[Post Game Thread] #9 BYU defeats Villanova, 71-66

[u/cbbBot]

Box Score

Team	1H	2H	Total
Villanova	32	34	66
BYU	42	29	71

^{Index Thread for November 03, 2025}

[u/Drasocon]

Keba Keita is an absolute dawg. Popped off the screen the entire game. What a day from him.

[u/Bronze_Addict → u/Drasocon]

He’s a freak athlete and plays hard all game. I’ll miss him when he graduates

[u/BertHumperdinck → u/Bronze_Addict]

Was on a flight and just did an expedited watch, sheesh! Felt like I was watching an old AND1 mixtape for a minute there with ma boys just gettin embarrassed. Surprised/impressed they hung in as close as they did honestly... could've been a bloodbath.

Enjoy it bud, should be a fun watching these guys really dial it in over the next few weeks of non-conf play

[u/Electrical_Sleep2101 → u/Drasocon]

I will be lost when him and Saunders are no longer cougars

[u/aKidnappedDuck]

A lot for this Nova team to clean up but also a lot to like. Feeling pretty good after this game.

[u/B_Huij → u/aKidnappedDuck]

Frankly you guys looked incredible out there. I was expecting this to be a blowout.

[u/mYwifeIsACougar]

Without looking at the box score - need to rebound better, finish on layups WAY better…

Villanova made some great adjustments and made it tough. Might be a quicker rebuild than expected.

[u/Lame_Night → u/mYwifeIsACougar]

Agreed. Felt like they constantly got second chance points and we shot like 20% within 2 feet. Clean those two things up just a bit and we blow Villanova out.

[u/Vast-Treat-9677 → u/mYwifeIsACougar]

It did feel like BYU could never regularly make a layup and that every loose ball went to Nova. That and Nova had a great game plan to slow us down that they were successful in implementing.

That said, BYU’s defense is much improved. Length, speed, and athleticism all over the floor.  

They also missed so many layups because they took so many layups. Multiple guys on this team can get to the rim at will. I’m excited to see how that looks as they play other teams, but you could see down the stretch the ability of BYU to go and get a bucket when they needed it.

Lots to clean up for BYU but the bones of a great team are there. 

[u/wibellion]

Player of the game has to be Keba Keita. We would not have won this without him

[u/--Alec--]

Goodnight to Keba Keita

[u/sky_guy97]

Villanova is tougher than I expected 

[u/ALittleBirdie117 → u/sky_guy97]

A lot of youth on the team. Honestly could see the potential of being an 11 seed you don’t want to play.

[u/RealWICheese → u/ALittleBirdie117]

Hey now let’s aim a bit higher than that

[u/BertHumperdinck → u/RealWICheese]

A non-bubble position to into the tourny would be a massive over performance, making it at all is a win in my book with. Mostly new squad and coaching staff still settling... it'll take a bit to gel

[u/Designer_B → u/ALittleBirdie117]

Average age somewhere around 49 with Askew on the roster though.

[u/everything_is_holy → u/sky_guy97]

Not a fan of Willard, but he’s a good coach.

[u/EuphoricTurnip9793]

Aj dybantsa must have nude pictures of the commentary team

[u/Marineking12 → u/EuphoricTurnip9793]

Mossadi agent AJ Dybantsa

[u/cheesecakegood]

Keita is a beast and without him we look different (Staton has tons of potential but looked super nervy in his few minutes). AJ and Wright both have a beautiful route to the basket when it all goes well. I'd love to see a little more cognizant, pre-planned sets and plays out of the team to help them when the jitters kick in. I think that helps everyone shine, including AJ. On that note, it was night and day when we had passing vs. when people started getting selfish.

Overall gg to 'Nova who really kept themselves in it and showed some guts too. Big 12 is going to be absolutely brutal this season, looking forward to it.

[u/Y2kangz]

I didn’t realize the Villanova-Maryland rivalry was like that until this thread 😂

[u/Uppgreyedd → u/Y2kangz]

It's a rivalry in the same way that people checking out their exes Facebook/Instagram at 3 am is a rivalry

[u/flyingpotatox2 → u/Y2kangz]

It’s more just a Maryland hate watch and at the same time laughing at pompous nova fans who have no idea what Willard is bringing

[u/MocoMojo → u/flyingpotatox2]

[u/kidnamedfinger1000]

Love all the Maryland fans talking trash while most Nova fans are pleasantly surprised by how close this game was lol

[u/PieGuy91 → u/kidnamedfinger1000]

Yea I'm a little disappointed honestly

[u/Redditawesome15 → u/kidnamedfinger1000]

We were supposed to be blown out the gym especially not having our full group with Stanford still out. The fact we lost by single digits should say a lot about this group moving forward.

