova Wildcats losing for second time in three games is concerning

With the Villanova Wildcats losing for the second time in three games, Jay Wright’s team seems to have concerns heading into March.

Despite falling to St. John’s last week, the Villanova Wildcats didn’t feel it was necessary to feel any reasons for concern since Jay Wright‘s team was still on pace to earn one of the No. 1 seeds in this year’s bracket. In fact, the argument can be made that a random loss to the Red Storm would help the Wildcats in the long run since it was better to lose now than down the road when it matters the most, and the team could use this as a learning experience.

That is, until Wednesday night happened in which Villanova lost for the second time in three games after falling to the Providence Friars 76-71, meaning the team is now at risk to drop in the rankings after recently falling to No. 3. To top it off, the Wildcats face another tough challenge this weekend when they travel to Ohio to take on No. 4 Xavier.

Between poor 3-point shooting on their end to the Friars having all but one starter reach double-digits in scoring, the Wildcats have nobody to blame other than themselves for their recent loss. And while Villanova is still in good shape to earn a top seed in the tournament next month, that’s always easier said than done since the team is now in a position where a loss Saturday to Xavier would result in the panic button being hit.

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When looking at the potential displayed by the Wildcats this season when showing signs of making a run for their second NCAA title in three seasons, a win over the Musketeers on Saturday would certainly remove the doubts that are all of a sudden surrounding Wright’s team. Keep in mind that Villanova had little trouble blowing by Xavier earlier in the season after cruising to an 89-65 win, but also that game was played in front of Nova Nation.

This time around, the Wildcats will have to deal with playing the Musketeers in their house, and without question, Chris Mack will have his boys ready for revenge, as they would love nothing more than to earn a 10th win in a row while improving their resume with a win over a top-ranked team. And as mentioned before, it’s one thing to lose two of three games, but if those numbers become three of four games, Villanova could end up being in even more trouble.