# 2022–23 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2022–23 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by head coach Kyle Neptune in his first year as a head coach, the Wildcats played their home games at the Finneran Pavilion on the school's campus in the Philadelphia suburb of Villanova, Pennsylvania and Wells Fargo Center as members of the Big East Conference. They finished with a record of 16–15, 10–10 to tie for sixth place in regular conference play. In the 2023 Big East Tournament, they defeated Georgetown in the opening round before losing to Creighton in the quarterfinals. The Wildcats received an at-large bit to the NIT, losing in the first round to Liberty.

## Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2021–22 season 30–8, 16–4 in Big East play to finish in second place. They defeated St. John's, UConn, and Creighton to win the Big East tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the South region. They defeated Delaware, Ohio State, Michigan, and Houston to advance to the Final Four. There they lost to eventual national champion Kansas.
On April 20, 2022, head coach Jay Wright announced he was retiring effective immediately. Former Wright assistant and Fordham head coach Kyle Neptune was named the team's new head coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Bryan Antoine | 1 | G | 6'5" | 180 | Junior | Tinton Falls, NJ | Transferred to Radford |
| Collin Gillespie | 2 | G | 6'3" | 195 | GS Senior | Huntingdon Valley, PA | Graduated/undrafted in 2022 NBA draft |
| Kevin Voigt | 12 | G | 6'5" | 210 | Senior | Massapequa, NY | Walk-on; Graduated |
| Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree | 21 | F | 6'9" | 250 | GS Senior | Philadelphia, PA | Graduated |
| Jermaine Samuels | 23 | F | 6'7" | 230 | GS Senior | Franklin, MA | Graduated |

### 2022 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Cam Whitmore #5 PF | Severn, MD | Archbishop Spalding High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Oct 7, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Mark Armstrong #12 PG | Jersey City, NJ | Saint Peter's Prep | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Apr 8, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 84 ||||||
| Brendan Hausen #29 SG | Amarillo, TX | Amarillo High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 27, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2022 Villanova Commits". Rivals.com. "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 7, 2022* 6:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 16 | La Salle Philadelphia Big 5 | W 81–68 | 1–0 | 24 – Daniels | 10 – Daniels | 4 – Tied | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| November 11, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 16 | at Temple Philadelphia Big 5 | L 64–68 | 1–1 | 19 – Daniels | 10 – Arcidiacono | 3 – Longino | Liacouras Center (8,646) Philadelphia, PA |
| November 14, 2022* 6:30 p.m., FS2 | | Delaware State | W 60–50 | 2–1 | 17 – Dixon | 7 – Dixon | 3 – Slater | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| November 18, 2022* 8:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Michigan State Gavitt Tipoff Games | L 71–73 | 2–2 | 24 – Dixon | 9 – Dixon | 4 – Arcidiacano | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| November 24, 2022* 3:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. Iowa State Phil Knight Invitational quarterfinals | L 79–81 $^{OT}$ | 2–3 | 25 – Daniels | 10 – Dixon | 7 – Daniels | Moda Center (6,229) Portland, OR |
| November 25, 2022* 3:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. Portland Phil Knight Invitational consolation round | L 71–83 | 2–4 | 18 – Daniels | 7 – Tied | 2 – 3 Tied | Veterans Memorial Coliseum Portland, OR |
| November 27, 2022* 3:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. Oregon Phil Knight Invitational 7th place game | L 67–74 | 2–5 | 16 – Daniels | 9 – Slater | 6 – Arcidiacono | Chiles Center Portland, OR |
| December 3, 2022* 12:30 p.m., CBS | | Oklahoma Big East–Big 12 Battle | W 70–66 | 3–5 | 22 – Daniels | 5 – Slater | 3 – Daniels | Wells Fargo Center (17,079) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 7, 2022* 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Penn Philadelphia Big 5 | W 70–59 | 4–5 | 21 – Whitmore | 6 – Whitmore | 5 – Daniels | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| December 10, 2022* 5:00 p.m., FOX | | vs. Boston College Never Forget Tribute Classic | W 77–56 | 5–5 | 19 – Whitmore | 7 – Tied | 4 – Daniels | Prudential Center (9,437) Newark, NJ |