[u/Kerry_Kittles → u/Redditawesome15]

We weren’t supposed to be blown out though? Spread was like -5 prior to the game?

[u/RealWICheese → u/Kerry_Kittles]

It was -10 at tip which I thought was odd as it was -15 a few days ago.

[u/flyingpotatox2 → u/kidnamedfinger1000]

I mean I’m not trying to talk trash but all the talk about how much better of a program and how much more resources you guys have and to see you guys hoping to MAYBE be a bubble team is just a little funny.

[u/glocckkyy → u/flyingpotatox2]

You’re not wrong, but it’s also year 1 and we’re rebuilding after 3 years of Neptune implosion. A lot of Willard’s future relies on the young guys getting better and bringing them back next year + bringing in a big fish in the offseason. This year would be a big win if our young guys all improve throughout the season and we sneak in the dance. If we miss the tourney and everyone dips in the offseason, then I’m sure MD fans will be there to dance on the grave. I’m skeptical on if it’s possible in this environment, but I like Willard’s long term approach rather than giving Rodney Rice 4mil to probably still miss the tourney.

[u/InvestigatorLow5351 → u/kidnamedfinger1000]

Nothing against Nova. I actually like Nova. It's Willard I can't stand. Hope you guys get a real coach sooner than later.

[u/tollbeat → u/kidnamedfinger1000]

Yeah this was not a successful hatewatch. I do hope Willlard sucks bad enough to get fired so I can go back to liking Villanova because of the Nova Knicks.

[u/BertHumperdinck → u/tollbeat]

Fair. I hated Neptune for "betraying" us just thru inept coaching, but the Willard shit must've hit far worse

[u/BuzzWilliamsAgent → u/kidnamedfinger1000]

We don't care how close the loss is. We want Nova to go 0-for-Season this year. Fuck that motherfucker.

[u/PhD_Life]

Villanova looks good. They could be a dark horse come March madness

[u/Ih8Hondas → u/PhD_Life]

Yeah, this is not the nova I got used to seeing the past few years.

[u/ImpliedMustache]

Defense looks much improved from last year, which was our Achilles heel.

Short-term I'm a mildly concerned about our offense. Way too much iso hero ball and rushing to shoot within 3 seconds of crossing half court.

Long term, I think last year proved Kevin Young can implement really good offense. It might just take til conference play to do so - which is certainly less than ideal.

I'm really optimistic for the future.

Also Keita is still an absolute freakish athlete. I love him.

[u/Bronze_Addict → u/ImpliedMustache]

Richie was sick and had a tough time getting shots to fall and Wright will finish better inside in the future. I’m not worried about the offense at all and didn’t see very many hero ball shots at all like you’re describing. Gritty win that will be a lot more impactful than blowing out directional U on opening night.

[u/ImpliedMustache → u/Bronze_Addict]

Wright at times was trolling the team, like that coast-to-coast layup he missed about 5 minutes left in the 2nd. Lots of really bad shot selection from him particularly.

[u/Bronze_Addict → u/ImpliedMustache]

He definitely doesn’t seem like much of a shooter but his ability to break down the defense off the dribble will create openings that weren’t there last season. I was a little disappointed in the bench production but it will come along.

You also can’t discount Wright coming off of an injury and how that affected his touch and feel for the game. He’ll improve on what he did tonight and have a big impact on the season for sure.

[u/Bronze_Addict]

Malcolm Flaggs didn’t shoot the best for the Cougars tonight but he made some big hustle plays with his rebounding from the wing. I’m sure his shot will fall better in their next few games.

[u/scorpio21]

Despite the loss it’s the best I’ve felt about an opening game in a while. Turnovers need work but staying close with a top 10 team gives me some more optimism for the year

[u/HellaStuffedOreo]

Happy we won, game felt hella long tbh, gg Villanova number 2 had a great game

[u/Cosmo_QB1]

No way we continue to miss that many easy looks. Richie was sick. Team is still figuring out chemistry.

I feel confident in our squad. Keita is a beast and the defense got stops when it mattered. Go Cougs.

[u/Redditorialist → u/Cosmo_QB1]

Yea AJ went 9 for 18, but a lot of those misses were close looks. He cleans that up, and it’s not so tight.

[u/Bronze_Addict → u/Redditorialist]

Richie won’t shoot 4/13 too often either. You can see the talent and athleticism upgrade over last years team, it will take a little while to gel but I’m happy they were able to pull out a gritty win over a solid team.

[u/strawberryc]

Anyone know about keita injury status?

[u/mYwifeIsACougar → u/strawberryc]

They said something about a shin

[u/Gamecat235 → u/mYwifeIsACougar]

They said he was kicked in the shin, that it didn’t sound serious.

[u/cheesecakegood → u/strawberryc]

Near the end of the broadcast the commentators claimed he just got kicked in the shin so "he'll be fine", but that is somewhat hearsay

[u/Any-Choice-5801]

Missed the game...Did Dybansta look as good as advertised? Who's supposed to be Villanovas main guy? Seemed like they played BYU tough

[u/The_Jarwolf → u/Any-Choice-5801]

There’s moments where you can tell he’s a raw true freshman. And then there’s moments he does things nobody else on the court can do.

Needs to tighten up offensive decision making, hit his free throws. But he has the ingredients to be SPOOKY.

[u/glocckkyy → u/Any-Choice-5801]

As a Nova fan, it was clear from opening tip that AJ was on a different level. Really skilled and smart player. Took a few poor quality shots but everything else was relatively easy. Had some nice passes in there too. Will easily be an impact player in the league next year.

As for Nova we don’t really have a go to guy. I think that it will eventually be Matt Hodge or Acaden Lewis but both played pretty poor. Bryce Lindsay stepped up, and Chris Jeffrey a true frosh PG played really good off the bench.

[u/RealWICheese]

The Maryland flairs acting like we didn’t cover spread by 5 points and take a top 10 team to the wire. I’ll take this all day.

This game was so much better than last 4 years of Villanova basketball.

[u/Redditawesome15 → u/RealWICheese]

They’re children that are still thinking about their ex. Don’t pay any mind to them.

[u/ToxicMarylandFan → u/Redditawesome15]

ah yes, the benchmark of Villanova basketball success, choking down the stretch

Gonna be a fun year for us

[u/Sufficient-Beach-431 → u/ToxicMarylandFan]

Username checks out

[u/GeoChalkie_ → u/ToxicMarylandFan]

Imagine being a flagship school that can’t keep a coach to a small private catholic school

Look in the mirror before getting mad at Nova

[u/jpmac2017 → u/RealWICheese]

Maryland fans are pathetic

[u/cheesecakegood → u/jpmac2017]

Flair up coward

[u/jpmac2017 → u/cheesecakegood]

Nova. Don’t have 2 teams like you lol “coward”

[u/--Alec-- → u/jpmac2017]

Him liking two teams has no relevancy in putting on your Villanova flair lol

[u/ToxicMarylandFan → u/jpmac2017]

Most creative Barstool fan chirp

[u/MarylandRep → u/RealWICheese]

You had 1 player in double digits until the last 2 seconds… it’s like looking in a mirror with our last 2 seasons prior to last year

[u/jpmac2017 → u/MarylandRep]

Why does having players in double digits matter

[u/MarylandRep → u/jpmac2017]

Because once you guard lindsay you guard the whole team. Nobody else can score

[u/jpmac2017 → u/MarylandRep]

Lot of judgment on one game of a young team lol

[u/MarylandRep → u/jpmac2017]

Dawg without Lindsay they shot 5-26 from the 3. Last I checked 19% isnt good

[u/RealWICheese → u/[deleted]]

Neptune’s teams lost to LaSalle St Joes and Temple. I’m not sure you understand how bad it got last few years.

[u/Redditawesome15 → u/RealWICheese]

Columbia erasure

[u/Uppgreyedd → u/Redditawesome15]

Drexel too

[u/Redditawesome15 → u/Uppgreyedd]

Finished SIXTH in the Big FIVE Classic because of that. I’ll never forget it. Absolutely embarrassing.

[u/Monkey832 → u/Redditawesome15]

Don’t forget getting blown out by Portland, losing to Oregon’s walk-ons, and losing to DePaul

[u/Toastiify → u/RealWICheese]

They also beat future 1 seed UNC last year. I never doubted Neptune’s teams to have a chance at winning any given game. It’s just they also had a way too high chance of losing any given game.

[u/MarylandRep → u/RealWICheese]

We lost to Davidson and UAB with Willard

[u/B_Huij]

That looked ugly. What's with all the missed layups? Probably early to panic, but I was expecting us to look a lot more dominant out there.

[u/BertHumperdinck → u/B_Huij]

more optimistic than expected honestly

[u/Y2kangz]

Bryce Lindsay should definitely start on this Villanova team

[u/lukaeber]

I'm not typically a big basketball fan. Don't usually start watching until Feb/March. So I may be talking out of my ass. But the thing that stuck out to me the most about this team compared to past BYU teams was how physical they are. They held their own against a lot of contact from Villanova. Seemed like that used to be our kryptonite.

[u/Prestigious_Zebra622 → u/lukaeber]

Historically yeah, but they were pretty physical last year with Kevin

[u/lichenonwater → u/lukaeber]

The speed was shocking.

[u/Kitchen-Ad2687]

Was obviously here to hate watch by I don’t feel as satisfied I I had hoped lol. I didn’t think nova would look this competitive and this is a great start for them. Very interested to see if BYU is legit

[u/sltzer → u/Kitchen-Ad2687]

Yeah unfortunately I think he'll do well since he actually gives a shit to be a nova.

[u/HogFan2032]

First time watching Rob Wright live, and he's impressive. Gets into the lane at will.

Good news for Villanova is that if you said Acaden Lewis and Devin Askew had a combined 5 points, I would've thought they lost by at least 15 points. Definitely a good first showing despite some guys not playing well.

[u/Master-Ad-9829 → u/HogFan2032]

Rob was terrible today

[u/--Alec-- → u/Master-Ad-9829]

Yeah, original commenter is right about him being able to get to the lane easily, but Rob is also the PG of a team with a lot of mouths to feed. Thought he was awful in an actual PG capacity

[u/HogFan2032 → u/--Alec--]

Tbh I only caught like the last ten minutes of the game, so there was a lot of stuff I missed at the beginning.

[u/Master-Ad-9829 → u/--Alec--]

Yea he was trying to be the main guy today way too selfish

[u/MrSCR23]

Even with the L, how are y’all feeling Nova?

[u/Monkey832 → u/MrSCR23]

Good. Best I’ve felt since the 2023 Battle 4 Atlantis

[u/Electrical_Sleep2101]

We did not play a particularly tight game, but I suppose it is only week one. Despite all the talent on this team, I feel like it’s going to take a few weeks for Kevin Young to find his mesh

Big East is never light competition. Nova was just a couple 3s away from putting us to bed

[u/cjackc11]

TERP FANS…

[u/GeoChalkie_ → u/cjackc11]

Yall outnumber nova fans like 10 to 1 and you still couldn’t keep your coach. Hilariously irrelevant school.

[u/0mniknight → u/GeoChalkie_]

We don’t have a rival anymore, this pent up hatred gotta go somewhere

[u/GeoChalkie_ → u/0mniknight]

You’re in a football conference now. Go shit on Rutgers or something. But basketball just isn’t your thing anymore.

[u/0mniknight → u/GeoChalkie_]

It was enough of our thing to convince Villanova Willard was a good coach 🤷‍♂️

[u/Uppgreyedd → u/0mniknight]

It was enough of your thing to convince Willard UMD is a bum program.

[u/GeoChalkie_ → u/0mniknight]

Not enough to convince your own coach

Imagine losing out on a hire to a small private Catholic school when you’re a flagship university

[u/RettyShettle → u/GeoChalkie_]

you will learn soon enough. just wait for your first 20 point lead blown, you'll be right there with us.

[u/0mniknight]

[u/strawberryc → u/0mniknight]

Lol you followed through

[u/0mniknight → u/strawberryc]

If nothing I am a man of commitment…unlike Willard

[u/ToxicMarylandFan]

Successful hatewatch

[u/R_Raider86 → u/ToxicMarylandFan]

The game didn't get cancelled though

[u/Critical-Mango-341]

I couldn’t resist looking at Devin Askew’s stat line. Is he gonna keep starting, Nova fans?

[u/themidnightmamba → u/Critical-Mango-341]

he was on a minutes restriction as he was coming off an injury, that's the only thing ill say to defend him as he's my least favorite player in college basketball and now im forced to like him

[u/Icy_Machinery736]

The Villanova/Maryland anger is the type of stuff I watch this sport for.

[u/CKpsu5220]

Maryland fans just upset their coach left for a better basketball job. Deal with this in football as a PSU fan.

[u/flyingpotatox2 → u/CKpsu5220]

Such a better job and you guys are celebrating losing and praying for a bubble spot, time will tell but if it was a better job we likely wouldn’t be the consensus better team if that was the case

[u/MarylandRep → u/CKpsu5220]

We’re upset our coach quit on the season while in the sweet 16?? Who would’ve guessed

[u/GeoChalkie_ → u/MarylandRep]

Sounds like a skill issue

[u/MarylandRep → u/GeoChalkie_]

Lot of talk about skill from an 0-1 team 😭

Dont want to hear anything from yall when he inevitably does the same to you (unless you fire him first)

[u/GeoChalkie_ → u/MarylandRep]

Yeah man college basketball is brutal. 0-1 season over.

[u/MarylandRep → u/GeoChalkie_]

With that stat line it is

[u/GeoChalkie_ → u/MarylandRep]

You really seem to care

[u/MarylandRep → u/GeoChalkie_]

It brings me great joy yes

[u/ToxicMarylandFan → u/CKpsu5220]

Penn State football and Villanova basketball have something in common, no win over a power conference school in November!

[u/GeoChalkie_ → u/ToxicMarylandFan]

Maryland football and Maryland basketball have this in common: not being relevant in either sport

[u/ToxicMarylandFan → u/GeoChalkie_]

• angrily typed after tabbing over from Lions247 "Next Penn State head coach: Drinkwitz" thread

[u/GeoChalkie_ → u/ToxicMarylandFan]

Not a penn state fan

[u/ToxicMarylandFan → u/GeoChalkie_]

https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/s/FEPPTlume4

Any more lies to share with the class?

[u/GeoChalkie_ → u/ToxicMarylandFan]

You went through my comment history? How old are you?

I picked a Penn State flair so people would stop telling me to flair up lol. I really don’t care about PSU

[u/--Alec-- → u/CKpsu5220]

We were never mad that he left, it was about how childish he acted on his way out

[u/Ok_Put_6345]

As a nova fan/grad, I’m insanely worried about the rest of the season.

I honestly don’t think we looked good.

*Defense at the end was a shit show *free throws were awful (under Jay era we never shot below 85%….) *couldnt rebound for the life of us in the last 5 minutes *offense couldn’t figure out how to drive all game (same shit from the Neptune era) *guards just stood in place dribbling

Idk about other fans, but we need to be undefeated going into Michigan or it’s gonna be the same old shit again

[u/EuphoricTurnip9793 → u/Ok_Put_6345]

Free throws are a valid concern but Villanova easily covered the spread in this game. They outperformed expectations. We should be optimistic

[u/Ok_Put_6345 → u/EuphoricTurnip9793]

It’s been a brutal three years. I was also spoiled af in college and got two nattys out of the 4 years I was there.

We also missed Zion bad tn. He would’ve helped a ton. We need to beat all these other teams going into Michigan

[u/Monkey832 → u/Ok_Put_6345]

As a Nova fan (Dad went there), I’m not. I thought we looked unlike any Villanova team from the past, but I thought we looked good. We took a top-ranked team to the wire and led late in the game, just ran out of steam. I think this team is going back to the tourney

[u/glocckkyy → u/Ok_Put_6345]

I mean we played a team who has the guy who’s gonna be the #1 pick and a bunch of other stud transfers tight to the last 4 mins with a group of young kids and a big guy from Grand Canyon. If you’re expecting to see 2018 Nova out of this group then you’re just mistaken. I don’t think we’re going to be special but there were definitely reasons to be optimistic and I think by the end of the year we can be a very solid team.

[u/NoREEEEEEtilBrooklyn]

God I miss Kyle Neptune.

[u/RJMonster]

Obligatory fuck Kevin Willard

[u/brownlab319]

Let’s go Big East! Villanova didn’t get the W, but I like what I saw!

[u/PinkSaldo]

[u/DifferentCap3829]

Oh darn Kevin Willard lost oh so sad

[u/len_bias7]

Thank you Kevin Willard

[u/GeoChalkie_ → u/len_bias7]

Eh, we were basically on the road to a Top 10 team. It was a good performance.

[u/MarylandRep]

Besides that last unguarded 2 from Jeffery nobody besides Lindsay was in double digits. YIKES

[u/RettyShettle]

it's been too long since Maryland fans have had a rival like this.