| December 17, 2022* 4:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Saint Joseph's Holy War/Philadelphia Big 5 | W 71–64 | 6–5 | 19 – Slater | 12 – Dixon | 5 – Daniels | Hagan Arena (3,924) Philadelphia, PA |
| Big East regular season |||||||||
| December 21, 2022 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | St. John's | W 78–63 | 7–5 (1–0) | 18 – Dixon | 10 – Whitmore | 5 – Arcidiacono | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| December 28, 2022 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 2 UConn | L 66–74 | 7–6 (1–1) | 23 – Daniels | 8 – Dixon | 3 – Slater | XL Center (15,564) Hartford, CT |
| December 31, 2022 2:00 p.m., FS1 | | Marquette | L 66–68 | 7–7 (1–2) | 14 – Whitmore | 8 – Whitmore | 4 – Daniels | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| January 4, 2023 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | at Georgetown | W 73–57 | 8–7 (2–2) | 20 – Daniels | 8 – Dixon | 2 – Tied | Capital One Arena (7,203) Washington, D.C. |
| January 7, 2023 4:30 p.m., FS1 | | No. 18 Xavier | L 80–88 | 8–8 (2–3) | 26 – Whitmore | 7 – Slater | 4 – Daniels | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| January 10, 2023 9:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at DePaul | L 65–75 | 8–9 (2–4) | 22 – Dixon | 10 – Dixon | 6 – Daniels | Wintrust Arena (4,273) Chicago, IL |
| January 13, 2023 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Butler | L 71–79 | 8–10 (2–5) | 22 – Dixon | 8 – Whitmore | 5 – Arcidiacono | Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,688) Indianapolis, IN |
| January 16, 2023 12:08 p.m., FOX | | Georgetown | W 77–73 | 9–10 (3–5) | 15 – Slater | 4 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| January 20, 2023 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | at St. John's | W 57–49 | 10–10 (4–5) | 16 – Daniels | 11 – Dixon | 3 – Armstrong | Madison Square Garden (13,504) New York, NY |
| January 29, 2023 12:00 p.m., FS1 | | No. 23 Providence | L 65–70 | 10–11 (4–6) | 21 – Whitmore | 9 – Whitmore | 4 – Moore | Wells Fargo Center (15,053) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 1, 2023 8:30 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 14 Marquette | L 64–73 | 10–12 (4–7) | 14 – Tied | 8 – Slater | 4 – Moore | Fiserv Forum (13,344) Milwaukee, WI |
| February 4, 2023 7:30 p.m., FOX | | at Creighton | L 61–66 | 10–13 (4–8) | 20 – Dixon | 9 – Dixon | 2 – Tied | CHI Health Center Omaha (18,509) Omaha, NE |
| February 8, 2023 8:30 p.m., FS1 | | DePaul | W 81–65 | 11–13 (5–8) | 18 – Daniels | 8 – Dixon | 5 – Dixon | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| February 11, 2023 8:00 p.m., FS1 | | Seton Hall | W 58–54 | 12–13 (6–8) | 19 – Dixon | 7 – Moore | 2 – Tied | Wells Fargo Center (15,015) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 14, 2023 8:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Butler | W 62–50 | 13–13 (7–8) | 15 – Moore | 7 – Tied | 3 – Dixon | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| February 18, 2023 4:30 p.m., FOX | | at No. 24 Providence | L 72–85 | 13–14 (7–9) | 18 – Dixon | 8 – Dixon | 4 – Moore | Amica Mutual Pavilion (12,659) Providence, RI |
| February 21, 2023 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 16 Xavier | W 64–63 | 14–14 (8–9) | 25 – Moore | 5 – Dixon | 4 – Dixon | Cintas Center (10,349) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 25, 2023 12:00 p.m., FOX | | No. 19 Creighton | W 79–67 | 15–14 (9–9) | 31 – Dixon | 7 – Daniels | 8 – Moore | Wells Fargo Center (17,114) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 28, 2023 8:30 p.m., FS1 | | at Seton Hall | W 76–72 | 16–14 (10–9) | 23 – Moore | 8 – Dixon | 3 – Dixon | Prudential Center (11,071) Newark, NJ |
| March 4, 2023 7:30 p.m., FOX | | No. 14 UConn | L 59–71 | 16–15 (10–10) | 17 – Moore | 7 – Daniels | 3 – Daniels | Wells Fargo Center (16,264) Philadelphia, PA |
| Big East tournament |||||||||
| March 8, 2023 8:15 p.m., FS1 | (6) | vs. (11) Georgetown First round | W 80–48 | 17–15 | 19 – Whitmore | 10 – Whitmore | 5 – Daniels | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| March 9, 2023 9:30 p.m., FS1 | (6) | vs. (3) No. 24 Creighton Quarterfinal | L 74–87 | 17–16 | 20 – Dixon | 7 – Dixon | 7 – Moore | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY |
| NIT tournament |||||||||
| March 14, 2023 9:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at (3) Liberty First round – Oregon bracket | L 57–62 | 17–17 | 18 – Slater | 13 – Dixon | 3 – Armstrong | Liberty Arena (3,252) Lynchburg, VA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 16 | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Not released |
| Coaches | 17 | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings